First Daughter Barbara (Bush) Robbed in Argentina

abc news ^ | 11-21-06 | abc

[dogbyte12]

First Daughter Barbara Bush had her purse and cell phone stolen as she had dinner in a restaurant in Buenos Aires, Argentina, even though she was being guarded by a detail of Secret Service agents, according to law enforcement reports made available to ABC News.

It was not the only mishap on the two-week trip to Argentina by Barbara (right) and her twin sister Jenna (left).

A Secret Service agent on the advance detail got into an "altercation" with someone after a night out and was badly beaten, according to the law enforcement reports. The Secret Service said today the incident was an attempted mugging that occurred while the agent was on his own time. The agent is doing fine.

The purse snatching took place on Barbara's first night in town while she was dining in the picturesque San Telmo neighborhood. According to the reports, the Secret Service agents failed to notice the incident.

The Secret Service would not comment on the purse snatching, and the First Lady’s office said they would not comment on any personal trip made by the daughters. There have been recent reports, however, that Jenna Bush has been living and working in Panama as an intern for UNICEF.

[OldFriend]

President Bush was more protective of his secret service detail than they are with his daughter. For shame!

[Accygirl]

A. I truly hope that they're either in graduate school or have something resembling an actual job.

B. Most 25 year olds (and I can attest to this personally) don't want to go on vacations with Mom and Dad. Most kids stop wanting to go on vacation with Mom and Dad by the time they're eleven.

[GVnana]

she was being guarded by a detail of Secret Service agents

Not really.

[soccermom]

Their dad has to leave the country. That is part of his job. Honestly, I think getting one of the girls would be a bigger coup to terrorists than getting Bush himself. If anything happens to the President, he becomes a martyr. But can you imagine if the President were put in the position of having to capitulate to terrorists or lose his daughter? It sounds like something out of a Clancy novel. This is -- as Gore would say -- Thuper, Thuper Therial! I understand these women are adults, but they should exercise some common sense -- if not for themselves, then for their parents and their country.

[vox_freedom]

I stopped reading after reading:
Within the first week, he go sick, some kind of strong flu, even though climate isn’t that cold and he took care of himself.

Then, I broke my mouse trying to scroll through the rest of your post. Whew....
btw, the next time FR has a solicitation drive, make sure you contribute -- just for the sake of the bandwidth. :-)

[CATravelAgent]

Right - got your point.

Here's a link to a Washington Post article that substantiates the breakdown of public safety in Argentina.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47139-2003Jan26.html

[WKB]

Seriously, do you really think many people
are going to read a 15000+ word post?

[RatsDawg]

Oh, you know those robbers were just being opressed by Conservatism and Capitalism world wide, they don't have any other option than to rob from the rich, and now maybe it has finally hit home to George Bush, about how Capitalism and Conservatism dosn't work. Sarc off.

I betcha some Left Wing Moonbat in the drive by media will make a comment like that.

[NCC-1701]

Those are the ones. You probably wouldn't like the movie. IMO, the movie version ruined a good thing.

[Terabitten]

Was that photo, erm, enhanced?

[Accygirl]

Terrorists could also get them in the U.S. (See 9/11). What would you suggest be done about that? Confine them to the White House?

Both girls are adults, and if they have proper protection (apparently this is questionable in this incident), they should be able to go on a vacation or study/ work abroad and have jobs and lives, etc. Both have managed to stay out of trouble since the fake id incident in 2001, so I'm sure that they now understand how to exercise good judgment.

[CATravelAgent]

It's actually a pretty fair account of what happens to a country when their currency takes a catastrophic dive.

Like for instance, if the oil producing countries suddenly switched from trading oil in dollars over to euros.

[CATravelAgent]

OK OK OK - I get the point already!! Hey, I thought it would be intresting to FReepers.

[browngreengold]

My sons and I had the opportunity to meet the President on October 30th. While standing and waiting for over two hours for the President to emerge I had the opportunity to closely observe the Secret Service agents. These guys were top notch. You could just tell that they were all like coiled springs waiting to pounce on you if you gave them any reason whatsoever. They never took their eyes off of the crowd.

Apparently, the Secret Service has a second string which is assigned to protect the remainder of the family.

[Cobra64]

it scares me as to what may have been in her purse...WH ID's...etc

Nope.

[Beagle8U]

Great BOOK you posted. Got any on Russia?

[Kitten Festival]

No surprise. Argy is brimming with thieves. They take their cue from the example set by government. I'm not surprised at all.

[WKB]

Since you are in favor of Jesusland
I'll forgive and forget. :>)

[Fawn]

Someone's head is going to roll for this ....with every terrorist in the world gunning for an American trophy....this detail didn't notice a simple purse snatching right under their noses.

I hope so....can you imagine if this was Chelsea? That body guard would never be seen again.

[Cementjungle]

That's some post!

I've been to Buenos Aires several times, most recently this past Spring. I have never had any trouble and see it as any other city... beware of pickpockets in tourist areas, etc. The economy is on the rebound and the great prices for leather goods and the like are still good, just not as good as a few years ago when the economy was really bad.

I would recommend it to anyone, especially a side trip up to Iguazu Falls in the north... makes Niagra Falls look like kid's stuff!