President will be protected by 16,000 police officers

[pippin]

"One in nine police officers in England and Wales will be protecting George Bush on his state visit to Britain, which begins today.

Ten thousand more police officers have been drafted in amid rising concerns about the threat from terrorists and the scale of anti-war demonstrations. That brings to 16,000 the number of policemen and women who will be deployed during the four-day trip.

The bill will run to at least £7m, and the British taxpayer will pay for it.

The Metropolitan Police announced that it was boosting the numbers of officers on duty in London from 5,000 to 14,000. . .

The unprecedented security operation, which begins when the President arrives in London this evening, is partly in response to new intelligence that indicates violent anti-Bush demonstrators are travelling from continental Europe to protest in the capital. . . .As well as the massive police operation in London, around 1,300 officers will be on duty when President Bush has lunch with Tony Blair and a group of residents in the Prime Minister's Sedgefield constituency on Friday."

The Indedependent
November 18, 2003
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=464815

[ixion]

1. such a popular president...*snicker*

Tell me, why would such a 'popular president' (as the media whores continue to tell us) need 16K jack booted thugs to protect him? Wouldn't a president who was popular be loved by the people?

And you can't say it's just the Brits (even though they're supposed to be a member of the 'Coalition of the Willing'... no, this is happening everywhere, and yet we're supposed to believe that this cretin is good for the US?

How does the saying go? Oh yes... "Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining."

[Kellanved]

3. The number of Policemen seems to be a good indicator

for his international approval rating.
2002 he needed *only* 10000 policemen in Berlin.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

15. Don't think the police are particularly happy about it either.

Bush's goons really pissed off the Metropolitan Police with their Total Exclusion Zone nonsense. Not a smart idea.

[Vis Numar]

2. 16,000 Smiths, that is...

We need a Neo.

[underpants]

4. "Europeans have only seen the caricature ofthe president not the real man"

From a "senior Whtie House official" As reported this morning by NBC's David Gregory at the White House

[Kellanved]

5. Very good description of his foreign policy .

EOM

[Spentastic]

6. Er

And now they won't be able too?

What's his point?

[liberalmuse]

7. Bwahahahaha...

Americans have yet to see the 'real man', but it seems that 50% of us are content with the grotesque caricature. I have a feeling trying to find the 'real man' in George W. Bush is like peeling an onion--you end up with a bunch of smelly layers with nothing inside.

[underpants]

10. That's what I thought too. AMERICANS don't know the "real man"

The failed businesses
The whole Texas Air Guard fiasco
The Insider trading and blaming the Post Office for taking 18 months to deliver his reports to the SEC
The SEC general counsel who chose not to investigate and who had been Poppa's lawyer before joingin the SEC

Just to name a few

[Tatiana]

16. Well, yeah he's an idiot.

But, but, but... he's a GOOD CHRISTIAN MAN!!!!!!

That's all those morons care about. He could eat babies but his apologists would excuse it all away by saying he's a good Christian man.

I don't think there is any reasoning with those folks.

[underpants]

18. What do you mean "could eat babies"?

:bounce:

[TolstoyAndy]

19. Spelling corrections

LiberalMuse said:
"you end up with a bunch of smelly layers with nothing inside"

but they're really a bunch of smelly liars with nothing inside (but evil). :evilgrin:

(It rhymes better with Brit accent...)

[Occulus]

29. LOL nt

[rman]

22. we saw the real man allright: he has no clothes on

it's just amazing how far he gets with this new clothes scam.

[smallprint]

8. They are looking to crack some heads or stage an 'incident'

I posted an article in Editorials about this:

"In such circumstances, and with tensions already running high, it would be entirely possible for the police or some other British or US state agency to create a security incident—possibly through the use of provocateurs in the crowd. This would serve the dual purpose of identifying opposition to the war with the activity of terrorist groups and lending a veil of legitimacy to the occupation of Iraq and the general offensive against democratic rights that has been mounted under the pretext of the pursuing the “war against terrorism.”

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=21914

[bambo53]

9. I have a real bad feeling about this trip

I get the feeling that all hell's gonna break loose and something horrific is gonna happen.

It's always calm right before the storm.

[schultzee]

25. I sort of do to, like he is up to something else, something bad

[Malva Zebrina]

11. this is disgusting headlines in Yahoo

all of a sudden, George and the princess pickled are not going to London to make a nice little state visit that no president ever before has made, blah blah--now, apparently, the purpose of the trip has changed. The headlines say he is going there to discuss Iraq: !!!!

Bush Heads to London to Discuss Iraq

and from Reuters



Bush Leaves on Iraq Damage-Control Trip to Britain

This is totally disgusting--this slimy group knows nothing but obscuring truth--it looks as though George and his lump-o-frump are not being welcomed the way they thought--as in the romantic "fairy tale" the frump said it felt like. Now, instead of billing the trip as a great state event that will honor the lovely, smiling, first awful couple, they, Rove and the media control office, have decided to make it appear as if it is really a working trip. They are desperate.

[bushisanidiot]

12. 16,000 Needed To Protect AWOL From Our Allies? HAHAHAHA!!!

the emperor has no clothes. THE BRITAINS ARE GOING TO POINT AND LAUGH AT THE CHIMP!!

[ze_dscherman]

13. Steve Bell's comment

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/0,7371,337484,00.html

[Nihil]

14. Sorry to be pedantic but it's not quite that many ...

It is actually 14,000 police shifts rather than 14,000 police officers.

(Heard on the radio this morning and also on the BBC web site
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3279179.stm)

Nihil

[Don_G]

17. Okay

14,000 Police shifts, plus MI-5, MI-6, the US Secret Service and the UK and US Armed Forces that are on alert in the area.

16,000 is a very conservative number overall.

[koopie57]

20. question?

last night on the news the police in London were carrying machine gun looking weapons? Is this normal? If not, what must the citizens feel like to see this? Unless I misunderstood what I saw? I realize I am niave, but I still thought they carried those clubs.

And I too am concerned over this trip. Unfortunately the moron is our problem and I hope no one gets hurt over there cuz this critter has to get his photo ops.

[Don_G]

23. They're In The Police Armory

Because of the problems with the IRA in the past, but I believe the police aren't normally issued submachine guns to carry and display.

I doubt that the police want to carry them myself.

[LivingInTheBubble]

24. I've seen them armed like that before.

It means "serious shit is going down" if you see them armed like that..


Its like touching down in another country, you know the country is dangerous when you see machine guns and jeeps at the airport.

[schultzee]

26. I am afraid that someone will do something and the police will

mow down rows of innocents on George's behalf.

[shamanstar]

21. good thing he isnt going somewhere that didnt support the war

this is a country that supposedly supports him. hmm...

[realFedUp]

35. just what I was thinking....

:eyes:

[LynneSin]

27. Of those 16,000 I'm sure at least 99% of them

what to take a swing at him with their club.

I hope these guys are getting hazardous pay duty!!!

[cliss]

28. Well, if all this was for a Photo Op,

they should just use Adobe Photo Shop. They can take a photo of Bush and transpose it onto a photo of the Tower of London and presto, he's the man of the hour.

Or, they can just use the 'erase' function, and get rid of all those seething, snarling crowds. All you're left with is a Smiling Chimp and a beautiful, successful trip.

They could have saved a lot of money.

[Occulus]

32. They'll learn about

Maya next... then we can remove the crowds protesting against him and replace it with crowds and signs in support instead.

Maya Live can do it, a function available in Maya Unlimited. This is the software that helped create the effects for The Matrix, the new Star Wars movies, Shrek, and on and on. It's a truly remarkable piece of software, but I fear it being used against us- as is possible with any tool.

[tom_paine]

30. Who? You mean Emperor Bunnypants*?

Amerika doesn't have a pResident.

[DoYouEverWonder]

31. For someone who thinks he's the second coming

why such extraordinary security measures? So much for being a man of faith?

[young_at_heart]

33. How many for Clinton?

What did the Brits have to pay for his visit?

[Tatiana]

34. They love us over there!