Posted on 11/21/2004 7:42:15 AM PST by The Wizard
Just announced: The USSS demanded that Metal detectors be used for ALL entering dinner tonight, and the Chile President *Didn't want to subject his guests to that* so they scaled back the meeting to those already "swept"
I'm sure others wiil add details
Caracas
I hope the president, when he returns SAFELY I pray to the White House, immediately takes a pair of scissors and removes the map of Chile from his World Atlas.
This country makes third world banana republics look good.
Excellent prayer! Reading it out loud furthers the message.
Holy cow!
That article was very informative, and I am now going to get a roll of duct tape to attach my tinfoil hat. Thank you very much.
There's something rotten in Chile.
Bush stuck his hand out.
If they won't take it, fine!
This will be repeated all over the planet for as long as it takes the rest of the world to get used to the end of the cold war and one dominant power.
I do not expect them to ever get used to it.
I agree - prayers for our great president. He has a stop scheduled in Columbia tomorrow according to the following. :-(
This urge to prayer was in an e-mail from the Presidential Prayer Team the other day:
"Pray for President Bush as he attends the 12th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting in Santiago, Chile November 20-21 and then travels to Cartagena, Colombia on the 22nd.
The President and First Lady will also entertain King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain at their ranch in Crawford, TX on the 24th."
Chile is a total hell hole...for real. The people are bastards. Let's not sit here and come off like these are decent people and this is a mistake. Chile is filled with assholes.
Bush needs to get out of there.
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Colombian soldiers check drivers in Cartagena, Colombia, November 21, 2004. U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) will visit Colombia on November 22. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz
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Special anti-terrorist policemen practice in Cartagena, Colombia, November 21, 2004. U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) will visit Cartagena, Colombia, on November 22. REUTERS/Albeiro Lopera |
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Good.
And, we will not forget.
Direct link to video:
http://callisto.unete.cl:8080/ramgen/canal13/disco7/cdn/nov/20/apec_1120_cena_lideres.rm
Yup, this really has a bad odor. The USSS scuffle and then the refusal to allow metal detectors, both incidents are evolved around President Bush's security... Something seems awry here.
Trouble is they're going to Columbia next.
From Nick's bio - devoted to the President, Nick is always at the President's side..."For more than 23 years Trotta has climbed through the ranks of the United States Secret Service and is presently one of two people in the Secret Service who never leaves the President's side"...
Agree with those who think something was screwy with those guards last night and now this situation today.
First the detained secret service agent, now this.
Prayers everyone.
Hmmm, the way I see it, just about the only thing that Chile has going for it is the fact that they supply large quantities of summer fruit to the US during our winter months. I wonder what were to happen if we were to say, stop buying their fruit? Yup, thought so.
I hope that our president is on his way home right now. While the Chileans are getting ready for tonight's working dinner and not expecting their guest to send his regrets. Thwart whatever is going on over there and invite the Chileans to the White House for a meal. And of course, scan every last one of them as they enter the premises. I love President Bush's personal macho, but he is the one American who is not expendable for America's future.
~snip~
The Secret Service source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the president's security detail and the Chileans had argued about security procedures all day and that he wasn't surprised to see last night's skirmish unfold.
The Chileans, he said, were determined to take charge of security, but the president of the United States is the only world leader who takes his bodyguards with him wherever he goes. Normally, foreign countries defer to that demand. The Chilean security detail resisted, the source said, and was determined to take a stand at the dinner.
"That's what the argument this afternoon was about," he said. "I saw this coming."
Chilean security knew that the Secret Service always accompanies the president and knows how to identify them by the pins on their lapels, the source said, but blocked them anyway.
~snip~
This looks more like Latin type machismo than suspicious intrigue. They could have felt insulted and that their 'manhood' was questioned by the public perception that they could not protect the participants. Same thing with the State Dinner where the Chileans refused to have everyone go through a metal protector - makes them look weak and afraid, as well as insulting them as being unable to do their job.
I'm glad W and his SS detail stood firm. To accede to the Chileans on this would cause a loss of respect and weaken the US image and position.
JMHO
I agree with you. After reading all the articles on this it looks like a "turf war".
Admittedly it is not their finest hour, but one can only imagine how difficult it must be to balance diplomatic etiquette and presidential-level security. That's an inexact science if I ever heard of one.
Even so, this incident suggests that improvements need to be worked out, pronto. And if there were misunderstandings with the locals, well geez, it's only Spanish, there's no excuse. It's not like they're too Martian to consult beforehand, make sure they're on the same page and line. Somebody definitely fell short on that score. An American president on foreign soil should not have to think fast about anything, nor do anything unscripted.
I like my meduim rare!
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