No Man Left Behind

I don't know - I would think his job would be to ensure he didn't get separated from HIS OWN security (as a matter of fact they may have reminded him of this every day of the election). With the world's leftist attitudes I sure would want all my OWN security with me and not locked out in some scene right out of JFK The Movie.
Lifetrek
http://lifetrek.blogspot.com

Wait... there's that bulge again in the back of his jacket. Same place it was during the debate.

I CAN SEE! I CAN SEE WHAT IT IS, FINALLY!!!!

It's his backbone.

No wonder Kerry's jacket didn't have a bulge.

that's my nizzle! ;)

Here's a video ... it will play in RealOne/Player.

http://callisto.unete.cl:8080/ramgen/canal13/
disco7/cdn/nov/20/apec_1120_cena_lideres.rm

Link is split into two lines to avoid margin blow-out

Advance the counter to about 18 minutes ... that's the point where the Bushes arrive.

Gotta agree with LifeTrek. W was not "wrong" to go back for his SS agent. I don't see how you can say it was his "job" to keep moving?

Besides, as I'm sure you'll agree on one level, the man can do whatever he damn well pleases. :)

Take a look at the officer's holster in this image (you can see Bush's arm in the background, and bear in mind the officer is in the crowd, with a civilian's arm under his, between his arm and his pistol):

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20041121/i/r3042965404.jpg

Holster not covered. Trigger exposed.

I thought to myself, "That's my boy."

But, I must correct myself and say, "That's my man."

L

It's nice for Americans to see this example of how a real man behaves... just as it was when Cheney showed us another aspect of "extreme manhood." ;-)

Daily Recycler has it: link

And the left is still trying to figure out how they lost, not how we won! President Bush was the only MAN in the race! Dang, I thank God for George and Laura Bush.
Yes, he was right to get his man. I don't know how long the man will have a job, because HE is supposed to have the President's back, not the other way around. But I like his style. I know he would do the same for anyone of us.

GOD, how I love MY President!! Everytime you look at him, his character keeps shining through.....and that bulge under his coat? I think it's backbone....something undetectable with Kerry.

I'd love to know what those people thought when they felt someone crowding them, turned around, and saw it was George Bush!

Paul, I still have to disagree with you. According to this article, W did not have the rest of his detail with him. His agents were trailing him and were denied entry into the ceremony. W retrieved the first of two agents; the other never did make it inside (or at least not for some time).

Secondly, as the article reveals, this needs to be placed into the context of a standing dispute between the Secret Service and Chilean security. Apparently they don't seem to care that the President uses his own bodyguards, they wanted to handle security all by themselves. Well, that's a load of crap, as we both will agree. I'll bet the Chilean security knew damn well who that SS agent was.

I muist disagree with you also, Paul, albeit for reasons other than mcq.

De Gaulle pointed out that the graveyards are full of "indispensable" men. Bush is POTUS, but not God-Emperor of the Known Universe; nor, despite the shrillings of the Petulant Left, is there any evidence that he thinks of himself in that way.

He does not deliberately take foolhardy or unnecessary risks (yes, he does make mistakes, but then we all do...including the junior Senator from Massachusetts and, ipso facto, those who voted for him). But neither does he shrink from what seem to be necessary risks.

According to what I've been reading this morning (Sunday), you are mistaken about Bush having the rest of his detail with him. NONE of his detail had passed through the door with him and that is what caused such consternation. The Chilean security detail believed that they and only they were to provide security for the President within this dinner. Apparently, only the U.S. requires that the SS be present at all times with the President. Other countries defer to the local country's security detail. There had been prior disagreements about this during the day and our SS was expecting that the Chileans might try to pull something that night.

According to what I've been reading this morning (Sunday), you are mistaken about Bush having the rest of his detail with him. NONE of his detail had passed through the door with him and that is what caused such consternation. The Chilean security detail believed that they and only they were to provide security for the President within this dinner. Apparently, only the U.S. requires that the SS be present at all times with the President. Other countries defer to the local country's security detail. There had been prior disagreements about this during the day and our SS was expecting that the Chileans might try to pull something that night.

MCG

I don't think you understand how the Prez travels. They have an "onion peel" formation with circles of security like peeling an onion. 2 are usually within feet of him. (They are the ones that tackle him if they hear the word 'gun.')

Then they have 3-4 a few more feet away. They tackle anyone rushing the Prez.

Then they have dozens in another layer. etc.

From other reports there were at least 3 Secret Service people ahead of him. Trust me the President does not go "on point."

I have a solution: Bush could put Ron Artest and Ben Wallace on his Secret Service Detail. I don't think any Chilean agents would dare to lay a finger on them after Friday Night.

The full story says in context "
Bush noticed the fracas after posing for pictures on a red carpet with the summit host, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos and his wife and first lady Laura Bush.

Abandoning the other three, Bush walked over to the agents, reached through the dispute and pulled his agent from the scrum."

The other three in this context refers to the President of Chile, his wife, and Laura Bush. There is no mention of three other Secret Service agents being there. The RPesident was right not to go anywhere without his bodyguard. This could very well have been an interntional act on the part of the Chilean agents for all he knows...Better to go back to a place where you've got at least one gun on your side, v. going forward to a place where you've got none.
C.

Paul,

You keep mentioning "other reports" that state other SS were already in and guarding the President. Please provide a link to these reports.

Paul, I agree with Remy---provide other reports. It looks like the Chilean security folks were being hardasses here and not supporting his preferred methods of security. Unless you have documentation that other American security agents were engaged at the time, I believe my point still stands.

Based on my reading of the report and the follow up news (drudge aftermath report - dinner cancled because they refused to use metal detectors) I have to disagree with you Paul and agree with most posters here. While I am sure he had his distant security I believe the news stated they cut off ALL of his close in detail.

To top it off comes the reports on the dinner and metal detectors - hmmmmm, like I said, sounds like a scene out of JFK The Movei to me. Risk the crowd you just passed through with your security or go on without them.

I know my choice would have been the same as the President.
DKK
http://lifeterk.blogspot.com

I think that Bush must have known what was going on. The SS source quoted in the article said they knew something like this would happen. I think Bush knew what the problem was and wasn't going to stand for a pissing contest that interfered with his security, so he went back and fished his agent out of the crowd, clearly displaying what he thought should happen.

It is alarming and frightening, though, that the President could be left so exposed like that. I'll bet the SS has a lot to say before they head back to Chile again anytime soon.

makes me mad as hell. the secret service really blew it.
this must never never happen again. why was the agent so passive?

I looked closely at the vid. The whole deal took 20 seconds, from Bush first turning around to retrieving his guy to walking back to the Chilean president.

There were no other Secret Service visible inside the hall; from the story above the Chileans blocked ALL his detail (which would have arrived with him, of course).

You can imagine what Bush and the SS agents were thinking -- he was being separated from his detail in preparation for an assassination
attempt.

I agree with several other posters. He did right to go back and get at least one bodyguard. Walking onward and leaving his guys behind would have been foolish.

And he didn't look irritated to me though he might well have been. He should have insisted on the rest of his detail being admitted.

I can't believe that the advance work was at fault; I think the Chilean security either didn't get the word or, more likely, got it and ignored it.

~LS

Oh give me a break. These weren't just random folks holding the SS agent back, they were trained, armed Chilean security agents whose jobs it was to protect all of the dignitaries inside in the first place.

Why don't you enlighten us with your brilliance and tell us how this SS could have actually done anything differently that would have actually improved the security of the President. He was outnumbered, basically getting into a fistfight with armed guards. Yes these guys are supposed to put their lives on the line for their boss, but only if doing so would actually be effective.

What is more it is clear that the Chileans were being real asses about the security issues, from the planning phases onwards, so the SS agents were even more outnumbered than they would normally be.

(Lee, my comment was meant for j Blue, not you---we cross-posted)

(Lee, my comment was meant for j Blue, not you---we cross-posted)

McG,

I understand.

Still, a regiment of Chilean security guards wouldn't provide the last line of defense -- a couple of guys next to Bush, trained to take a bullet for him if worst comes to worst.

~LS

I absolutely agree, Lee, and that was why Bush was right to insist that his bodyguards accompany him---and why he was to go retrieve at least one from the fracas.

My point to j Blue was simply that there wasn't much the SS agents could do once they were purposefully blocked by the Chileans. I think they did their best and I think it's silly for them of all people to be criticized. Criticizing GWB in this situation is reasonable; criticizing the pre-planning is reasonable; criticizing the Chileans is most CERTAINLY reasonable. Suggesting that the SS agents didn't push hard enough is not.

I just watched the video. I am not quite as quick to fault Chilean security: once the principals were inside, the whole crowd surged forward and the security people moved to block them. Some guy jabbering in a foreign language would probably not be seen as another secuity agent, especially as the Secret Service does not wear its guns visibly as a rule.

As to the metal detector thing, well, ask yourself how you would react to POTUS being asked to go through one to meet Chirac.

Not enough info in either case to really judge.

I think W avoided imminent assassination on this
visit. Politicians have a short shelf life in those
narco/Farco countries. We ALL lucked out and
there should be a strong looksee done by the CIA
aboot it.

Actually, John, the SS agents were supposedly readily identifiable to the Chilean agents: (from the Washington Times article) "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."

mcg at November 22, 2004 03:58 AM

I saw in a photo of the incident that the agents were wearing photo ID badges around their necks. They were readily identifiable to the Chilean police.

More and more this seems like a deliberate stunt by the Chileans. Let's not forget that Chile, while democratic today, has a long history of instability. The Secret Service was not about to leave presidential protection to police whose initial screening may not have been up to our standards.

We don't kmow that the president of Chile indeed had the power to order the police to allow the Secret Service to enter the hall. He certainly stood their with his thumb up his a$$ while Bush waded into the crowd at the door.

~LS

mcg at November 22, 2004 03:58 AM

I saw in a photo of the incident that the agents were wearing photo ID badges around their necks. They were readily identifiable to the Chilean police.

More and more this seems like a deliberate stunt by the Chileans. Let's not forget that Chile, while democratic today, has a long history of instability. The Secret Service was not about to leave presidential protection to police whose initial screening may not have been up to our standards.

We don't kmow that the president of Chile indeed had the power to order the police to allow the Secret Service to enter the hall. He certainly stood their with his thumb up his a$$ while Bush waded into the crowd at the door.

~LS