Doesn't anyone care what it feels like to people in Manhattan when a commercial jet flies low over lower Manhattan? We're becoming so militarized that we'll do anything for the benefit of the troops without thinking about how it affects anyone else.

A commercial plane carrying returning military personnel flew near the Statue of Liberty and low over midtown Manhattan, prompting emergency calls from some concerned onlookers.

The Continental Airlines plane, a Boeing 777, was given permission to change its flight plan as it approached its destination of Newark Liberty International Airport at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The flight pattern was intended ''to provide a special homecoming for members of our armed forces,'' the FAA said in a statement.