White House cancels Obama's African safari after plans are revealed to include military SNIPERS!

masssaiboi

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Feb 10, 2009
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President and Mrs. Obama are planning a trip to sub-Saharan Africa later in the month, but the White House has scotched a plan to include a Tanzanian safari on the agenda after a reporter revealed that a team of snipers with high-powered military assault rifles would accompany him in the wild.

The Washington Post reported Thursday afternoon that the itinerary's dangers 'would have required the president’s special counterassault team to carry sniper rifles with high-caliber rounds that could neutralize cheetahs, lions or other animals if they became a threat.'

The newspaper based its report on a confidential planning document leaked from someone in the administration.

'But the White House canceled the safari Wednesday,' the report continued, 'after inquiries from The Post about the trip’s purpose and expense, according to a person familiar with the decision.'

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Sit still, Simba: Sniper rifles were planned accessories for Obama's visit to Africa, but to protect him from wild animals, not crazed jihadis

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Obama and Vice President Biden offered solemn promises for more gun control following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in December, vowing to ban so-called 'assault rifles' - even though the Newtown shooter left his AR-15 rifle in the trunk of his car


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Presidential hors-d'oeuvres? The White House supposed that a lioness like this one might prefer to feed on the U.S. commander-in-chief instead of a freshly killed buffalo

The trip could be among the most expensive journeys a president has taken in recent memory, with price forecasts ranging between $60 million and $100 million. His recent appearances in Israel cost taxpayers an estimated $10.9 million.

Trips on Air Force One cost the government about $180,000 per flight hour.
Gun rights groups are outraged for a different reason, however, finding hypocrisy in the president's short-lived plan to rely on armed men for protection from wildlife, using the same kind of weapons his administration wants banned from public use to protect against human predators.


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The late Frank Lautenberg, then a Democratic Senator from New Jersey, showed off an AR-15 carbine during one news conference, promising to ban them entirely. Some military units carry fully automatic versions of this firearm

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The cheetah is the world's fastest land mammal, but sniper details are trained to hit moving targets at 500 yards

'Mr. Obama shouldn’t need special counter-assault teams to neutralize threats,' Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb told MailOnline. 'He’s got the IRS for that, doesn’t he?'

'Oh, that’s right,' he noted with tongue in cheek: 'Lions, cheetahs and other animals aren’t conservative taxpayers.'

The Obama White House has attracted criticism from both sides of the political aisle for an IRS program that targeted right-wing advocacy groups for special scrutiny based on the presence of words like 'patriot' or 'tea party' in their names.

Michelle, Sasha and Malia Obama went on Safari during a June 2011 goodwill trip to Africa. They rode through the savannahs in an open-air vehicle with standard Secret Service protection.

That trip, according to news reports, cost about $800,000.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

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Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb (L) isn't amused by the high-powered rifles on the president's planned safari details, since the White House doesn't believe ordinary citizens should be allowed to own them. Then again, Obama might have needed protection if a tigress hopped atop his armored Range Rover


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Relax, panther! This growling cat is safe from Obama's personal protection forces

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Call of the wild: Michelle Obama and family members in their safari vehicle at Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa in June 2011

Source: White House cancels Obama's African safari after plans are revealed to include SWAT team SNIPERS with high-powered rifles | Mail Online
 
WASHINGTON


The WhiteHouse has cancelled a safari that US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle were due to take in Tanzania over budgetary concerns, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The newspaper, citing a Secret Service planning document, said the excursion scheduled during a tour of Africa that Obama will undertake later this month would have required agents protecting him to take extraordinary precautions.

The safari "would have required the president's special counterassault team to carry sniper rifles with high-calibre rounds that could neutralise cheetahs, lions or other animals if they became a threat," the paper reported.

Outlining the vast security preparations made for Obama's trip to Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa, the document was provided to the Post by a person "concerned about the amount of resources necessary for the trip."

It did not provide cost information.

The Post said the WhiteHouse cancelled the safari Wednesday after the paper inquired about the "purpose and expense." The Obamas had been expected to spend more than two hours at Tanzania's Mikumi National Park.

The WhiteHouse was not immediately available for comment, but a spokesman told the Post that a trip to South Africa's Robben Island, the site of the prison where anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela was held, had taken precedence.

"We do not have a limitless supply of assets to support presidential missions, and we prioritised a visit to Robben Island over a two-hour safari in Tanzania," said the spokesman, Josh Earnest.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't do both."

The Post said Obama's Africa tour, his first since taking office in January 2009, could cost the government between $60 million and $100 million, based on cost of similar trips in recent years.

The report comes as many government agencies struggle with mandatory budget cuts that took effect in March because US lawmakers failed to strike a wider budget deal.

Hundreds of Secret Service agents will be dispatched for the president's visit, along with a Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious ship, with a fully staffed medical trauma centre stationed offshore, the report said.

Dozens of vehicles will also be brought to the three countries by military transport planes, along with sheets of bulletproof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the Obamas stay.

"Fighter jets will fly in shifts, giving 24-hour coverage over the president's airspace," the report said, citing the Secret Service document.

Source
 
Hii ni matusi, the whole excerpt actually.

".......would have required the
president's special counterassault team to
carry sniper rifles with high-calibre rounds
that could neutralise cheetahs, lions or other
animals if they became a threat," the paper
reported."
 
Dont bring this on Kenya/Kenyans, The Daily Nation is a spot on reputable press that gains nothing in propagating malice about a neighbouring state.

The whole article is an abuse to Africans, just read thru it again. Sounds like Tanzania is some hostile territory of sort, like stone age to the core and the presedent (US) was on a by the way trip.

The point on 2 hour trip is so much telling: exaggerated secret service need to be, cheetahs; weapons and guns, amphibious landing, airspace integrity......Americans are sick.....list is endless
 
Hapa naona Kinana na watu wake (poachers) wanafurahi ile mbaya, na kwa hasira ndiyo wataua tembo ile balaa.
 
WASHINGTON

The WhiteHouse has cancelled a safari that US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle were due to take in Tanzania over budgetary concerns, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The newspaper, citing a Secret Service planning document, said the excursion scheduled during a tour of Africa that Obama will undertake later this month would have required agents protecting him to take extraordinary precautions.

The safari "would have required the president's special counterassault team to carry sniper rifles with high-calibre rounds that could neutralise cheetahs, lions or other animals if they became a threat," the paper reported.

Outlining the vast security preparations made for Obama's trip to Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa, the document was provided to the Post by a person "concerned about the amount of resources necessary for the trip."

It did not provide cost information.

The Post said the WhiteHouse cancelled the safari Wednesday after the paper inquired about the "purpose and expense." The Obamas had been expected to spend more than two hours at Tanzania's Mikumi National Park.

The WhiteHouse was not immediately available for comment, but a spokesman told the Post that a trip to South Africa's Robben Island, the site of the prison where anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela was held, had taken precedence.

"We do not have a limitless supply of assets to support presidential missions, and we prioritised a visit to Robben Island over a two-hour safari in Tanzania," said the spokesman, Josh Earnest.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't do both."

The Post said Obama's Africa tour, his first since taking office in January 2009, could cost the government between $60 million and $100 million, based on cost of similar trips in recent years.

The report comes as many government agencies struggle with mandatory budget cuts that took effect in March because US lawmakers failed to strike a wider budget deal.

Hundreds of Secret Service agents will be dispatched for the president's visit, along with a Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious ship, with a fully staffed medical trauma centre stationed offshore, the report said.

Dozens of vehicles will also be brought to the three countries by military transport planes, along with sheets of bulletproof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the Obamas stay.

"Fighter jets will fly in shifts, giving 24-hour coverage over the president's airspace," the report said, citing the Secret Service document.

White House cancels Obama safari in Tanzania: report - World - nation.co.ke
 
No wonder it has come from a Kenyan newspaper! However, so far there is no official report from USG!
 
The safari "would have required the president's special counterassault team to carry sniper rifles with high-calibre rounds that could neutralise cheetahs, lions or other animals if they became a threat," the paper reported.

If this is not cra.p then I do not know what is
 
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