posted on November 10, 2003 01:19:13 PM new
This is democracy to have a leader treated with more reverance and awe than any king asks for? When Bush came to Detroit it was a mess with every freeway overpass closed and guarded. Now he wants to basically shut down central London for 3 days so he can be safe.
Get real. Nothing will ever make him as safe as his guards want. Why should a foreign government impose restrictions for him they don't for their own leaders?
When they decide we have to all be locked down in our homes if he comes to town will anyone object? It is not much worse than closing the public roads.
They are men not gods damn it.
Of course Blair will be happy to do anything for his master. Including kiss his little ass in public deep in the pink.
posted on November 11, 2003 07:07:17 AM newFrom BBC
"The Americans are actually running the security operation in London as well... I'm getting a bit alarmed about the degree of invasion of our capital by the Americans.
'Attack' danger
James Rubin, former US assistant secretary of state during the Clinton presidency, said there were two issues for the White House to consider.
"One is after 9/11 and the possibility of a direct attack on the president and his entourage that has existed in the last couple of years, security caution is very high," he said.
"But there's also something else new in that President Bush is coming to a country that was the scene of enormous demonstrations.
"I think he is coming to a city that will represent extreme opposition in large numbers to what he has tried to do in Iraq."
posted on November 11, 2003 07:34:34 AM new
Can you imagine the response a visiting Head of State would get here if his or her security staff demanded that Washington DC be shut down while they were here?!? Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there --Clare Booth Luce
posted on November 12, 2003 07:28:22 AM newOf course Blair will be happy to do anything for his master. Including kiss his little ass in public deep in the pink.
Boy, is that hitting the nail on the head!
It's clear the people of the UK do NOT want Bush in their country. Can you blame them? I don't particularly want him in this country.
posted on November 13, 2003 06:02:34 AM new
They are at the highest alert and England is being described as an American colony. In an unprecedented development, members of the US secret service accompanying Bush will be permitted to carry weapons on UK sovereign territory.
"It is an outrage that the most unwelcome guest this country has ever received will be given the freedom of the streets, while a movement that represents majority opinion is denied the right to protest in the heart of government," said Lindsey German, a spokeswoman for the Stop the War Coalition.
The spectacle of Bush arriving with an entourage of up to 250 secret service agents, 15 sniffer dogs and handlers, 50 White House political aides, two motorcades of up to 20 armoured vehicles each, as well as at least three aircraft is unlikely to increase warmth towards him.
posted on November 13, 2003 04:22:19 PM new
Bush obviously feels the need to be guarded more than anyone and that's why he has his Special Republican Guards.
posted on November 14, 2003 04:36:38 AM new
Helen: "The spectacle of Bush arriving with an entourage of up to 250 secret service agents, 15 sniffer dogs and handlers, 50 White House political aides, two motorcades of up to 20 armoured vehicles each, as well as at least three aircraft is unlikely to increase warmth towards him."
And we are paying for this too? Add that to the quarter of a million we paid in the past 39 hours for the senator's talkathon. We are losing a lot of money because of our King.
Among the goals of Hillary's trip to Africa was the promotion of women's and children's rights, religious tolerance and democracy. She made speeches, met with foreign dignitaries and visited sites associated with those issues. Another goal was to alievate tension between the United States and some Arab states which were strained after the Gulf War. She was successful in reinforcing the message that the Clinton administration had a respect for Islam
Laura Bush just returned from Russsia and France. Do you know if she accomplished anything?
posted on November 14, 2003 07:14:09 AM new aposter
I read that he will be staying at Buckingham Palace. I imagine that when he returns home that some extensive renovation will be needed at the White House.
posted on November 14, 2003 11:01:07 AM new
Yes when they go overseas some do get ideas.
Nixon came back and dressed his honor guards up in a bunch of severe tailored uniforms and polished helmets that would have looked great on Prussian horse mounted troops.
posted on November 14, 2003 11:58:27 AM new
I wish I had a photo...Lol
The most amusing joke of the Nixon administration was played on by him on himself. After visiting Europe he like the pomp and ceremony of European political institutions so much he decided that the White House should emulate them, and commissioning a clothier to come up with a more dignified uniform for the White House guards.
The end result was announced with the White House guards lined up wearing white, double-breasted uniforms with gold braid and trim, with peaked kepi caps -- I do not recall if there was gold filigree on the caps or if they had pom-poms, but such items would not have seemed out of place.
The uniforms were described by the press as like something from the Republic of Freedonia and might have been also described as appropriate for doormen at a high-priced whorehouse or for villains in Z-grade SF movies. They were withdrawn quietly after a week, and later sold to a nondescript rock group.
The only memory that lingered on was through Walt Kelly's POGO, which featured a overbearing bear with a strong resemblance to the vice-president dressed in the disgraced uniform. (Check a newspaper spool from 1969 or 1970; you may find this in the comics section.)
Now I have some sneaking sympathy for T. Dick Nixon since the whole country was in the middle of a collective psychosis at the time and Vietnam was a bleeding sore that wasn't going to be healed by any stretch of effort; besides, having been trained to be the Republican's dirty fighter (as vice-president he was, as he later discussed with General Ike's staff officer Bedell Smith, Ike's "prat boy", designated, like Smith, to do the dirty jobs Ike wouldn't touch) it was a stretch of credibility to think he wouldn't be a dirty fighter as president. In another time he would have had a good administration, but he was the wrong guy at the wrong time.
Still, every time I think of those uniforms I wonder where his head was really at.
William Bader
A grieving father whose son died in Iraq said he would walk to London from north Wales just to tell US president George Bush what he thinks of his war effort.
During his visit to the UK, Bush wants to offer his prayers and tell the bereaved families their loved ones did not die in vain.
But Reg Keys, who lost his 20-year-old son Tom in June 2002, said he holds Bush and Tony Blair responsible for his death.
"I don't know how the man (Bush) has the nerve to show his face in his country after costing the lives of 53 British servicemen," said Mr Keys, of Llanuwchllyn, near Bala.
Tom Keys died days before his 21st birthday.
He was one of six military policemen shot dead in Al Majar al-Kabir last June.
The servicemen were chased into a police station and shot.
The British Army said all the deaths were murder.
Mr Keys said other nations had the "backbone" to stand up to waging war on Saddam Hussein.
Mr Keys said: "I haven't had an invitation for an interview with Mr Bush, if I did I would literally walk from Wales to London to meet the man, look him in the eye and tell what I think of him.
"They didn't die for a noble cause, they died for Bush's political reasons, they were just sacrificial lambs."
Mr Keys has demanded to know why his son and his fellow officers did not have back-up.
And the acting rector Heather Fenton of the family's local church, St Deiniol's, has said the circumstances must make it harder for the family to come to terms with the death.
Mr Keys said little has been achieved by the war effort.
"Futile"
"As Tom used to say in his phone calls - 'Dad, you will never westernise this country, they will never be democratic, there are too many tribal factions in this country for it to be a democracy'."
"He felt they were getting nowhere, they would try to train Iraqi police, you couldn't trust them anyway, you could put them in charge of weapon searches and they would just let their friends drive through with weapons.
"He felt it was futile, they were trying to impose Western values on a country which would not be westernised."
Mr Keys, a former paramedic officer, said he has analysed his grief.
"Most people look for someone to blame and I have analysed this myself but logically I'm not," he said.
posted on November 14, 2003 08:24:21 PM new
From the BBC website Nov. 15th......
UK on second highest terror alert
Previous alerts have led to roadside checks by police
Britain's security services have been put on their second highest state of alert amid intelligence of an al-Qaeda attack, the BBC has learned.
The internal "severe general" alert is said to be unconnected to US President Bush's forthcoming UK visit.
It follows warnings about plans by al-Qaeda supporters from North Africa.
The alert means security will be extra tight around potential targets. Sources say no attack is imminent, and there is no intelligence of a specific target.
'Rare'
The internal alerts are for the security services only, including the police, the army and MI5, and not usually made public.
The UK is officially on high alert, but within this the internal and usually secret level has gone from "substantial" to "severe general".
BBC correspondent Margaret Gilmore said: "It may be that they have information which points to people who they have suspicions about, that maybe they put on extra vigilance there.
"It is rare to be put on this highest alert... but these are warnings very much for the security services, these are not warnings aimed at the public because there is not a lot the public can do about them."
She added: "Obviously it's a further complication in the security nightmare surrounding the Bush visit, but it is not connected to that."
The Home Office has refused to comment, saying it never discusses threat levels unless there is a specific threat.
