NnamdiN: All these for one man ? Chineke Nye m ego biko

InvertedHammer:

It offers the protection they need. Period! If the Queen's limo likes let it evaporate in thin air.

US government can afford any car they want but they chose Cadillac--an American company for security and Intelligence reasons.

What is GEJ rolling on? Mercedes--a German car? And you think GEJ is not being monitored? LOL.

Once you trust outsiders with huge interests to provide your comfort, you are toast.

deskossy: All this low IQ people hailing d op as inteligent..dummies is jst a copy and paste.and why are u people hating on obama,how is he worst than bush?plz give me reasons abeg

nu-well:
Mr Naptu, very enlightening compilation you've got here. Thank you.

However you've not been responding to the several messages I've sent. Abi you want make I carry placard first? Your own security cordon wan pass Obama own o! What more do I need to do?

Ishilove:
So sorry about that. It must be a glitch in the Nairaland PM system. Please send me MTN recharge card 3k lemme use it to call Seun to voice our displeasure

nu-well:


Madam PA, abeg tell ya oga say I wan see am. This one na localized glitch for una office only.
As for the 3k proposal, I would like to make a proposal to Mr Seun himself, to initiate in conjuction with EFCC, ICPC and other relevant authorities, a SCAM ALERT system for identifying and prosecuting all such offers as this! Thank you

Ishilove:
What do you expect the man to ride in? Aba/Onitsha made cars?

Please let's be realistic here

NnamdiN: I still do not get the logic behind tagging american presidents "most powerful men in the world" like seriously no other president can challenge him/them?

Ishilove:
That's just plain crazy!! A real waste of taxpayers money

InvertedHammer:

Yes, he should be rolling in Innoson limousine surrounded by bags of sand for protection.

He should go for local content. Heck! Surround the limousine with jazz/otumokpo/odeshi bulletproof prepared by Ombatse.

U never know..if it works really well...Nigeria will be exporting this to the other Presidents

Oyibo dey come Africa to buy odeshi and rename it frequency-jamming equipment. What again is the difference between plantain chips and pekele? No be name?

johnie: Imperial overkill
By Fareed Zakaria, CNN

For anybody who lives in New York, the United Nations General Assembly is a nightmare. It means lots of traffic, snarl-ups, blockades, and policemen stopping people every time the foreign minister of some small country decides he wants to go to some diner for breakfast. But nothing compares with when the President of the United States decides to leave his hotel - or even, for that matter, to stay in his hotel.

I was trying to get to a restaurant two blocks away from where President Obama was staying. I ended up being half an hour late for my meeting because the President was going from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel straight up Park Avenue to a fundraiser. You would think this would be a pretty easy logistical challenge. But, instead, it seemed like half the New York police force had come out. Something like 30 blocks were sealed off. There were at least 100 vehicles involved in the motorcade blockading side streets - all so he could travel 40 blocks uptown.

I understand the need for security, but it’s worth pointing out that when you travel around the world, even the presidents of Russia and China and other very big countries have nowhere near the kind of obsessive security that the President of the United States has. I understand the challenge. Nobody wants to be the guy who signs off on lowering the security levels for the President, because if something happens, that’s the person who’s going to be blamed. But we have to get a grip on this ever-expanding security apparatus.

The imperial air of these cordons and enormous motorcades is incredibly off-putting. It really has become a joke at this point with other diplomats talking about it all the time. It is worth quoting at length from the extremely well-written memoirs of British diplomat Chris Patten (who is ardently pro-American), recounting his experiences as Europe's Commissioner for External Relations.

"Attending any conference abroad, American cabinet officers arrive with the sort of entourage that would have done Darius proud. Hotels are commandeered; cities brought to a halt; innocent bystanders are barged into corners by thick-necked men with bits of plastic hanging out of their ears. It is not a spectacle that wins hearts and minds."

This is coming from a guy who was effectively the Foreign Minister of Europe and was the Governor of Hong Kong. He is used to pomp and splendor. All this American security has the feeling of the Roman Empire at its full height, obsessively worried about massive shows of strength and logistics.

By the way, there’s also a huge incentive for local authorities to maintain it. UN General Assembly week is the best week for overtime for the New York Police Department. If you ask, “Do you really need the 500 policemen on every side street around where the President is 24/7?” I’m sure they wouldn’t argue against it. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that President Obama's visit to New York is a great opportunity for lots of overtime.

https://www.nairaland.com/639186/nigerian-political-class-foreign-counterparts/4#9204788

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/21/imperial-overkill/

naptu2: OMG! How could I forget to include one of the most dangerous, funniest and craziest pranks I've ever seen?

Australia was to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Summit (2–9 September 2007), in Sydney. This meant that leaders of Asian, South American and North American countries (including George Bush) would be in Sydney.

The Australian government made a lot of noise about security. They said that they were going to spend $170 million on security. Several roads in the centre of Sydney were closed. The police created various task forces and groups to provide security, etc.

Now, there's a comedy group in Australia called "The Chasers" and they decided to make fun of the government. They created a fake motorcade, put a Canadian flag on a luxury car, had "bodyguards" with walkie-talkies and entered the centre of Sydney. The police wrongly allowed them through all the roadblocks and the comedians took the motorcade to the street in front of George Bush's hotel. When they got in front of George Bush's hotel, they stopped the motorcade and a man dressed like Osama Bin Ladin (including fake beard and moustache) came out of the luxury car. Police arrested them.

The police later dropped the charges because of embarrassment and because it was the police (themselves) that allowed the motorcade through the roadblocks.

Watch the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvH3YQGQwLM

InvertedHammer:

[b]Yes, he should be rolling in Innoson limousine surrounded by bags of sand for protection.

He should go for local content. Heck! Surround the limousine with jazz/otumokpo/odeshi bulletproof prepared by Ombats[/b]e.

U never know..if it works really well...Nigeria will be exporting this to the other Presidents

Oyibo dey come Africa to buy odeshi and rename it frequency-jamming equipment. [b]What again is the difference between plantain chips and pekele? No be name?

[/b]

lmaooooooooooo, bros, I think I have just broken my ribs

Nosyke: ^^
You must be sick in the head. Why must you use such st*pid large fonts?

Super1759:
Thank God he is not coming to nigeria. Let him go joor, who cares, mhctewww

NnamdiN:
I still do not get the logic behind tagging american presidents "most powerful men in the world" like seriously no other president can challenge him/them?

naptu2:
I originally put this together in 2009.

[size=14pt]THE BEAST AND ITS ESCORTS[/size]

This month we look at the wheels of the most powerful man in the world, The President of The United States, Barrack Hussein Obama.


Cadillac One

The current official car of the President of The United States is a Cadillac. It is the first presidential limousine not to have a specific model name (The previous presidential limousine, used by George W. Bush, was a modified Cadillac D.T.S). It has the call sign, Cadillac One (The presidential plane has the call sign Air-Force One and the presidential helicopter is known as Marine One). It looks so imposing that it has been nicknamed “The Beast” by the Secret Service. It first came into service on January 20th 2009. Like any presidential limousine, the security features are a closely guarded secret, but you can trust us, we’ve been able to unearth them for you.


The New (Obama) Cadillac One (in front) with George Bush’s Presidential Limousines (Behind) on inauguration day.


SECURITY FEATURES

Cadillac One has eight inches thick armour plated doors that are the weight of the cabin door on a Boeing 757. The door handles incorporate a special system, which can only be opened by trained personnel (secret service). The driver’s window can withstand armour piercing bullets. It is the only window that opens, by just 3 inches, so that the driver can pay tolls or talk with secret service agents. The chauffer is trained by the CIA to cope with the most demanding of circumstances. The driver’s compartment contains a standard steering wheel, but the dash board contains a communications centre and GPS tracking system.

The petrol tank in the beast is armour plated and filled with a specially designed foam that prevents it from exploding if hit. Its bodywork consists of a combination of dual hardness steel, aluminium, titanium and even ceramic to break up possible projectiles. A reinforced five inch steel plate runs under the car for protection in the unlikely event of a bomb being placed underneath. The car is built on the platform of a GMC truck. The tyres are reinforced with Kevlar (the material used in bullet-proof vests) and are shred and puncture resistant, with steel rims underneath, enabling the car to escape at speed, even if the tyres are blasted away. The boot holds oxygen supply and a fire-fighting system. The limousine, like the Cadillac DTS, is equipped with night vision cameras, but the location of the cameras have been moved & are a secret. It is also armed with pump-action shotguns and tear gas cannons. Bottles of blood (the president’s blood type) are kept on board, in case he needs an emergency transfusion. The limousine is environmentally sealed against chemical and biological weapons.



FLAGS AND SEALS

When the president is in the limousine, the presidential seal is affixed to its side and it flies two flags; the U.S flag on the right fender and the presidential flag on the left fender, for domestic trips and the U.S flag on the right fender and the flag of the host country on the left fender for trips abroad. The flags are ventilated and illuminated by High Intensity Discharge (H.I.D) directional flood lights, mounted on the hood.



The limousine is maintained by the Secret Service, which, on delivery, took it apart and swept it for bugs. Two dedicated mechanics travel with the limousine wherever it goes.


TRAVELS

When the president travels out of Washington, Cadillac One is transported by U.S Air-Force C-17 Globemaster III or C-5 Galaxy transport planes to wherever the president is going to.









The president never uses foreign “assets” overseas. He either uses Cadillac One, a Secret Service Chevrolet Suburban (Suburban One), or U.S embassy vehicles (indeed, Marine One, the presidential helicopter, is transported abroad by cargo planes anytime the president needs to use a helicopter overseas). This wasn’t always the case in the past. President Jimmy Carter rode in a Nigerian owned Land Rover when he visited Lagos in 1978.


Jimmy Carter and Mohammadu Magoro at Apapa Port.

Another notable exception was when President Richard Nixon visited China for the first time in 1972. The U.S sought permission to fly in their presidential limousine, but Mao Zedong said that there was no need for that, because there were vehicles in China that were good enough to transport Nixon. Nixon agreed, because of the historic nature of the visit. He used Chinese made Red Flag limousines during his trip, though the limousine was taken apart by the U.S secret service and swept for bugs and other dangerous materials. Presidents Kennedy and Clinton used a white U.S embassy Rolls Royce, when they visited Northern Ireland.


Chairman Mao Zedong’s Red Flag Limousine (Why do communists need a limousine? Aren’t they all meant to be equal?)


MOTORCADE

The length of the U.S. president’s motorcade varies, depending on the threat level and nature of his trip. It could vary from ten vehicles to forty vehicles (wonder what the POTUS’ carbon footprint is like). When the president is out of Washington, his motorcade usually consists of about thirty-five vehicles. Approximately the first half of the motorcade is known as the “secure package” and contains the presidential limousines, police cars and essential secret service vehicles. The “secure package” breaks away from the rest of the motorcade in the event of an attack. There are usually 2 or 3 identical limousines in the motorcade, one of these limousines carries the president, while the other acts as backup. The second limousine also serves as a decoy and it flies the two flags and carries the presidential seal, just like the limousine carrying the president. The two limousines usually switch positions several times during a journey.


The two limousines, the radio jamming SUV (with antennas) and the war truck.

The route the president takes is usually cleared of traffic by local police lining the route. About 6 – 10 local policemen on motorcycles ride ahead of the motorcade to ensure that no other cars are on the route (this is very dangerous work and some policemen have been killed in accidents, while performing this duty). A local police car also drives ahead of the convoy to do a bomb sweep (equally very dangerous work). The local police play a very important part in planning the route, because they know the area, control traffic lights and are better able to plan against traffic jams and assist the secret service in planning escape routes and alternative routes.

Some of the main vehicles that travel with the president are: -

(1) Chevrolet Suburban (The War Truck): - Several Chevrolet Suburbans are in the motorcade and some of them carry the Secret Service Counter Assault Team (C.A.T), whose members are mostly ex-marines. They are well trained and well armed. Under U.S law, the secret service can request for the latest training techniques and weapons from any branch of the military and the military must comply with such request.

There was a proposal that some of the SUVs (particularly the SUV behind the President's limo) should carry the Dillon Aero Mini Gun. It is not known if the proposal was accepted. Some secret service agents expressed concern over possible collateral damage. The Dillon Aero Minigun is a gatling gun that fires 3,000 rounds a minute (50 rounds a second). The SUV is known as “The War Truck”. Its roof opens up (much like a sunroof) and a secret service agent, wielding the gatling gun, pops up on a revolving gun turret. The agent is protected on his left and right flank by the doors of the “sunroof”. The Suburbans will surround Cadillac One if there is an attack on it.


The Dillon Aero Mini Gun in action






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nug5FZgxuk


Secret Service Counter Assault Team (CAT)


2)Frequency Jamming Vehicles: - There is usually a vehicle (sometimes a suburban, sometimes a van) which sends out jamming signals across different frequencies. This is to prevent the detonation of road side bombs using mobile phones, remote controls, garage openers and other devices that emit radio waves. Sometimes, a helicopter, which flies over the motorcade, is used to jam frequencies.



3)Mobile Intensive Care Unit: - An ambulance (Mobile Intensive Care Unit) is always in the motorcade. It is equipped to handle surgeries and carries bottles of the president’s blood type in case an emergency transfusion is required. It is usually a big black armoured truck in the middle of the motorcade, though there are sometimes decoy white ambulances, which are usually full of secret service agents, at the rear of the motorcade.



HISTORY

President William McKinley was the first to ride in an automobile, but it wasn’t until the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt that the first government owned car was used.

The first car specially built for presidential use was the 1939 Lincoln V12 convertible, called the “Sunshine Special”, used by Franklin Roosevelt. The Ford Motor Company leased the car to the office of the President for $500 a year. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the secret service became concerned about potential assassination attempts. The following day, 8th Dec 1941, a heavily armoured 1928 Cadillac 341A Town Sedan was used to transport the president to the Capitol for the famous “infamy” speech. Originally belonging to Al Capone, the car was confiscated by the treasury department following Capone’s arrest and stored in a government impound lot until its ironic final duty. Roosevelt used the car until his “Sunshine Special” was modified to be bullet-proof.

The Kennedy White House purchased a Lincoln Continental convertible, which was stretched into a limousine for the president by Hess and Eisenhart. It was the car President Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated. It had a plexi-glass “bubble” top in case of inclement weather, but this was often removed (as was the case on the day Kennedy was assassinated) because the air-conditioner was not strong enough to deal with the heat in the vehicle.


President Kennedy in the Lincoln Continental, minutes before his assassination.


George Bush’s modified Cadillac DTS (Deville Touring Sedan) once broke down in Rome, Italy, when the president was being driven back to the U.S embassy. Surprised Italians could be heard giggling as the driver tried in vain to restart the car. Bush’s embarrassment was compounded when his back up Suburban was too wide to pass through the embassy gates, so he had to walk into the compound.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX4-a7VBr4c


Wouldn't you like to roll like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mazcrYX6Eeg