This will be brief, but thought it might be interesting to see what others think of our erstwhile emperor when he travels. Bush and his entourage will be arriving in Australia in September for the APEC conference. He will be travelling with a group that is almost battalion size. This does not include the indirect support provided by the military which must also position ships, planes and troops relatively nearby.
I have no idea how much this costs, but would guess that one Bush conference visit would cover the cost of health care for thousands of Americans for a year.
The Roman Emperors would have been jealous. Link to the Sydney Morning Herald and details below the fold:
Traveling Circus
Details:
- Personal chefs and 4 cooks
- 15 dog sniffer teams
- 50 political aides
- 150 national security advisers
- 200 "other" representatives
- 250 secret service agents
- 3 x C-17's
- 3 x 747's
- Multiple, various helicopters
- 3 x Deville Sedans
- Multiple, unknown Suburbans for security team
- Full medical team
- Assorted other SWAT vehicles
- Multiple, unknown secret service "war wagons"
- Multiple, unknown vehicles for the aides, advisers etc
- First Lady support staff
This is the direct contingent only. In Australia's case the advance teams of SUV's and security personnel have been there for a month. Also not noted here are private security personnel and political "hangers on." Also the host country must provide a security contingent and "free (aka no) speech" zones. Also we must take note of how this appears to the citizens of a host country, as the support vehicles are often brimming with machine guns, mortars and grenade launchers. It is apparently a frightening sight.