@roger,
roger wrote:Seconds to react and we're calling in Apache heliocopters
It could be done:
a) Have a policy where the helicopters are in place and are scrambled any time something sufficiently threatening happens. Have the police trained to expect the possibility of helicopter attack in a dire emergency and to be prepared to hold their distance when ordered.
b) Scramble the helicopters as soon as it is clear that an unknown car is trying to aggressively force its way past the White House security perimeter.
c) Direct their attention to the black car heading towards the Capitol at high speed and order them to prevent it from reaching the Capitol at all costs. Warn the police that it is time for them to pull back.
Maybe the helicopters would not get there in time to stop the car before it got to the Capitol perimeter. But maybe they would have.
Maybe if it had really been an al-Qa'ida attack there would have been multiple attacking cars, and helicopters that were not in time to stop the first car would have been in position to stop subsequent cars.