Perhaps fear of the British public's vigorously expressed displeasure has put the White House on a travelling state of high alert in excess of the usual paranoia uh - that is, precautions.
DRM
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from -
http://www.news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1251842003
President brings his own 'ring of steel'
DAN MCDOUGALL
WHEN George Bush, the president of the United States, arrives in London for his official state visit next week, the effort and expense devoted to his every step and waking moment will be of a magnitude seldom seen.
As Air Force One touches down at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday, an entourage of about 900 people, including secret service agents, heavily armed commandos, politicians, secretaries and 200 journalists will join the most powerful man in the world.
Accompanying the presidential aircraft will be two identical Boeing 747-200 jets and three huge military cargo planes carrying fleets of limousines, surveillance vans, a squadron of helicopters and enough military hardware to invade a small nation - stealth is unlikely to be an option for the secret service agents responsible for White House security.
The most conservative estimates suggest that the three-day state visit will cost almost £10 million. In the light of continual terrorist threats against the US and Britain, sources in both Washington and Whitehall have said the cost is irrelevant.
But according to a growing army of UK- based critics of the visit, the logistical exercises serve as nothing more than a political function - the huge entourage, they claim, is nothing more than a manifestation of US might.
Last night, the arguments over who is covering the cost of Mr Bush’s visit continued to escalate after Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, claimed local taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for the police operation to protect the presidential entourage.
According to the Metropolitan Police, all police leave has been cancelled during the three-day visit.
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full at link above
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