About three weeks ago, the then Secret Service Director Julia Pierson stepped down following a series of security breaches at the White House. She had only been appointed by US President Barack Obama in March 2013 and had become the first woman to head the agency. This followed a number of scandals, including a highly publicised one involving 13 Security Service Agents who had hired prostitutes during the president’s visit to Colombia for a summit. Mark Sullivan, the director then was forced to step aside. Pierson replaced him with the hope that she would help repair the dented image of the security organisation but lapses in her watch seem even worse, including the September 16 incident during which the President of the United States shared an elevator or what many of us commonly call a lift, with an armed contractor, and his Secret Service detail didn’t even know the man had a gun until he was confronted when he started taking pictures of the President! This would be followed by an equally disturbing incident on September 19 in which an intruder, Omar Gonzalez, who was armed with a knife, jumped the White House fence, ran across the lawn, made his way past the front door and stairway that leads to the Obamas’ living quarters before a counter-assault agent tackled him. The President and his family weren’t home but still, it’s scary to imagine what might have happened had they been and the intruder got to any of them. How did he get that far? Don’t these people have surveillance cameras? How about good old doormen who should stop and search anyone who wants to access the White House? Our local supermarkets seem to have better security measures than the 3,500-strong Secret Service Agency with a $1 billion plus annual budget. While we were still shaking our heads at the White House situation, two Canadian institutions were attacked on Wednesday; the National War Memorial and Parliament, again due to security lapses. According to media reports, both institutions only have ceremonial guards, which explains why one of the guards run for cover after his colleague was shot. Anyone can access these and other buildings in the spirit of keeping things open to the public, in much the same way the White House is referred to as the People’s House. In this era of terrorism and crazy people with guns, I think these are accidents waiting to happen. It’s a miracle only one soldier was killed by the gunman who himself was later killed just outside the room where the Prime Minister, Stephen Harper was addressing a caucus, with several other MPs not so far away. I know many ordinary citizens with better protected residences, high wall structures, electric fences and all. Growing up, I was always curious to see what the President’s home looked like. I remember passing by State House Nakasero in Kampala, which happens to be located near a popular Church, on my way to a relative’s Baptism or friend’s wedding. It was sacred ground and I was too scared to even peek, lest security guards thought I was up to something. And it’s not even like you could see the actual structures all the way from the roadside because there was a fence. In the interest of security and ensuring that our Presidents and highly placed officials stay safe at all times, I think visits to these official residences should be limited to special occasions, say when someone wins a medal for the country or something. This business of entertaining the clichéd Tom, Dick and Harry, some of whom may have ill intentions, is a bad idea.
