Friday, 5 October 2001 : "Pentagon and National Airport are in VA, not DC"

Even the U.S. Postal Service and some Internet map services get confused, so maybe President Bush could be forgiven for referring to the airport Tuesday as being in Washington, D.C. At an on-site news conference to announce today's reopening of National, Bush mentioned that he had invited D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams (D) to dinner "here in the District." // Trouble is, when he spoke he was standing firmly in Arlington County [Virginia], whose boundary begins on the western shore of the Potomac.

Arlington police spokeswoman Kim Roberson had called [Washington Redskins] officials, wondering whether their players would like to wear county police and fire baseball caps at the first home game, like the New York Mets did for rescue workers there. // "When I called the Redskins, it seemed like a bit of a hard sell," Roberson said. "It was like, 'Why is Arlington County calling and offering this?' I said, 'Because the Pentagon is in Arlington.' I had to fax the Redskins proof that the Pentagon was actually in Arlington."