TEMPO.CO, Washington - President Barack Obama has recently been criticized in regards to his trips abroad. His journey to Africa this month will in no way be an exception.
The Washington Post estimates, Obama's Africa trip would cost $60 million to $100 million. The biggest spending will go for the security system to protect the President.
Hundreds of U.S. Secret Service agents will be dispatched to secure facilities in Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania. A Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious ship, with a fully staffed medical trauma center, will be stationed offshore in case of emergency.
Military cargo planes will airlift in 56 support vehicles, including 14 limousines and three trucks loaded with sheets of bulletproof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the first family will stay.
A document containing a presidential security system obtained by The Washington Post said, fighter jets will fly in shifts, giving 24-hour protection to the President. However, a source from the White House claimed that presidential security has its own standard. "The infrastructure accompanying the president's travels is beyond our control," Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser for strategic communication said. "The security requirements are not White House-driven, they are Secret Service-driven", he added.
TRIP B
