secret service told to leave minigun at home for bush visit
apprantly the secret service have been told to leave there minigun at home. I can't really see how a minigun can be mounted even semi covertly or much use in close protection.
The secret service have been busy making friends failing to get the entire central london closed down trying to get the tube closed and demanding immunity if any of there agents shoot someone accidently.
Now the secret service are professionals and have a job to do But trying to get a major Financial centre to close down for three Days is going beyond the bounds of the possible.
Yeah, and they requested that the whole of Buckinham Palace be outfitted with bulletproof glass, and should be reinforced so it could withstand an attack with a crashing airplane. Made me laugh out loud and shake my head in disbelief at the same time.
martinexsquaddie watching This Morning?Very silly demands IMO... Would they do the same if Blair was going to Washington DC or another big city (New York etc)?
According to press reports the Secret Service is allowed to bring assault rifles and light machineguns with them. Suppose that's enough firepower with SAS troops on stand-by in Buckingham Palace and Kensington Barracks.
Saw a program about the presidents car...real fortress on wheels. Why can't they just have the meeting in the car instead?
'Shoot-to-kill' demand by US
Martin Bright, home affairs editor
Sunday November 16, 2003
The Observer
Home Secretary David Blunkett has refused to grant diplomatic immunity to armed American special agents and snipers travelling to Britain as part of President Bush's entourage this week.
In the case of the accidental shooting of a protester, the Americans in Bush's protection squad will face justice in a British court as would any other visitor, the Home Office has confirmed.
The issue of immunity is one of a series of extraordinary US demands turned down by Ministers and Downing Street during preparations for the Bush visit.
These included the closure of the Tube network, the use of US air force planes and helicopters and the shipping in of battlefield weaponry to use against rioters.
In return, the British authorities agreed numerous concessions, including the creation of a 'sterile zone' around the President with a series of road closures in central London and a security cordon keeping the public away from his cavalcade.
The White House initially demanded the closure of all Tube lines under parts of London to be visited during the trip. But British officials dismissed the idea that a suicide bomber could kill the President by blowing up a Tube train. Ministers are also believed to have dismissed suggestions that a 'sterile zone' around the President should be policed entirely by American special agents and military.
Demands for the US air force to patrol above London with fighter aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters have also been turned down.
The President's protection force will be armed - as Tony Blair's is when he travels abroad - and around 250 secret service agents will fly in with Bush, but operational control will remain with the Metropolitan Police.
The Americans had also wanted to travel with a piece of military hardware called a 'mini-gun', which usually forms part of the mobile armoury in the presidential cavalcade. It is fired from a tank and can kill dozens of people. One manufacturer's description reads: 'Due to the small calibre of the round, the mini-gun can be used practically anywhere. This is especially helpful during peacekeeping deployments.'
Ministers have made clear to Washington that the firepower of the mini-gun will not be available during the state visit to Britain. In return, the Government has agreed to close off much of Whitehall during the visit - the usual practice in Britain is to use police outriders to close roads as the cavalcade passes to cause minimal disruption to traffic.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: 'Negotiations between here and the US have been perfectly amicable. If there have been requests, they have not posed any problems.'
An internal memo sent to Cabinet Office staff and leaked to the press this weekend urged staff to work from home if at possible during the presidential visit. Serious disruption would be caused by 'the President Bush vehicle entourage requesting cleared secured vehicle routes around London and the security cordons creating a sterile zone around him'.
Meanwhile, negotiations are continuing between police and demonstrators about the route of the march. Representatives of the Stop the War Coalition will meet police at Scotland Yard tomorrow to discuss whether protesters will be able to march through Parliament Square and Whitehall. Spokesman Andrew Burgin said he hoped for 'a good old-fashioned British compromise'.
Originally Posted by Saranof
Saw a program about the presidents car...real fortress on wheels. Why can't they just have the meeting in the car instead?
That is the best comment EVER!!!!!!!!
This is the car: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3276669.stm (bottom of page)
I thought the mini gun was a joke.
That is pathetic, what the hell is going to be happening in the UK that requires a mini gun.
Overkill.
i read an artical in car and driver a long while back that showed a minigun mounted inside a suburban. part of the roof just poped back and the gun poped up, you couldnt tell anything was different untill the gun was through the roof.
The Jackal?
Apparantly what they wanted was two Black hawks circling over london, armed with miniguns... And their own snipers...
And of course they wanted full diplomatic immunity, so that if anyone of the Pres. security force were to kill someone, nothing would become of it...
This was, NATURALLY, turned down...
Miniguns... Jeez...
Well,I think part of the Secret Service force are on counter-sniper duty. And there was an Al-Qaeda plan to use unmanned small planes loaded with gas canisters during the G-8-summit in Italy in 2001. So the use of helicopters could be justified to shoot down any approaching small aircraft.
Bush's flying circus leaves out only the kitchen sink
Presidents of the United States are not noted for travelling light. And George W Bush will prove no exception when he becomes the first incumbent of the White House to make a state visit to Britain.
Mr Bush will be accompanied by a retinue consisting of 250 members of the Secret Service, 150 advisers from the National Security Department, 200 representatives of other government departments and 50 political aides.
There will also be approximately 100 journalists travelling with him. There are also his personal chef, personal assistants, four cooks, medics and the presidential 15-strong sniffer dog team.
One person who always travels with Mr Bush is the military aide who carries his "nuclear briefcase". The aide, an army colonel, will have his own room at Buckingham Palace.
It is not revealed if Mr or Mrs Bush will have stylists with them, although the First Lady may be well-advised to do so, having become the butt of uncharming remarks in America about her fashion sense. But they will both bring extensive wardrobes with them ready for a state banquet or a trip around Sedgefield.
To transport this vast caravan, Mr Bush will use Air Force One and Two, both 747s, and a third chartered passenger jet. C17 Globemaster cargo aircraft are believed already to have flown over his motorcade, including the armoured limousines that he always takes him with abroad.
His accompanying freight may not be as exotic as it was on his trip to Africa in July when he took speed boats. But it is believed that his security handlers will bring a Marine Corps Sea King helicopter and a converted Black Hawk helicopter.
The police operation to protect Mr Bush on his visit next week will be unprecedented, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police said yesterday.
Sir John Stevens, who will have overall control of policing while the president stays with the Queen in London, has cancelled all leave in the force, which will have about 5,000 officers on duty between Tuesday and Friday.
Protesters against the war in Iraq and the ongoing involvement of British and US troops are determined that their opposition to Mr Bush and his policies will be heard by the President.
Scotland Yard has consistently said that London faces a "high" risk of terrorist attack, particularly from Islamic fundamentalist groups, but faces domestic pressure to allow anti-Bush demonstrations to take place.
If they start firing a hundred rounds a second over London they are going to be even more unpopular.
Change of subject....I got to have a good look around the Prime Minister's armoured Jaguar. Its a solid piece of kit too.
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