Kidero drums are huge security risk to both Obama and the general public - Former US Marine

The men and women of the Secret Service are paid to take the bullet for the President of the United States of America, and failure is not an option.

In The Kennedy Detail, former agent Jerry Blaine says he suffered nightmares for years because he was unable to protect his commander- in-chief, JF Kennedy.

Although the secret agent was commended for the bravery he showed under fire, he took to alcohol for years out of guilt that he did not reach the limousine in time to take a bullet for the president.

“I felt that there was something I should have been able to do,” says Blaine in an online report published by CNN. “Moved faster, reacted quicker, gotten there just moments quicker, that could have made all mthe difference in the world.”

In his book, In the President’s Secret Service, Ronald Kessler, says that Barack Obama started receiving protection on his request, on

May 3, 2007, 18 months before the presidential votes were cast, “the earliest point at which the Secret Service had ever protected a presidential candidate.”

In that campaign, the Secret Service spent $116.2 million (Sh11.6 billion). “Once Obama became president, the Secret Service experienced a 400 per cent increase in the number of threats against the president, in comparison to President Bush,” Kessler reveals.

“While most of the threats were not credible, each had to checked and adjudicated,” he adds. During Obama’s inauguration, unprecedented measures were put in place. Manhole covers were spot-welded shut, mailboxes and trash cans were removed fromthe streets and more than a dozen counter-sniper teams were deployed at vulnerable points.

“Every window must be closed when the motorcade passes,” a supervisory agent explains of precautions taken when Obama is passing. “We have spotters looking at them with binoculars. If they don’t comply, we have master keys to all those doors. We go in,” states the agent.

Ten days before a presidential trip, at least eight to 12 agents are said to fly to the intended destination. In the case of President Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya, the number could have been higher, given the country’s susceptibility to Al-Shabaab attacks. But local security expert Andrew Franklin says US security personnel will only be in charge of parts of Nairobi because they don’t trust the Kenyan security apparatus.

“They will ensure that they are in charge of the entire route that President Obama will use, from the airport to State House and Gigiri,” Franklin, a former US Marine, says. He adds that, “But while that will be the case, the security threats will not be fully eliminated, mainly because the Kenyan security forces take very many things for granted.”

He cites the concrete-filled drums that were used by the Nairobi County to block the roundabouts some weeks back. “These things are a huge security threat to both Obama and the general public because the Al-Shabaab can replace a drum with one that is filled with remote- controlled explosives because nobody has cared to remove them,” he warns. “When the US President Bill Clinton visited Kampala in 1998, they not only removed all dustbins around the route, but they also welded all manhole covers into place to ensure nobody could pull a surprise from the underground sewers.”

In his book, Ronald Kessler explains that “an advance team includes a lead agent, a transportation agent, airport agent, agents assigned to each event site, a hotel advance agent, one or two logistics agents, a technical security agent, and an intelligent agent.”

He reveals that, “They ship their equipment and additional personnel on Air Force C-130 cargo planes. The Uniformed Division’s counter sniper team and the counter-assault team from the Secret Service’s

Special Operations division may also send agents in advance.” With Kenya being ranked as a terrorist-prone country, there is a possibility that these teams were doubled or tripled before Obama’s visit.