Does 'It had at most one or two minutes to react to the unidentified plane approaching Washington, and the fighters were in the wrong place to be able to help.' exist in a separate context from 'The fighters could have helped if in position.', without logical interdependence?
It had at most one or two minutes to react to the unidentified plane approaching Washington, and the fighters were in the wrong place to be able to help.###The fighters could have helped if in position.