The demonstrations, which turned violent, lead retired Army sergeant Jerry Hendershot to fire off a provocative letter to Nixon who declared a state of emergency on August 16 and imposed a curfew "due to civil unrest".
Police officials said yesterday that the response to the explosion was an encouraging demonstration of how emergency resources should be deployed in a terrorism situation.
Greeneville, a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine, collided with and sank a Japanese fishing training vessel during a demonstration of an emergency surfacing maneuver intended to impress visitors.
That's because more than two people sharing a political message is considered an illegal demonstration under the state of emergency, he added.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, the embattled Thai prime minister who has faced a week of large-scale street demonstrations, declared a state of emergency to secure the departure of leaders from Southeast Asia, China, South Korea and Japan.
The alert noted that while most tourist and business centers are calm, "spontaneous and unpredictable events, such as work stoppages and demonstrations, still occur, a state of emergency remains in force, and curfews can be re-established on short notice".
Since then, the country has remained under a state of emergency that prohibits demonstrations, and extrajudicial arrests continue.
The stupid approach would be to crack down on street protesters, possibly even introducing a state of emergency to render demonstrations illegal.
The regime's promised programme of "reforms" – including repealing the state of emergency, licensing public demonstrations, the formation of political parties and the regulation of elections – has proven to be simply cosmetic.
Trade unions and indigenous groups, already angry at Mr Mahuad's rule which, they say, has hurt the poor and helped the rich have begun what they promise will be a paralysing series of strikes and demonstrations, in defiance of the state of emergency.There are other potential traps.
