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Washington dc – As of this weekend, the federal capital’s government zone is a military stronghold, as part of security measures for Joe Biden’s Wednesday swearing in as president of the United States.
About 25,000 national guards have been mobilized in this city – of about 700,000 inhabitants – after the assault on the Capitol that developed on January 6 mobs of supporters of the outgoing President Donald Trump, in an event which authorities have described as an act of insurrection and domestic terrorism.
Military deployment currently exceeds the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. It is 10 times larger than in Iraq and Afghanistan, where a few days ago the total between the two countries fell to 2,500.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling said the level of security that has been set in the Washington DC government area certainly shines like the security that is implemented in combat zones.
In this regard, Hertling has told CNN that it is reasonable to compare it to the ‘green zone’ created by the U.S. Armed Forces in Baghdad, around its embassy, after the invasion of Iraq. Even the name of the green zone has been used as part of the security strategy in Washington DC.
Hertling commanded the First Armored Division and a multidivisional task force in Iraq during the increase in U.S. troops from 2007 to 2008.
Instead of the village party that usually takes place in the vicinity of Capitol for the swearing-in of a president of the United States, access to the heart of the government zone – including the central park (National Mall), the Neighboring streets in the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Union station, where the interstate- train arrives, are blocked or restricted.
There are bars – some with barbed wire – around the Capitol and other government buildings. Four major bridges connecting the U.S. capital with northern Virginia will be closed Tuesday through Thursday.
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, not so many security measures have been evidenced, which involves the presence of the military.
Many of the restrictions on movement within the city began over the weekend.
There are streets in the Capitol Hill residential area that are not officially closed, but have police patrols controlling access.
Since last week there are even national guards sleeping inside the Capitol. About 200 Puerto Rican National Guard soldiers were integrated this weekend into surveillance tasks in the area.
The FBI receives reports
The FBI has received reports on the planning of part of far-right groups of armed protests in Washington DC, and the capitals of the 50 states.
“It’s a big security threat,” has indicated the interim head of the Washington DC Police, Robert Contee.
Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser told CBS she was grateful that after the attack on Congress the Armed Forces General Staff has condemned “a direct assault on the United States Congress, l ‘Capitol building and our constitutional process’, and affirmed its commitment to the transition of power.
“It is an inauguration like no other…Having fellow Americans storming the Capitol with the goal of overthrowing the government certainly deserves high security“, Bowser added today, in an interview with NBC, noting that the coronavirus pandemic already involved changes in the organization of the inauguration.
The mayoress maintained that she is not only concerned about what might happen in the government area of the capital, and in other states, but in residential areas of Washington DC.
It is unclear how long the US capital will be on alert, beyond this week.
But Mayor Bowser has argued that it is time to recognize that the authorities’ main focus on the threat of terrorism must be focused on the internal situation in the United States. The FBI has indicated that the main threat comes from far-right groups.
“I think we have to seriously ask our country is going to take domestic terrorism. I think what we saw here (January 6) is that we don’t take it seriously. We never thought the so-called ‘patriots’ were going to seek to overthrow the government and kill police officers. But, that is exactly what happened, “Bowser said.
On Friday, Capitol Police arrested a man who was driving his truck through one of the city’s security points with an unregistered gun and 500 bullet cartridges. Wesley BEELER, of the Royal Front locality in Virginia – an hour and a half from the American capital – was also given a false credential for the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
The inauguration of Joe Biden as president will include the presence of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, outgoing Vice President Michael Pence, members of Congress, U.S. Supreme Court justices, governors and diplomats.
The Senate, moreover, may begin as early as this week the political trial against President Trump to incite insurgency on January 6 and try to reverse the election result, an issue that will keep tensions high in that country.