3,000 agents to guard Bush's life

[Nambe]

The (Bangkok) Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd

At least 3,000 US security agents will be on hand to protect the life of President George W Bush during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.

National police chief Sant Sarutanont said ``every square inch of Bangkok'' was being checked in advance of the October meeting _ including water pipes in the Chao Phraya river and drains beneath buildings. ---

Pol Gen Sant said the use of so many US agents should not be interpreted as a lack of trust in the capability of Thai police to ensure security.

``They always mount this kind of security wherever the president goes, whether it's a visit to advanced countries like Germany or England or a less advanced country like Thailand. The US is a major target for terrorist attacks, so such tight security is understandable.'' ---

[Maple]

1. As bizarre as this sounds

yeah, this is what happens when any American president visits another country.

It's one reason we hate to see ANY of them visit, much less a president as paranoid as Bush.

Having the Queen visit causes less problems for goodness sakes.

[Cha]

2. No shit? that puke head needs 3,000 agents worth of our tax

money? I heard the Police Chief in Portland, Oregon sent the waffle house the bill for his security in Portland!
]

[dArKeR]

41. And what do you think Shit-for-Brains accomplishes at these meetings?

http://darkerxdarker.tripod.com/

[Neutrino]

42. Bush is now the Texas version of Salmon Rushdie--and

that's what he wanted, so that's what he's got. "Bring it on" is
the way his mind works. go figure.

[chenGOD]

45. That's quite the insult to Rushdie...

Seriously, if Bush had half the amount of talent that Salman Rushdie had in his little finger, the world would be a better place.

[Arun29]

47. 23 Million Estimate

My Estimate:

1) 3,000 Agents make an average of around $100,000 in total compensation (2,000 per week). Some advance team is already there (I'll estimate 10%) and the thing is October 20th!!!

2700 Agents x 1 week x $2000 = 5.4 Million
300 Advance Agents x 9 weeks x $2,000 = 5.4 Million

2) 3,000 round trip tickets estimated at $600 a piece in military cost:

3,000 Agents x $600 = 1.8 Million

3) Food, lodging, and per diem estimated at $300 per day:

300 Advance Agents x $300 per Day x 63 (7 Days x 9 Weeks)
= 5.67 Million

2,700 Agents x $300 Per Day x 6 Days (Setup and Visit Estimate)
= 4.86 Million

Total $23.1 Miliion Estimated Cost in Agents.

[TEXASYANKEE]

49. Waffle house!

Ha, that's a good one! Whistle Ass in the Waffle House!!! :-)

[searchingforlight]

3. I wonder if they're included in the cut in the pay raise Bush mentioned?

[Jacobin]

4. Maybe they should teleconference instead

No one over there wants to see his sorry ass anyway

[Kellanved]

5. It was a nightmare in Berlin

They glued the sewer-covers shut and so on.
But in total only 1000 Agents were officially in Berlin AFAIR.
Of course they had requsted 11000 German police officers to back them up; it's very expensive to welcome the POTUS.

Edit: It should read this potus. Clinton even took a bath in the crowd without any problems.

[LiberalFighter]

6. I look at it as the Secret Service/or whoever...

as incompetent.

It would seem that other countries should consider the cost factor and tell whistle ass that they will accept an invitation to the U.S. instead. Meaning... don't bother going to their country.

[eek]

7. Thailand? He can get tips on "dates" from brother neal!

n/t

[PartyPooper]

26. That was very naughty!

;-)

[Kellanved]

11. The Chancellor brings his own security as well

As does the (German) President.
Even when visiting the US (or especially so; the quality of the US security isn't considered as being especially high)
It's not as expensve as welcoming Bush, (€15 million for the police officers alone), but it isn't cheap either.

[Maple]

12. Yes, plus all the advance people

who check sheets, under the bed, breakfast food, clear other tenants out on entire floors...insist that the police of that country are useless....our Mounties always reply that THEY have never lost a leader....and so on and so on...

The US embassy in Ottawa is visible everywhere it is so covered in turrets, barbed wire, barriers and so on...everyone immediately knows whose embassy it is.

Makes people nervous being anywhere around it...you're afraid to cough a block away in case you get shot!

[LifeDuringWartime]

16. thats frightening

are there any pictures of it?

[Kellanved]

18. the embassy in Berlin is much the same

The whole street is walled up since 9/11.
Sometimes there are tanks standing in front of it - if you think Berliners like walls, then you should see the reaction to tanks. (It's near the Brandenburg Gate)



And they got a permission to build a new one in a very frequented street - walling that one up will cause a major public outrage.

[Maple]

20. Yeah that's much like

what the one in Canada looks like except there are crash barriers as well, and it takes up all kinds of street space.

Stands out like a sore thumb in Ottawa.

On edit: All the windows are sealed over too.

Giant bunker...only above ground.

Well ...that we know of.

On edit: This is what it was supposed to look like:

http://www.ottawakiosk.com/us_embassy.html

[trogdor]

43. You're talking about the US Embassy in Ottawa?

Gawdawful ugly-ass building. It looks like a goddam prison or something.

[GCP]

38. Michael Moore has a point about how paranoid we are

as a country. It's so obvious when you look at other leaders and countries.

[PartyPooper]

13. (cough)...Clinton WAS a bona fide president.

He was elected BY the people. Junior was "installed" by SCOTUS! Big difference, if you know what I mean.

:eyes:

[JPace]

8. Tell me this is a joke!

3000 agents to protect one miserable
piece of an imitation of a pResident?
The bill for this must be enormous!

Who pays for housing them and flying
them? I am so ashamed of his corny
and unpolished attempts at communicating,
can't he just send a letter or something
and stay here? Whatever happend to
sending a diplomat who probably won't
need more than a couple of bodyguards
plus the diplomat can probably speak
correctly enough to be understood.

Oh God! How much longer must we
endure this fool?

[UpInArms]

10. if the base pay is $20 per hour,

that amounts to $60,000 per hour (that is just "base pay") not including overtime, meals, housing or travel expenses.

in 24 hours that amounts to $1,440,000 in pay alone!

[Don_G]

9. 3K Agents Times 60K/Year?

Plus travel expenses?

When are we going to get a President that's not afraid to Lead?

[burrowowl]

14. I'm not sure

there are 3000 secret Service Agents trained for protecting the President. So I guess they will have to hire Dynacorp or Haliburton agents.
$20 an hour are you kidding? Look at $100 an hour (not all goes to the agent) plus logistics (housing, feeding, equipment, etc.) will probabably be extra.

[UpInArms]

15. not saying that they are "paid" $20 per hour

just using a figure to show a starting point for cost :(

[hippywife]

17. I don't see why all this is necessary

I think people have figured out by now that if they blow away WhistleAss, the world is still stuck with big ol' KazooButt Cheney. (or as Dennis call's them "our unelected president and his undisclosed vice president") I'm sorry, but that's a much scarier proposition.


In other words, I think * is pretty safe traveling with just his nanny.

[catzies]

22. Shudder. He has "assassination insurance" just like Poppy did

with Dan Quayle.

[Aristus]

19. The SS becomes a small army devoted solely to the protection

of "The Leader". Hmmm. Think we've seen this movie before.

[greenwow]

21. No one person is that important

What a megalomaniac!

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[greenwow]

44. Moderators overzealous again?

Why would a message be deleted that suggested something that would greatly help this country? What the heck is up with the moderators again?

[Catherine Vincent]

24. This thread begs me to refer bush as CHICKEN GEORGE.

What a wimp!

[JPace]

25. "bush as CHICKEN GEORGE"

Chicken is a fitting description. Remember
9/11 when he was in hiding all day long?
He didn't come out of hiding or send a
word of encouragement all day long. It's
like we did not have a president.....
come to think of it we don't!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

27. Thanks GOD. If they don't protect him we're stuck with Cheney!

Protect him!

[onehandle]

28. Are the preteen prostitutes that he surely will partake of....

...counted as "security agents"?

[Lisa]

29. It really DOES take a village to look after a child!

Especially one who's always getting into trouble like Georgie.


3000. Wow. "An army FOR one"?

[liberalmuse]

30. This is too much!

The Bushes are a huge drain on this country. They've been living off the public treasury for years. The Repubs complain about some poor mother with 3 kids being on welfare while this piece of sh*t has 3,000 SS babysitting him! Don't flatter yourself, Whistle Ass, no one's going to risk jail time to off your sorry ass, because you're just not worth it! Maybe he needs 3,000 SS to make sure he doesn't off himself by accident? They probably have to chew his Cheetos for him and pad the coffee tables in his hotel room.

[grasswire]

31. karlschneider....

...you really should remove your post number 23. It's not good for DU.

[Mari333]

32. WHAT a Waste of taxpayers money

the man should have been an abortion, but now we have to pay for his security?
He is hated everywhere and hasnt got a clue.

[MetaTrope]

33. I'm just wondering which is going to take down Bush in Bangkok

a) The booze
b) The smack
c) The transsexual hookers
d) The prepubescent hookers
e) The heat

Got my money on (e), actually...

[Khephra]

34. All 3000 of them look like this, right?

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

35. what a waste

a waste of taxpayer money.
Even with the best security,
it's hard to be "really" safe these days.
Get ten thousand guards and still there's still no guarantees.

Shrub should probably not venture off too far in the hostile world he's created.

[Spirochete]

36. 3000? Sheesh.

The number of people keeping him alive is more than the number of people he let die on 9/11.
Someone might consider that a challenge...

[Turley]

37. SS Details

In the Army I got to work with Potus, VPOTUS, FLOTUS, SECDEF, and some others in the Balkans.

The POTUS force is massive but nowhere near 3000. I'm guessing that figure includes a lot of logistics people and other hangers-on.

You would not want to mess with the President's security.

[frustrated_lefty]

50. Nah, it's not logistics people and hangers-on;

they had to create a new division in security to protect him from runaway pretzels.

[DoYouEverWonder]

39. If W really believes he was picked by god

then why do they need to go through such extroidinary lengths to assure his safety? You would think a man of such faith wouldn't have to worry about such things?

[susu369]

40. But we must realize the importance here

Whistle Ass is going to an economic summit.

Whee, I cannot stop laughing.

[Ganja Ninja]

46. 3000 Body Guards is an awful lot....

So if those terrorists think they can frighten or break the resolve of the American people by attacking the fearless elite force flight suited hero of the Iraq war then I say “Bring’em on”! They don’t scare me half as much as he does.

[Betty]

48. So much money

to protect someone so worthless!!