A Look At Hillary Clinton's Security Detail When She Goes Shopping In Rome

Heightened alert: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was surrounded by a team of at least ten bodyguards wearing dark suits and sunglasses during a quick shopping trip between talks.

At Least There's Somebody To Carry The Bags: Hillary's Army Of Armed Guards... So She Can Go Shopping During Trip To Rome -- The Daily Mail

It is what most women would want to do while on a trip to Rome.

Hillary Clinton took advantage of a few spare moments between diplomatic meetings for a quick shopping trip during her visit to Italy.

But unlike most women who take a tour of the city’s fashion houses, Mrs Clinton was surrounded by a team of at least 10 burly bodyguards.

Read more ....

My Comment: After this week .... I am surprise that her security detail is this small (i.e. 10 bodyguards). I expected at least 20.

Who Tops U.S. Most Wanted List After Laden's Death

By STAFF Writer
TUESDAY, May 03, 2011

After the death of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden on Sunday in Pakistan, the official website of F.B.I. gets an update. It layered a red box over the black and white portrait of Osama with the word "DECEASED."

The Al-Qaida leader was on the top of the U.S. "most wanted" list with a reward of $27 million, though U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not mention about payment of any reward in a news conference on Monday.

F.B.I has now eliminated Osama from the Most Wanted list and Ayman al-Zawahiri takes the top spot. His name is associated with a reward of $25 million and he is the only other person on the list presently carrying a reward of such huge amount.

Up to $5 million is rewarded for information that leads to the capture of wanted militants or its conviction and $1 million for others.

State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security administers the Most Wanted lists reward program.

Now, who is Ayman al-Zawahiri?

Ayman al-Zawahiri is the person behind bombings of U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya on August 7, 1998. He is the founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), organization that opposes the secular Egyptian Government. It is believed that in 1988 the EIJ merged with Al Qaeda.

OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD
Al-Qaida Leaders Were In Pakistan On 9/11: WikiLeaks

Sec State Hillary Clinton Says Leaving Post At End of 2012

By Barry Rubin

In a CNN interview, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she will not serve in a second- term administration of President Barack Clinton. She added that she didn't want any other high-level post and wasn't planning to run for president in 2012.

Some will attribute this to exhaustion or "been there, done that." But my assumption is that it isn't any accident that she's announcing this at the time of the biggest internal policy dispute of Obama's term. In handling the Egypt crisis, it seems apparent that Obama didn't listen to her, perhaps didn't even consult her. On this internal conflict over foreign policymaking read here and here.

Moreover, it's long been a joke that Hillary has been shoved into a lot of minor assignments. And her husband, Bill, has just criticized Obama's energy policy. What do you want to bet that every night (you can put in a joke here because I'm not going to do so) they talk about how Obama is messing up and that she could have done a much better job.

And she's right, too!

I wonder when Secretary of Defense Robert Gates makes a similar announcement. Oh, wait, he already said he'd leave by August 2011.

In my humble opinion, Clinton--who has given many hints at our disagreement with Obama's approach--realizes that the White House's foreign policy is disastrous. A major dispute broke out over how to handle Middle East upheavals. Clinton  endorsed a traditional U.S. approach of supporting friends and opposing enemies, which seems revolutionary under the current president.

The way these things usually happen is that she'd make such an announcement in, say, August 2012, a few months before the event. Nobody wants to be in a high-ranking post for 20 months with everyone knowing their days are numbered. Perhaps she will be out well before the end of 2012.

Who will replace her? Well if she does wait until November 2012 we will only find out if Obama is reelected.  But maybe Obama will have her leave sooner due to policy disputes or because he wants to have his own person in rather than a self-admitted lame duck.

And remember what I have warned: If the new secretary of state is Senator John Kerry then I recommend you buy a fallout shelter in New Zealand, lay in a supply of food, and hide there. Otherwise, disregard anyone else named as a candidate because nobody knows who it will be and when it will happen.

Let's recognize that this is not just the result of Clinton being tired. A key element here is the heating up of the conflict between the liberal and radical wings of the Democratic Party.

HRC Talks with Wolf Blitzer

As CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer travels through the Middle East and North Africa he spoke with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In Blitzer’s one-on-one interview with the Secretary she discussed the crisis in Japan, the situation in Libya and her future political intentions. Parts of this interview will air today during The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET on CNN and CNNI.

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