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Caribbean-Latin America
Bush Pulls Top Security Agent From Fracas
2004-11-21
Photo sequence here.
President Bush stepped into the middle of a confrontation and pulled his lead Secret Service agent away from Chilean security officials who barred his bodyguards from entering an elegant dinner for 21 world leaders Saturday night. Several Chilean and American agents got into a pushing and shoving match outside the cultural center where the dinner was held. The incident happened after Bush and his wife, Laura, had just posed for pictures on a red carpet with the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos and his wife, Luisa Duran. As Bush stepped inside, Chilean agents closed ranks at the door, blocking the president's agents from following. Stopping for more pictures, Bush noticed the fracas and turned back. He reached through the dispute and pulled his agent from the scrum and into the building.
"Awright, break this up!"
The president, looking irritated, straightened his shirt cuffs as he went into the dinner. The incident was shown on APEC television.
One riot, one Texan.
"Chilean security tried to stop the president's Secret Service from accompanying him," said White House deputy press secretary Claire Buchan. "He told them they were with him and the issue was resolved."
"Next time you boys want to fight, bring yer shootin' irons!"
Posted by:Steve White

#24  2 things:

Imagine if this had been during the election: there woudl ahve been screams from the left of "Setup" "Fake Photo-op".

Secondly, rkb - I know a little Aikido. And there is no higher martial art IMHO. My practice has been mainly nearest to the Iwama-ryu style (lots of weapons traning with jo and bo-ken). I'm still among the mudansha Aikidoka, but I am qualified to test to join the yudansha so I can wear the Hakama (if I would just get back into practice to re-certify my qualification, that is).

Jiyuwaza is especially fun when you can get some randori mixed in with enough high quality uke's so you can really do the techniques (instead of holding back to keep from injuring them).
Posted by: OldSpook   2004-11-21 5:57:39 PM  

#23  2 things:

Imagine if this had been during the election: there woudl ahve been screams from the left of "Setup" "Fake Photo-op".

Secondly, rkb - I know a little Aikido. And there is no higher martial art IMHO. My practice has been mainly nearest to the Iwama-ryu style (lots of weapons traning with jo and bo-ken). I'm still among the mudansha Aikidoka, but I am qualified to test to join the yudansha so I can wear the Hakama (if I would just get back into practice to re-certify my qualification, that is).

Jiyuwaza is especially fun when you can get some randori mixed in with enough high quality uke's so you can really do the techniques (instead of holding back to keep from injuring them).
Posted by: OldSpook   2004-11-21 5:57:39 PM  

#22  It wasn't just W.

Via the Telegraph:

Chilean guards were also involved in a shoving match with Chinese bodyguards accompanying President Hu Jintao at the Apec summit, successfully preventing the Chinese guards from following their head of state into a meeting with Mr Lagos.

Posted by: anonymous2u   2004-11-21 10:52:39 PM  

#21  2 things:

Imagine if this had been during the election: there woudl ahve been screams from the left of "Setup" "Fake Photo-op".

Secondly, rkb - I know a little Aikido. And there is no higher martial art IMHO. My practice has been mainly nearest to the Iwama-ryu style (lots of weapons traning with jo and bo-ken). I'm still among the mudansha Aikidoka, but I am qualified to test to join the yudansha so I can wear the Hakama (if I would just get back into practice to re-certify my qualification, that is).

Jiyuwaza is especially fun when you can get some randori mixed in with enough high quality uke's so you can really do the techniques (instead of holding back to keep from injuring them).
Posted by: OldSpook   2004-11-21 5:57:39 PM  

#20  God Bless this man, George W. Bush. We actually have a real man in office and not the phoney Demonrats of Clinton, Gore or Kerry. President Bush and the Secret Service are having a good laugh/story on Air Force One on the way home...
Posted by: Constitutional Individualist   2004-11-21 2:08:03 PM  

#19  More description and commentary here.
Posted by: Steve White   2004-11-21 12:45:38 PM  

#18  Ship, it wasn't the walk so much as a certain wink and self-satisfied smile. But don't get me wrong - I like what he did. I'm grading student presentations right now & I'd give him an A. Just saying he could have got an A+ .... LOL

OTOH I can also see how the Secret Service's demands wouldn't sit well with the host country or the other leaders. However justified and understandable, it sure does come across as heavy handed, as Bush is the only head of state I know of who demands 100% presence of his security detail with him at state events.

BTW, the Washington Times reports that Bush's 2nd agent was treated even rougher, with Chilean security guys trying to headlock him and slam him into a concrete wall. He didn't get in and catch up to Bush until a few minutes later.
Posted by: rkb   2004-11-21 11:37:35 AM  

#17  Some additional impact

Formal State Dinner Canceled at APEC

The dinner planned for Bush and 200 others by Chilean President Ricardo Lagos was reportedly scrapped after Chile was unwilling to accept security measures sought by the U.S. Secret Service, including a demand that all guests pass through metal detectors.

Leading Chilean newspaper El Mercurio reported that the disagreement led Bush and Lagos to instead hold a small "social dinner" with a handful of aides from each side.

Trotta [the Secret Service Agent rescued by W] has been taking good-natured ribbing for having to be rescued by the man he's charged with protecting.

The melee and Bush's intervention, caught on tape by the official television camera of the Asia-Pacific Economic cooperation summit, was replayed incessantly on American stations. "Bush the Brave," said a Fox News Channel crawler promoting the upcoming footage.

Though clearly pleased at the macho image Saturday night's events painted of their boss, the White House kept its comments understated. "The president is someone who tends to delegate, but every now and then he's a hands on kind of guy," Bush press secretary Scott McClellan said.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-11-21 11:29:14 AM  

#16  rkb, that swagger is just the way he walks. Check out the hands, they are always thumbs in. I expect Moms may have something to do with this.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-11-21 11:23:32 AM  

#15  It does and I liked him doing that.

What I referred to was that he indulged himself in a bit of a self-satisfied swagger afterwards, in front of cameras. Understandable, but it would have been even better if he had given no reaction at all beyond his intervention - i.e., this is beneath notice, I fixed it and now we're going in to dinner.
Posted by: rkb   2004-11-21 11:16:22 AM  

#14  To the degree that Bush can do the same, when appropriate, it will serve us well.

Agreed but I don't see the issue arising here. The fact that our President's first inclination when confronted with a scuffle is to dive right in speaks volumes about the character of the man.
Posted by: AzCat   2004-11-21 11:05:17 AM  

#13  The best punishment for Chiraq is to a) neutralize him and b) then ignore him. It will make him even more obvious than he already is.
Posted by: too true   2004-11-21 9:51:27 AM  

#12  Foxnews is showing it
Posted by: Frank G   2004-11-21 9:48:02 AM  

#11  agreed - except for Chiraq - public dissing and gloating is necessary for our Gallic asshole
Posted by: Frank G   2004-11-21 9:47:34 AM  

#10  There is a link at the Daily Recycler to a video of the event. But the host appears to have edited it so that it stops as Bush goes back to the doorway to haul the agent in.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2004-11-21 9:46:46 AM  

#9  Agreed, Frank G.

BTW, I did see a different video sequence and there is some evidence for CNN's description. Bush clearly was satisfied at his own actions. Understandable, but there's a time and a place for being open about power.

I had the privilege a number of years back of meeting one of the top Aikido experts in the world. At 75, he easily dealt with 5 and 6 attackers at one -- blindfolded.

And he never swaggered afterwards. He didn't need to - his opponents and all the observers understood he was top man there. And that saved a little face for the other guys, many of whom had advanced black belts in multiple techniques, and correspondingly big self-images.

To the degree that Bush can do the same, when appropriate, it will serve us well.
Posted by: rkb   2004-11-21 9:42:40 AM  

#8  frankly Chile can get over it - we've done well by them, even if you throw in that "overthrowing communists" thing. Dicking with the Prez's security is NOT the way to get goodwill. I believe somebody down there will be looking for work or else...
Posted by: Frank G   2004-11-21 8:40:12 AM  

#7  It's interesting to see how this is being reported, btw. Fox says Bush looked "irritated". CNN, on the other hand, said Bush "cocked his head proudly at his maneuver". Pfeh.
Posted by: rkb   2004-11-21 8:36:02 AM  

#6  cant quite beleive the Chilean 'Security' would stop the Secret Service bodyguard from doing his job .

The US was involved in the overthrow of Allende and many Chileans remember that. They might well resent any presence of US "force" within their borders and this is just the sort of symbolic act they might show in return. Or, they may feel that the presence of Secret Service there sends the message that they themselves aren't competant and powerful enough to protect Bush. Remember the outrage when we discovered that Anan had armed bodyguards in defiance of our agreements that the US would provide security for the UN headquarters?

We in the US tend to forget the history of the US in south America. Whatever the reasons and justifications, there are incidents that loom large in people's perceptions and they come out at times like this. Remember that Bush tried to get Chile to back us in the UN security council over Iraq and failed. The reasons for that failure undoubtably include the perception that they were on the receiving end of US intervention in the past.

Why should we care? Because it is in our best national interests to have stable relationships and good economic / cultural trade with Latin American governments. That's part of what Bush is in Santiago for -- and no, I'm not promoting totally open borders or the vote for immigrants (legal or illegal) who haven't become citizens. Nor am I denying that there may have been good reasons for past US actions, some of which (as in El Salvador) have had quiet good results.

But I am saying that it would be helpful to us if we can recognize and diffuse old resentments and get help in e.g. stopping terrorists from coming into the US via Latin countries and with Latin passports.

Oh, yeah -- Bush's actions here were perfect. I suspect some in the Chilean TV audience will admire his calm and the fact that he acted directly to enter into a physical fracas.
Posted by: rkb   2004-11-21 8:09:36 AM  

#5  Bush does rock! I bet we won't be seeing that video on our news.
Posted by: 2b   2004-11-21 7:52:29 AM  

#4  Kind of surprised the Chileian isn't having breakfast threw a straw this morning.
Posted by: raptor   2004-11-21 7:09:00 AM  

#3  damnit , cant seem to get the video to play .
Good for Bush , cant quite beleive the Chilean 'Security' would stop the Secret Service bodyguard from doing his job . Where they trying to flex some muscle in their hometown , or just being utter idiots . I , at a guess , will choose the latter :)
Posted by: MacNails   2004-11-21 4:53:11 AM  

#2  The video is now available at The Daily Recycler. Bush is a man who doesn't suffer fools, heh.
Posted by: .com   2004-11-21 1:28:51 AM  

#1  Damnit, Bush rocks all. I am so proud of this man that I kinda tear up when I think about it. In this day and age, I see God still has his hand in history.
Posted by: Mac Suirtain   2004-11-21 1:01:48 AM  

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