52nd State

Mark W · 11-11-2003, 22:49

Reading Here good old geroge dubya is comming to town...

sad tho that the yanks are taking over our captial city for the trip...

Quote:

The Americans are actually running the security operation in London as well... I'm getting a bit alarmed about the degree of invasion of our capital by the Americans.

"The idea of closing off large parts of London to ensure that President Bush is taken well away from any protests or demonstrators seems a little insensitive and an enormous inconvenience to an awful lot of people."

couldnt agree more myself......

good old livinston aint going quietly tho

Quote:

"The ideas of some American security advisers that perhaps we should shut the whole of central London for three days, ignoring the economic consequences of that, I don't think that's got a chance at all,"

is it just me that finds this rather offensive? If hes that paranoid about not being welcomed here, why does he not just send the queen a bloomin postcard from his ranch where he seems to spend most of his time??

Ramrod · 11-11-2003, 22:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark W

Reading Here good old geroge dubya is comming to town...

sad tho that the yanks are taking over our captial city for the trip...

couldnt agree more myself......

good old livinston aint going quietly tho

is it just me that finds this rather offensive? If hes that paranoid about not being welcomed here, why does he not just send the queen a bloomin postcard from his ranch where he seems to spend most of his time??

Unlike others here, I don't want to assasinate him but I think that he should not be able to shut down half of London when he's here!

Chimaera · 11-11-2003, 23:09

No - but his bestest buddy Tone will do everything to accommodate his mate I'm sure!

Russ · 11-11-2003, 23:09

So the Yanks think they can take control of our capital then do they??

Does Blair have ANY kind of backbone??

**Chris** · 11-11-2003, 23:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ D

So the Yanks think they can take control of our capital then do they??

Does Blair have ANY kind of backbone??

Relax, Russ, he's coming to London, not Cardiff

I think there's more than a little hyperboly from the BBC here. The yanks may well have made some extreme requests but they certainly won't get them. The close security support etc etc that Dubya is bringing with him is fairly standard, and given the threat against him (whether or not it's his own fault is another matter) it's not unjustified. The wider security of London is still in the hands of the Police and doubtless MI5 are in the shadows too.

If Dubya was not bringing any of his own flunkeys, the protesters would be moaning about the British taxpayer having to pick up the bill for this. At least this way he's paying his own way.

Thankfully, the disgraceful handling of protests the Chinese state visit a couple of years ago was documented so publicly that they will not dare do the same again. This will go in the favour of those who want to be seen to be protesting in this case, I think.

Xaccers · 12-11-2003, 00:08

Totally agree Towny, the BBC are trying to blow it up into something it's not.

Jerrek · 12-11-2003, 03:51

This is hilarious.

12-11-2003, 05:33

The President of the USA should always be welcome, no matter who he is and no matter what our views about him are, the position he holds should be respected. I might agree security, supposing the BBC reports are true, is sometimes rather over the top.

Ken Livingstone is rather odd and doesn't speak for me.

etccarmageddon · 12-11-2003, 08:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by towny

Thankfully, the disgraceful handling of protests the Chinese state visit a couple of years ago was documented so publicly that they will not dare do the same again.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who still has the bitter taste of that police 'operation' still in his mind.

12-11-2003, 08:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gogogo

The President of the USA should always be welcome, no matter who he is and no matter what our views about him are, the position he holds should be respected. I might agree security, supposing the BBC reports are true, is sometimes rather over the top.

Ken Livingstone is rather odd and doesn't speak for me.

Ja, ve must blindly follow our leaders.

Why should the president of the USA always be welcome? Are you actually stating that there are no circumstances under which you don`t think he should be welcome? Bush is a jumped up little tyrant who should be treated no differently to Hitler or Pol Pot.

Don`t forget, it is almost the 40th anniversary of Kennedy's assasination, perhaps we will get lucky on this visit.

**Chris** · 12-11-2003, 09:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by dr wadd

Bush is a jumped up little tyrant who should be treated no differently to Hitler or Pol Pot.

That is patently absurd.

12-11-2003, 09:16

I wont welcome the war monger to these shores.
I couldnt give a rats ass if London came to a standstill either.
I dont want Dubya in this country even for a visit and for the Americans to have the audacity to make demands on our country.....well they can just go **** themselves as far as I am concerned. If Bush is assasinated the world will be safer.
Idiots shouldn't be allowed to posses Nuclear weapons.

12-11-2003, 09:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by towny

That is patently absurd.

Bush has been the driving force behind the illegal invasion of Iraq. He is now making demands that all middle-eastern societies adopt a governmental type of his choosing or face the consequences. He has demonstrated time and again that he is willing to threaten countries that don't dance to the American drum. Closer to home is attempting to dictate control over a vast swathe of central London during his visit. As far as I am concerned he is a tyrant and war criminal.

philip.j.fry · 12-11-2003, 11:53

I have this feeling that Bush is actually kept sheltered from a lot of the public opinion against him, I think that keeping the protesters away has as much to do with keeping him blind to the truth as to his security.

What the US security planners, and Tony Blair, must realise is that people in this country are free to express opinion and protest marches fall under that right. Bush is more than welcome to visit but that visit should not interfere with peoples rights.

Stuart W · 12-11-2003, 12:02

REMINDER:

The USA are not only the worlds only super power, but they are also our ALLIES!

I think it would be a whole heartedly BAD idea to start limiting the presidents visits here. Do you guys have ANY idea what you are talking about?

FYI London is now the SINGLE MOST LIKELY target for terrorist attack. If Tony Blair was going to visit the terror capitol of the world, wouldn't you want him to have some decent security?