Posted on 11/22/2004 9:40:22 PM PST by kattracks
White House officials were still shaking their heads in disbelief yesterday that President Bush personally had to rescue a U.S. Secret Service agent from angry Chilean security officials Saturday night.
"This is a pretty big deal," said a senior White House official, who called the incident a "melee."
"I mean, the guy who was supposed to be guarded had to rescue the guy who was supposed to be guarding him."
The official expressed astonishment that Chilean security officials had stopped the No. 2 agent on Mr. Bush's security detail from accompanying the president into a meeting with another world leader, an unprecedented public breach of security arrangements agreed upon in advance.[snip]
In contrast to Chile, which rejected Secret Service protocols, Colombia ceded control of 15,000 of its troops to the United States when Mr. Bush visited there yesterday. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe also agreed to allow heavily armed U.S. Navy forces to patrol the waters around Cartegena in rubber boats.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
The over and unders are at 43.
How many will post saying it is a duplicate? Over and unders are at 147.
Planned and premeditated. This could have ended up far worse. I'd bide my time, then give them a good quiet behind the scenes skull crushing, reminding them paybacks are a b****.
Ping to more info!
Anyone with common sense, particularly a security agent, would have known that proper "protocol" would be stealthily pressing a $20 bill into the palm of each Chilean agent, and maybe $100 for their top agent. Heck, for about $500, the SS could have left their agents at home, and had the best paid army in South America. The head of the SS detail screwed up, plain and simple, and forgot to pay off his Chilean counterparts.
THAT, my friend, is how it's down down there (though prices differ according to region; dang druggies have driven prices of graft way up in some parts of S. America!).
SFS
Recent years? Like since, September 11th? Gosh, is it that difficult to figure out why?
Read the article. It says that they (Chileans) had stopped the agents even though arrangements had been made for them to accompany the President into the event.
This shouldn't be blamed on our guys.
W looks like he's the only one having a good time.
Hopefully you decided to read the article after you posted that.
We do know the answer to that.
I saw a video today that I hadn't seen before. This video showed the second agent being allowed in after the President had gone back inside with Trotta.
He caught up, along with the woman in red, (which is maybe Laura's agent?) about the time the President and First Lady had greeted the other leader that was already inside. The three agents walked behind the President.
Anyway, it also showed the tensions still going on outside even after Bush had gone back inside, between the Chileans and some of the President's team outside the building.
It looked pretty bad for awhile. No one was happy.
I wish I could remember where I saw it to give you the link. It was very interesting to watch.
THAT removes ALL doubt (if there was any to begin with) that George did the right thing.
If those third-world bug-country bozos are howling like Demonrats after an election, you know for a *fact* that they've been treated with the proper amount of contempt due their worthlessness.
Thank you for the ping, Texasflower!
Very true. "Facilitation Fees" are much less in Bolivia.
Bush's action in Chile has received woefully little press in the electronic media here in the USA. Has anyone seen any video of it in the LameStream Media? I haven't. (I don't watch much of it, I must admit.)
Fox has carried it. I don't know about the networks, since I never watch them.
my take on all this FWIW is that Chile wants to be seen as a competent, developed country at the level of at least the lesser ones in Europe (e.g. - Greece, Portugal, someday Italy). things down here work pretty well and i think they have a good case, but not quite yet.
the APEC meeting to them "shows" that they "have arrived", and this went to their head. they are still playing out of their league, way out of their league, and proved it more than once during APEC.
worst, the Chileans down here don't see that they have done anything wrong (stoked up by the huge communist party and heavily infiltrated leftist anti-US press)
The chances of Chile getting any financial, military or other aid in the near term are probably not very good.
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