Concerns over security at the 2012 London Olympics has led U.S. Authorities to assign 500 FBI officials and 500 other security guards to protect American athletes as they compete on the world stage. The hired hands will also protect U.S. Diplomats who attend the event.
When first announcing security support for the event Olympic Committee members called for 10,000 security personnel, many from the countries military however they now believe that a safe environment will require upwards of 21,000 guards for the Olympics 32 competition sites throughout the country.
In the meantime British officials have grown tired of growing concerns voiced by US officials over the event. When speaking about the US security “footprint” during the games one British official said of the US:
“We are not equal partners in this.” and “They are being very demanding.”
Another official added the Guardian :
“The Americans are risk-averse, with a capital ‘A’ and underlined. They want to see everything.”
However it’s not only the Americans that have become irritated by the entire security issue, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) has agreed to offer 3,000 soldiers and 2,000 reserve soldiers however they are working with a very tight budget with one member recently asking:
“What have they been doing for the last five years?” and “There is less than a year to go and they’ve only just realised they need twice the number of security guards they first thought. Where is the money to pay for this coming from? It is an extra burden on the defence budget that we could well do without.”
Given terrorist activity and other security issues in recent memory it seems silly that this issue is just now being further pushed.
Do you think the United States and other countries are causing problems by asking repeatedly about security protocols?
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