WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush was not told for nearly an hour while he finished a bike ride about a breach in White House airspace on Wednesday that prompted the highest alert since the September 11, 2001, attacks, the White House said. The White House said the Secret Service held off informing the president because he was not in danger and White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush was satisfied with how the situation was handled.
Bush was about a half-an-hour into his ride at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland when an unidentified Cessna airplane came near the White House, sending the Secret Service scrambling to evacuate Vice President Dick Cheney and move First Lady Laura Bush to a secure location. McClellan said the president's Secret Service detail was informed about the plane at about 11:59 a.m., when the decision was made to raise the threat level at the White House to "yellow."
Fighter planes were immediately scrambled to intercept the plane, and the threat level at the White House was raised all the way to "red" before the "all clear" was given at 12:14 p.m. McClellan said Bush was informed about the incident around 12:50 p.m. at the end of his ride. He left the reserve around 12:57 p.m. and returned to the White House at around 1:30 p.m., well after the security scare had ended.
"The president was never in danger and the protocols in place after September 11 were followed," McClellan said. "The president has a tremendous amount of trust in his security detail and they were being kept apprised of the situation as it developed." Bush had left the White House at about 11:03 a.m. and had arrived at Patuxent for the bike ride at 11:34 a.m. "Given such circumstances and the fact that the plane turned away from the White House, the decision was made to inform the president upon conclusion of his bike ride," McClellan said.
McClellan later added, "there is always a review of the response to a situation of this nature." | President Bush wasn't anywhere near the White House, wasn't in danger and wasn't told about the incident till after the danger had passed. Obviously, he's neglecting his duties and placing the country at risk. This never would have happened if Haliburton hadn't stolen the election. |
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