"On the ground" redux

[Mullins, Bill]

>Awhile ago there was a discussion of the figurative use of "on the ground."
>For any of you who missed it, there was a great example this morning on
>NPR.  In a report on a new agreement over the Darfur region of Sudan, the
>news reader (female, I forget who), said, "The no-fly zone will be a
>significant element on the ground."  This ALMOST works literally, but with
>the word "element," it seems to me, not quite.
>
>Peter Mc.

To me the incongruous part is comparing "on the ground" to a "no-fly zone".
One is several thousand feet above the other.