President Bush Saves His Own Life
Back on November 20, at the APEC Conference in Chile, there was an incident where Chilean security officers tried to separate President George W. Bush from at least one of his Secret Service bodyguards. The President, ever the responsive and pragmatic sort, reached through the crowds and physically pulled his guard from the Chilean officials.
At the time, there were predictable tsks from the left, such as the observation that Chile cancelled a state dinner over the incident, some even suggesting that the President’s actions damaged U.S. credibility in the region.
So, would it be so bad for President Bush to put niceities ahead of his priorities?
Actually, yes, there’s evidence that things might have been very bad, if Bush had allowed security to lapse.
The Colombian government today confirmed that FARC rebels planned to assassinate President Bush while he was travelling in South America last week.
The story was further corroborated by Colombia’s Defense Minister, Jorge Alberto Uribe, who said that tight security thwarted the attacks.
In other words, if Colombia had taken the same approach as Chile, George W. Bush might well be dead now. And if President George W. Bush had not made clear his support for the standards and protocol of the U.S. Secret Service, Colombia might not have taken such steps.
I’m not saying the Left really wants President Bush dead, but this sure looks like a case of a man protecting himself.
— DJ Drummond