That Belgian protocal chief is a moron. That's not surprising, though. Too bad the secret service guy didn't make the pompous ass swallow his own teeth, diplomacy I guess.

Should kicked his pasty Euro ass.

Belgian protocol chief: "You are in Belgium!"
Forgot to add: "may I touch your inner thigh."

I like the part where he says : "You are in Belgium!" No shit, Sherlock, hehe. What a loser.
"Zees iz not yor plane! Wee weee!"

The Secret Service should have radioed Condi to stay on the plane. This looks like a security breach!

It doesn't matter where the plane is, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the secret service is not going to let people rush the plane carrying Condi Rice. Why this reporter (?) can't figure that out is beyond me.

these types only care when they can excercise power,,and they do it whenever they can,,
no integrity and no grace
btw,,
there's this guy john perry barlow, and he has a blog called
http://www.barlow...
he's one of those eff guys,, electronic freedom foundation
but whn any one right of his center posts, he censors them. so much for electronic freedom and his fake pose on freedom of speech

barlowfriendz.net

not sure why that didn't post

It would be amusing to see Belgium pull the same thing the US pulled there when landing on US soil. I would imagine they would get a beating. But the US does it on their soil and stands proud.

Glad to see Americans acting like they own whatever country they currently happen to be visiting, it wouldn't be the same if they were actually polite and respectful of other peoples' cultures and country.

Euroweenie: "You're in Belgium"

Secret Service: "And we are the sole reason you're not speaking German. Now move!!!"

A Belgian protocol chief disagrees: "This is not your plane..."

Ummm, actually, bumwad, it IS his plane.

"It would be amusing to see Belgium pull the same thing the US pulled there when landing on US soil"

We let people's security do whatever they want, after all, it's their security.

It's called being considerate to visitors.

"actually polite and respectful of other peoples' cultures and country."

yeah , the belgian's don't respect Dr. Rice's desire for security at all.

Oh wait, you were talking about Americans.. huh...

"This is not your plain"? WTF?

Brit, if you visited the US, and I got to close to you, would it be impolite/disrespectful of you to ask me to step back a notch?

A chief of Belgian protocal just tried to claim an airplane as their even with the big giant letters "United States of America" stamped on it. Then, telling a security agent that they are not the boss in Belgian. No, they are not the boss and they don't want to be boss of Belgium. They are hired and trained to protect the Dr. Rice and they are doing exactly that by keeping a good distant between her and the crazies.

From what I just saw, I would not trust security details to any Belgium that are blind and ignorance of security protocal.

The protocol chief:

a) Is supposed to make people feel welcome, not slighted. That ought to be obvious to anyone.
b) Looses the argument by starting it with, "This is not your plane..." Excuse me, but I think I see the 'Seal of the United States of America' on the side of it. Starting the argument with 'This is not your country...' might have some logic to it. Starting the argument with 'This is not your plane...' is assanine.
c) Claiming to possess the diplomatic property of another nation is a serious breach of diplomatic protocol. Imagine the argument going this way, "This is not your attache case, you are in Belgium!" or "This is not your embassy, you are in Belgium" or "This is not your diplomatic bag, you are in Belgium" or "This is not your phone, you are in Belguim"
d) Exactly how diplomatic is it to physically assault the entourage of a foreign diplomat? Exact what sort of protocol officer resorts to physical attacks on the members of a diplomatic corp? A good protocol officer should be collected enough that he wouldn't lose his cool even if punched in the face. He's supposed to smooth over problems, not exacerbate them.
e) As the protocol chief, should have worked out ahead of time details like how close the press would be allowed to approach the plane. If the security detail is uncomfortable with the protocol, it is entirely the protocol chief's fault. Unless of course, the security detail had agreed to the protocol chief's detailed plan of the procedings, which is about the only thing that can justify this, and even then the conversation should have began, "Mssr, they are no closer than 30m, precisely as we agreed beforehand." and not "This is not your plane..." As it is, it looks to me like the guy is incompotent.

The protocol chief is lucky that the guy he shoved was a typical American 'tough guy' with a reflexive 'tough guy' responce. It wins him a slight ammount of sympathy from people inclined to see Americans in the worse possible light. I would have shown him for the fool that he is.

"Glad to see Americans acting like they own whatever country they currently happen to be visiting, it wouldn't be the same if they were actually polite and respectful of other peoples' cultures and country."

I would expect a Brit to know more about politeness, pomp, and protocol than this. If a visiting diplomat says, "We don't want anyone within 50m of the plane." that is what they get. In fact, we reutinely allow visiting diplomats to insult us - for example, the Saudi's often demand that no women be seen from the plane when they land and that no women be in the air traffic control tower. Frankly, I'd tell the Sauds off for such a request and exactly what I think of thier mysogynist culture, but then again, I'm no diplomat.

er Tasha:

'I like the part where he says : "You are in Belgium!" No shit, Sherlock,...'

Don't you mean, "No poo, Poirot!"

This is very similar to what happened in Chile when Chilean secuity peeled off the secret service agents as W went into a building. After a few steps the Prez noticed the shouting (and the fact that he was walking by himself for the first time in 4-1/2 years). He turned around, heaving himself up on the security guards, grabbed his secret service agent and hauled him through the Chilean phalanx. Old rugby move comes in handy.
http://www.quidni...

It's not hard to figure out where the secret service is going to stand on this sort of issue, even the President of the US has to convince them from time to time to give him some breathing room. I'm certain the Belgian Protocol Chief knows that and I think he was prepared to create an incident. Why is anyones guess but I suppose the Belgian news will have plenty of opinions on it.

I still wonder about that event in Chile.

All the security person wanted was for the reporters to back up and not crowd the plane at a time when Condi is in a vulnerable position. It is their job to protect her, even with their own life. Hello!
And now people are saying this is an example of America not respecting people's cultures?? WHAT?? Are you brainwashed or something? What does this have to do with culture? Is it not in your culture to protect your diplomats?
You rely on the mercy of fanatics and murderers to just leave them alone, or is it that you don't want to offend the fanatics and murderers?
My how offensive we Americans are...trying to protect our diplomats! The nerve of us!

@Alisa. It depends whether I was stood close to you or if you came running up from a distance and put yourself in my face. If the latter it would be more than little impolite.

I guess it depends on how the security person asked the reporter to move back, but judging by the comment 'he *ordered* him back' I would guess it was not a polite request to move back a few paces.

@zippie

Some people in Belgium DO speak German.

I translated your Dutch version of this post which appears to contain some mocking dialogue about wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day, and something about the Godfather, and taking a relaxing vacation in Guantanamo... can you enlighten us in the English version?

"Glad to see Americans acting like they own whatever country they currently happen to be visiting, it wouldn't be the same if they were actually polite and respectful of other peoples' cultures and country."

That is a stupid-ass statement... Americans are probably 1000 different nationalities, they are THE model of how a modern and well-integrated society should be.

But I am glad to see Eurotrash getting offended culturally when they ravaged other nations (like my own) for hundreds of years.

Europeans do not understand the difference between respecting cultures and surrendering your country to a culture. Looking forward to when they all speak Arabic. This way I don't have to brush up on my french when I visit.

Air Force Two? When did Condi become the Vice President? "Air Force Two" is the radio callsign of any US Air Force aircraft carrying the Vice President of the United States. If the Vice President isn't onboard than that aircraft isn't Air Force Two.

I think, if you check, you'll find the aircraft flew with a SAM (Special Air Mission) callsign. Take the last three digits of the aircrafts tail-number and you'll get the callsign as "SAM-XXX".

When the Belgian Diplomat said "This is not your Plane" I think he was inferring that the Plane was now the security concern of the Belgians, not the U.S. Secret service. Of course, he's wrong on THAT point as well.

I've transported the entourage of foreign Heads of State before in my job as a Driver... and the normal way of doing things is that the Visiting security (This case the U.S. Secret Service agents) has the Plane and everything inside and around it as their responsibility; the local security (This case Belgian) is responsibility for everything outside that circle. This little dance was over the definition of that circle... and the "Diplomats" have no say in this arguement, it is between the Security folks.

And they ALWAYS argue about it. After all, they are responsible if anything went wrong. Imagine something horrible happens: Secret Service Agent: "I'm sorry Mr. President, but the Protocol Chief really wanted those folks to be there..." Right.

In the cases I have been a part of, there have never been less than four Agencies involved on the AMERICAN side alone... and they have always deferred to the visitors on the range of area under the responsibility of the Visitors. I would expect that it is normal procedure to extend the same nicety to the U.S. in return.

Well, actually allowing your own VIPs to get shot, stabbed etc is more a Dutch tradition, I believe.

Brit, it's Flemish.

@Jeff: you are right about the plane not being "Air Force Two". But even the Washington Post got that wrong: http://www.washin...

I think the error originated with US reporters recognizing the plane as the same plane that Dick Cheney uses when he travels, so they started calling it "Air Force Two".

I am an employee of Abelag Aviation and I was there during Dr. Rice Arrival.

There was a press stand right in front of the plane. I personnaly took the press with a van to that stand. I told them to stay inside that section that was delimited with a chord, which they didn't do.

One thing that surprised me is that they didn't even get screened before entering the airport zone.

I also remember that time when a reporter from the Belgian RTBF was pushed away by a chinese delegation member during their prime minister arrival in Brussels. Again, that reporter left the press stand that was reserved for her and ran toward the plane.

What if a suicide bomber was present in the crowd? What if he had managed to kill the first black, female, United States Secretary of State? How would Belgian journalists cover the angles of that diplomatic incident? Would it be shown on Belgian TV? And what would be the new job description of that former protocol droid?

Celebrim: "for example, the Saudi's often demand that no women be seen from the plane when they land and that no women be in the air traffic control tower."

Are you serious about that?

BTW, A plane is only known as Air Force II if the VP is currently on board, and if the Air Force ownes the plane. This is from the presidental fleet, but does not have anything other then it's normal designation because It's not the pres or VP.

I think they have several 757s, 2 747s and several smaller jets.

"Are you serious about that?"

Good grief, you think I make this stuff up? I never joke about this sort of thing. If I was making this stuff up it would be slander, libel, and hate speech. As it is, I'm just telling the truth.

I had to dig to find a reference to the practice in the mainstream media (otherwise people would dismiss my references as 'far right' bias), but I finally found one that hadn't been removed.

http://archives.c...

@SteveK I know that they speak Flemish and French in Belgium, read my post again.

Brit, don't be an idiot.

I know, I know, damn American Secret Service. Sometimes they're so rude when they do they're job...rolling eyes...NOW

Celebrim, thanks. Unbelievable.

Brit, the Dutch-speaking Flemsih account for about 60%, or six million, of Belgium's population of 10,300,000. The rest is made up by the French-speaking Wallonians (some 3.5 million), and a hodgepodge in Brussels. Also included in this number are non-Belgian immigrants (350,000?) and a small community of about 70,000 German-speaking Belgians in the extreme east of our country.

Well, I don't feel like I have to apologize personally for that moron (I mean the Protocol Asshat), suffice to say I wouldn't have minded his ass kicked. May the whole incident lead to President Bush getting a worthier welcome.

However this got started it's unfortunate that it happened. If it weren't for the islamo-facist, slave trading, terrorists this probably wouldn't be such a touchy issue. That's our world now though, so stop dumping on whole populations of Europe and America. It only helps the religious bigots cause.

The Belgian should'a decked his ass.

Celebrim: "for example, the Saudi's often demand that no women be seen from the plane when they land and that no women be in the air traffic control tower."

Are you serious about that?

I guarantee you they want to see women when they get to their hotel suites though!

Ahmed: And create a real international incident? This was a pissing match between a man doing his job and some scrotty little technocrat who was trying to assert authority where it wasn't. Diplomatic planes have always been considered soverign terriroty of the nation that uses them. The techno-weeb was beating his chest for the television and little else.

You all embarrass me, and our country with your assumptions of propiety and importance.

Jerks.

My observation is that Belgium failed to provide basic security in keeping reporters away from the plane. Any reporter could be a terrorist, so they need to be initially screened, then kept in a sterile environment (transportation and stands) while they wait for Secretary of State Rice. The secret service officer was doing his job. The Belgian officials were not doing theirs. Feathers got ruffled because the secret security agent saw a serious breach of security for the Sec. of State.

Protocol Officer...what a joke. I hope Bush changes his mind about visiting Belgium if this is the kind of security he will receive!!!

The Secret Service man should have decked that
Belgian. End of story!!!!

Oddly enough, I read a very different account of the incident. Apparently, the US agent had first said "This is my plane !", to which the Belgian protocol chief replied "This is my airport, this is my country !". It takes two very silly people to build such a gross incident. The irony is that Condi's visit was very fruitful - she tried to patch things up and make up for the diplomatic blunders made by the previous administration. She did a great job that can't really be affected by this ridiculous pissing contest.

Around 11:15 am, while Air Force Two (a modified Boeing 757) was taxiing on the tarmac and officials were preparing to welcome the Secretary of State, Secret Service personnel and Belgian protocol officials were quarrelling about how close reporters could approach the plane.
_________________________

What you call Secret Service were almost surely Dilopmatic Security Service personnel of the US Department of State.

FYI, I am retired from the US Foreign Service of the US Dept. of State and served in Brussesl from 1989 to 1993 and did many visits of American secretaries of state and defense, plus President Reagan and Bush a few times. Only the president, vice-president, and visiting heads of state get US Secret Service protection (plus their family members).

hey fat ass,

you don't speak for me. zip it. you probably still have a Kerry/Edwards bumpersticker on your car. Loser

A question:
Does anyone know who the Protocol Man is? Is he a political appointee? I ask because it looks like something done for the cameras. If he was trying to launch a career in a Socialist political party, this would be a great way to do it.

Is it unacceptable to call "Big Ass American" a stupid jerk?

We bend over backwards to provide security for other diplomats and you're criticizing our agent who's concerned for Rice. Let's not forget, Belgium is struggling with an increasingly militant Muslim population.

Maybe you should learn a little more before making such a broad, boneheaded statement...

If this guy was a Secret Service Agent, I'd just love to see this idiot _try_ to deck him.

He would have ended up flat on his face with about 800 pounds, er, 400 kg of American on top of him.

Now, what you guys missed in all this kefuffle is that while Condi was there she expressed the opinion that Europe SHOULD become a Federal State with a single foreign minister. As an Englishman who has fervently supported the Bush-Blair alliance and has been four square behind the Iraq liberation (even though I despise Blair as a lightweight politician domestically speaking) moreover having been for many years a committed Yankophile I bitterly resent your recently promoted Secretary of State supporting what most Brits do not want - the surrender of their sovereignty to Brussels, a city which is the fundamental orifice of Europe and a scourge on Western Civilisation. Shame on you Condi, is that our reward for support during the past three years? To hand us over to a bunch of Mafia ridden and unelected bureaucratic bastards with their HQ in a mongrel city? Just to make life a little easier for you diplomatically speaking?

#5110 Nelson
"I bitterly resent your recently promoted Secretary of State supporting what most Brits do not want ..."

As a 3rd party (Canadian), I agree with you and see the Great eUro Govt (GUV), as being potentially very sinister.

Possibly she meant "Euros" as distinct from "Brits." At least that way there'd be only one person with whom to argue.

Security is security , and if the Belgians dont like it , then they can foot the lions share of the bills for Nato .

BTW , I thought the Secret Service acted gracefully and magnanimously , for that reporter should have gotten his teeth knocked out straightaway .

And you all know it .

p.s. that plane like any merchant vessel etc . IS U.S. soil .

Can you imagine if Condi "encouraged" Britain not to join??

1 EU, 1 constitution, 1 vision, 1 voice
1 Seat at the UN.

Nelson , the European Union was YOUR idea not ours . As it was YOUR idea to conjoin currencies in the Euro .
I know you Brits dont like it , just don't blame the U S ---perhaps the frogs ,Eh mate ?

I think Britain should pull out of the EU. Let them sink in their own filth, and DEFINITELY never give up your sovereignty to those 'tards. Most Americans don't think of Britain as European anyway. You have far too much class for that.

'Oddly enough, I read a very different account of the incident. Apparently, the US agent had first said "This is my plane !", to which the Belgian protocol chief replied "This is my airport, this is my country !".'

Unfortunately, the only video I have of the incident is very short and does not contain the full conversation. I've watched it a few times. I'm sure that the protocol officer probably did say something to the effect of 'This is my airport. This is my country'. On that, we perfectly agree. Where I and apparantly the Diplomatic Security Service disagree with the protocol officer, is that the plane is not Belgian, that it is a vehical conveying a recognized credentialed diplomat, and therefore Belgium is most certainly not primarily responcible for the plane.

Apparantly a US agent (probably not the one in the video) first said, "This is my plane!", indicating that he was responcible for it. This triggered an argument. Driver's 21:41 post is instructive.

What happen next we can only speculate, but apparantly a lengthy argument ensued which got quite heated. The agent in the video tries to calm down the protocol officer in the video. We only see the very end of this argument, which I'd guess has been going on for 3-5 minutes or more at this point.

Cut to the the Belgian officer saying, "This is not your plane. You are in Belgium."

The American agent says, "Ok, just calm down. You're right." He turns to walk away.

The senior Protocol officer shoves the agent in the back (probably just to get his attention, but still).

The agent turns around and says, "If you push me again, you're going to go...You're going to go." He points with his thumb over his shoulder.

Three junior assistants converge on the U.S. agent and pin him with thier bodies. Thier approach masks what appears to be a second American agent coming up behind _them_ quickly. The Belgian agent facing away from the camera says, "No don't say that. Don't say that.

The rest of the footage disappears behind a bunch of dark jackets and into a babble of people repeating, "Don't say that.", "Don't say what?", "This is Belgium.", again and again.

Some observations:

1) Again, the Belgian officer is wrong. This is an American plane no matter where it lands. It has 'The United States of America' written on the side and the Great Seal of the United States on it. The U.S. diplomatic agent is responcible for the security of the plane and everyone on it.

2) This argument didn't just come up out of nowhere. What you are seeing is a turf battle between Belgian and U.S. security over who is in charge. Mark my words, the Belgian agency refused to conceed that the U.S. diplomatic security attachment was or is in charge of _anything_. Otherwise, the issue of who was responcible for the plane wouldn't have even come up at this stage. The U.S. and the Belgian agencies did not agree to any sort of protocol over how the Secretary would be recieved when she left the plan, and this was the result.

3) This was I think a very deliberate attempt to provoke a diplomatic incident and is very closely related to the Chilean incident. Mark my words, we have not seen the last of this. Governments with an anti-American (especially anti-Bush) bent will be trying to make a status issue of this from here on out. From now on, everywhere U.S. officials go we will be seeing more of this sort of harrassment. I can almost hear the conversation that went on before this incident developed, "Who do these pushy Americans think they are bringing thier own security detail whereever they go! They do not trust us? They think that they are better than everyone else? They think that they are special? We will show them!" Only of course, it would be in that french accented dialect of Dutch the Belgians use, but I'd be willing to put money on the fact that something like that was said at a very high level of the Belgian security.

4) Contrary to the spin some American 'tough guys' here have used, the U.S. agent was not threatening to punch anyone when he said, 'You are going to go.' The fact that he was pointing with his thumb behind him indicates that the agent thinks the protocol officer has gotten so heated, that he's becoming a security risk and will need to leave. He has yet got around to explaining how that will happen.

5) One thing that Europeans do not undertand, and which I've experience in conversations with them before, is that in America you don't stand that close to someone you are talking to. Americans stay back about an extra 20cm further from the person they are talking to compared to Europeans. At the distance that Europeans normally talk with each, most Americans will feel uncomfortable and depending on the circumstances physically threatened. I don't know if this contributed to the heat of the argument or not, but I'm sure it increased the tension of it probably more than the protocol officer realized. Of course, since I think it was likely that this was a personal grudge by Belgian security against the United States of America, I'm equally sure that the insult was intended.

As I said , the American contingent acted gracefully and magnanimously - I did not say a punch in the face was threatened -----I said it was deserved .

And far as the distance Americans put between each other when talking ? It's just plain ole' fashioned hygiene , as any doctor , they'll tell you 36" / 3ft , or however many centimeters you want to call it , is a safe distance to avoid the passing of pathegens in body fluid that leave the mouth when speaking . It also a courtesy to another person who just might not want you in his face where he can smell your last meal .
Please dont make that into some sort of Fruedian theory . K ?

p.s regardless of what the Belgians wanted or thought they wanted , the U S security contingent was indeed in charge from start to finish , and if by your statements regarding this , you are truly reflecting the Belgian mindset , then they are woefully impuned with their own "faux-self importance " and out of touch with reality .

BTW , what foreign leaders do you know of that do not travel with their own security contingent or if you will "body-guards " ?
And what if one where to violate his "comfort zone " ? Would not those contingents be in your face immediately ?

And finally , you dont have to be a "tough guy " to say - screw the Belgians and their little ploy .[pissing contest]

US Security Agent: "This is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you."

Belgian: "Look, here comes the ground! It hit me in the head."

as the lights suddenly go out.

Celebrim: Your comment about personal space is spot-on and probably overlooked on both sides. After all "In your face" is an American expression implying hostility.

Huhuhu. Some people are soooo envious of the US, LOL. That's why they lose all balance like that guy. Same goes for the lefties and their huge hang-ups vis-á-vis Conservatives. Huhu! That is funny. Really funny.

All this is a perfect example of why the United States should completely sever any and all relations with Europe. The want to behave like an enemy, why not honor that intention?

"Celebrim: Your comment about personal space is spot-on and probably overlooked on both sides. After all "In your face" is an American expression implying hostility."

I think it's also the reason that Americans have a reputation for being loud. We don't stand so close together, so when we Americans are put into spaces with Europeans who are used to being close together, we tend not to think to tone it down a notch.

It's also probably the case that were a European would move closer to show greater intimacy, Americans would tend to just talk more loudly.

I really don't think Europeans realize just how wierd thier mannerism seem to Americans. I've had European friends since grade school, and I'm still not comfortable with the whole European girl running up, hugging, and doing the kiss each check thing. Every time it happens, I feel like I need to be disentangling myself and saying, "Please, I'm married." And when Euro-guys do it, it's just 'Ewwww'. But for them, it's like it's barely more intimate than a handshake.

Maybe the US guy had read this article
http://www.secess...

or this one
http://www.secess...

Both from The Spectator...

Maybe the US guy had read this article
http://www.secess...

or this one
http://www.secess...

Both from The Spectator...

quote: " Again, the Belgian officer is wrong. This is an American plane no matter where it lands. It has 'The United States of America' written on the side and the Great Seal of the United States on it. The U.S. diplomatic agent is responcible for the security of the plane and everyone on it."

In my humble opinion the Belgian officer is totally right: with his "This is not your plane" he's pointing out the fact that the security guy is not inside his plane, but on Belgium ground. He has no jurisdiction there.

@tibor: your explanation of the _intended_ meaning of "this is not your plane" is plausible and until now I had not looked at it that way. Anyway, I think communication was handled very poorly in this case. "This is not your plane", "you don't say that"... maybe these words were intended to have some serious meaning, but they sound ridiculous. "You are not inside your plane" or "this is not your plane HERE", and "you have no legal power HERE" or something like that, would have been more clear. Apart from that, there should have been preparation and coordination between Belgian and American security services in the days before Condi's arrival. My conclusion is that it either is a proof of amateurism from the Belgian 'protocol', OR a staged event for domestic political use. The fact that the cameras only arrived when the quarrel was already underway, makes me think that is was pure amateurism.

You can understand this if you translate 'directly' from french to english:
-c'est pas ton avion (ici): you're not in your plane
-on ne dit pas cela :'this is not done')
typical 'franglais' I guess.
But what's really stupid is that they're not focused on their job...

The fact remains that US security or whatever they are have to respect the opinion of whoever is in charge of the airport (and not the plane) and that happens to be the officer of protocol.
If those yanks don't like it then don't come and F off.
nuff said.

That protocol officer no doubt knows every journalist that was there since they're always the same and must have been fully ID'd before or they would never had gotten onto the tarmac anyway.

I think everything is said re this incident.
The Americans thought the journalists were too close and told them to get back. The Belgian officer overhears this and says it isn't in his authority to tell them off. Americans take care of the airplane coordination, the Belgian security overlooks the airport operations as it is after all Belgian soil.
Now as for the way the Belgian officer tries to make his point is in my opinion too way over the top. But what if indeed something had happened, then it would have come down to a discussion who is to blame and whose responsibility it is.
I don't think this is a pre-planned political incident, I think it is just a communication slip-up that is blown out of proportion ...

I think you have to take in account that the Belgian guy didn't have English as his mother tongue. That too may be a reason why the things he said just sound really silly. We don't know what happened before the time cameras started turning; we don't know the whole story so we can't make a final judgement.

But what we can tell is that both American en Belgian security-guy weren't exactly diplomatic en none of them seemed smart/mature.
End of story.

and for those who doubt the Belgian security services: Brussels gets 10's of foreign ministers, with no incidents so far, so i assume Belgium does know how to handle those people.
Accept for some individuals of course.

Good to see the American diplomacy in full flow, can't speak the language and when he doesn’t do what you want threaten him with violence. Why do they call them secret service, it is always the bloke in the suit with the oakleys. Why do Americans always wear shades when are talking, are they worried that if they take them off they might form some kind of link with the terror suspect (foreigners)?

"This isn't America, Jack...This is LA..."
-Nick Nolte, "LA Story"

Kid Blast

"Nelson , the European Union was YOUR idea not ours . As it was YOUR idea to conjoin currencies in the Euro .
I know you Brits dont like it , just don't blame the U S ---perhaps the frogs ,Eh mate ?"

We haven't yet conjoined currences with the EU and when we joined the EU, it was merely a trading arrangement. What they're trying to foist on us now (and succeeding, inch by inch) is a suborning of our government to an unholy socialist federal alliance of huns and frogs (the erstwhile defeated) and a mish mash of weaker nations, with a view to challenging what they call the 'American hegemony' and what I would rather call the facts of life. We are, despite what the knockers (including the liberal elite in your own country) assert, your best allies, and are still fighting against the Brusselian Bureaucracy; but don't trust Blair. He may be ass-licking at present, but at the first opportunity he will join le club and try to become the first President of the United Socialist Republic of Furope (USRE); bear in mind that will include a massive Muslim electorate that will encompass a significant fundamentalist and miltant element. I repeat: Cool it Condi!
Fuck Brussells! Talk to our Foreign Minister, regardless. He's a bit of a tepid turd, but we'll change him eventually.

Shudders... As you can probably imagine, security for the US State Department visits more lands than they could possibly ever learn the languages for, so your impugning the cop's not speaking the tongue is unfair.

Furthermore, the cop threatened the hothead with expulsion, not violence. It was the Belgian who resorted to violence... a violence I might add that wasn't responded to in-kind.

Security personnel protecting high-profile people wear sunglasses so that they can observe people around them without the people being able to tell where they are looking. This both gives them an advantage that they need and avoids the discomfort and embarassment caused by having a big, strong, musclebound man scrutinizing you for reasons not apparent. This would also provide them some limited protection from flash-bang grenades. All Americans don't wear dark sunglasses all the time. In fact if you spend any time in America (as I have in Europe), you'll find that Americans aren't easily classifiable other than as a function of legal status.

Nelson... I agree with you both with regard to Great Britain being our closest ally and the undesirability of her giving up her sovereignty to the EU regardless of the role that she plays in it. However, I do trust Condi Rice and George Bush to not abuse our influence in this matter when push comes to shove. Until it does, Condi is just doing the dance that diplomacy requires. You'd be hard-pressed to find two people less enthusiastic about conglomo-governments than Rice and Bush.

Immolate

I'm pleased that you think so. However her words are misused by those who are proseltysing on behalf of Britain joing the Euro and those trying to push through the proposed new 'constitution' which in my view is word comprised of two others: con and prostition. I hope it conflates abortion as well, ultimately, but in the meantime careless talk costs votes.

apologies for the typos, I'm wearing the wrong specs.

Nelson,

we are all for you. England would be crazy to join the EU. Why would they want to, to become socialist, devalue their currency and end up with a stagnant economy and high unemployment like the rest of Europe? No way.

hopefully those of you with heads on your shoulders can keep that from happening. I know lots of Democrats here in america that think you're arrogant. Don't know wny they think it's arrogant to not want to submit your soverignty to a foreign power but that's how they think

testing

Amizing, the amount of gross personal insolts in this thread. It looks loike everyone who speaks English is a lout. If something even in the least comparable happens in lvb's Dotch language blog, the post disappears into the somp within an hour. Whoy this different approach? Does lvb still need to make friends for his blog in the Anglo-Saxon world and does he think he can only mike'm if he lets the insults floy about? Tell me, goys.

@Bakeloite: no. If the posts containing insults are withheld, the whole thread's gone.

I think the insults aren't that bad and from an American perspective very understandable.

Okay.... this guy (the protocol asshat) was a schtoopid dork. But face it Americanos: this whole affair is what we'd call "een scheet in een fles". Meaning "a fart in a bottle". In other words, something less than not important. It certainly ain't worth the 85 comments so far. I understand you are all pissed off because of Old Europes coward attitude in the WOT but you got to understand the picture ain't by no means as bleak as you'd think. Trust me, you have more friends here than you think. It's just that, you know, all of the media are in neocommunist hands. TV, newspapers, magazines. There's no thing like FOX or the Wall Street Journal here. Most of the European population is prone to a daily unchallenged bombardment of viciously anti-American propaganda. Cut us some slack. If Europeans would be better informed, the general attitude would change dramatically.

Après un seul coup d'oeil sur les trackbacks de cette histoire, je savais assez. On trouve même un site dans la liste qui se nomme rantburg. Ben, cela dit tout: ces gens sont presque tous des râleurs - et en plus des râleurs machos attirés par les armes, les uniformes, les lunettes noires, l'atmosphère 'services sécrets'. Des types qui aiment jouer aux durs, qui aiment les menaces. Oulala! Comme je frémis! Qu'ils restent dans leur sites à eux! Qu'ils aillent se battre dans le triangle Sunnite contre leur équivalents locaux! Est-ce vraiment l'audience que lvb.net veut attirer avec sa version anglophone? Et entre parenthèses: quand verra-t-on une version francophone de ce blog magistral?

The expression 'Alle categorieën' under 'Filter on category' seems very strange English to me. Is this Swedish and are we gonna get a Swedish lvb-blog too? It would not really surprise me.

Any body sure that the tarmack has to be considered as pure Belgian soil under diplomatic considertions?

#5161

Eikel, nederlands of engels. Geen lafaard taal!

Any chance you can make a Quicktime version of this video?

Mais mon cher Yank, ne vous en faites pas comme ça! Je vois que vous vous inscrivez parfaitement dans la tradition d'insultes des participants anglophones sur ce site. Faut en outre savoir que le français est la langue de Napoléon et de de Gaulle. Le jeune Napoléon est devenu le chouchou de ses soldats parce qu'il marchait avec eux sur le premier rang pendant les batailles. Et ne me racontez donc pas que les français sont des couards. Ils étaient assez braves pour soutenir la révolution américaine dans le temps ou l'Amérique était encore une jeune nation qui avait besoin de défenseurs et maintenant ils sont presque les seuls aujourd'hui à dire non en face de l'hégémonisme américain. Je pourrais aussi vous répondre en Anglais, mais je pensais qu'il fallait d'abord montrer que je ne suis pas votre petit nègre. Bien à vous, Renaud.

@Rudi: 'Pure Belgian soil'? No, it isn't. So many foreign feet have trodden this area and brought along millions of (predominantly quartz) particles from all around the globe that according to a scientific appraisal by the University of Ghent this soil is only 68,33% Belgian. More about this at the University of Ghent website (department of geology).

Kliene Hersen Renaud

Uw taal is een verkrachting van Latijns. Geen ander taal, gebaseerd op Latijn, is zo ver Cicero, Ovid of Pliny vandaan.

De Gaulle was en blijft een okselhaar aan de geschiedenis en Napoleon komt uit Corsica, meer Italiaans dan Frans. Het is wel te merken!

Monsieur le Yank, Je dévine que votre texte en néerlandais est le résultat d'un texte en Anglais passé par une machine à traduire automatique. Il est abominable. Votre texte viole tout à fait cette langue honorable qu'est le néerlandais. J'aurai la bonté de le corriger ainsi:

Renaud met de kleine hersens,

Uw taal is een verkrachting van het Latijn. Geen andere taal, gebaseerd op Latijn, staat zo ver van Cicero, Ovidius of Plinius. De Gaulle was en blijft een okselhaar ...

'Okselhaar'? Cela ne se dit pas, j'en suis sûr. Très maladroit. Je propose:

De Gaulle was en blijft een markante figuur in de geschiedenis van Frankrijk, net zoals Napoleon. Het was er wel aan te merken!

Bof. Je dirais: 4/10, pour l'effort, mais on vous pardonne. Si on est des brutes, c'est logique que ça se montre dans le language employé. Bonne soirée et dormez bien! Renaud.

That Belgian 'protocol chief' is no less than His Excellency Patrick Vercauteren Drubbel, former Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, former chief of cabinet of Louis Michel aka Big Loulou, and currently Head of Protocol at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The young man standing between the US agent and the protocol chief on the picture at the top of this page, looking worried and trying to ease them down, is Didier Seeuws, spokesman for Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt.

Petit Renaud (#5173): You won't speak English because that would make you one of America's little niggers? Oulala, indeed. And speaking of the dusty brown folk, how are things going in the Ivory Coast? One thing to be said for American hegemony, it sure diverts media attention away from the recolonization of Africa. It also sucks the oxygen out of the whole oil-for-food scandal, in which French companies and (I'm going to take a flyer here) officials are well represented.

Out of deference to your feelings on the matter and so as to avoid insulting cowards everywhere, I call upon Americans to stop calling the French cowards. There, thats' better.

By the way, I think very fondly of LaFayette and the French ships that were decisive in the victory at Yorktown. It was a great thing and has meant much to the subsequent history of the world, including your own. And surely that hasn't been ALL bad.

Hi Barbara, Just to show you I'm not completely têtu, I'll answer you in English. I wasn't referring to 'America's little niggers'. I was just using the expression 'petits nègres' to allude to all people reduced to a position of dependency - slavery, if you insist. After all, the world is larger than the US. The expression 'petits nègres' is used a lot here without having anything to do with the colour of skin. Nonetheless it seems apt in this case. Yanks often seem to suppose the whole world has to kneel and accept their premisses. That scene on the tarmac in Zaventem and all those macho reactions to it are a magnificent example of this attitude.
By the way, I'm not French in the literal sense either. So notes about the recolonization of Africa by the French don't concern me immediately. Though I disapprove of this recolonization. The tragedy of Africa is that all kinds of structures have been set up by the colonial powers that don't correspond to ethnic reality locally at all. Africa will have to wrestle to emerge as itself for a long time to come.

Ich verstehe gar nicht warum die Tatsache dass man Deutsch spricht noch immer irgendwo verbunden werden muss mit dem Nazismus, oder jedenfalls mit etwas unheimliches. Mensch, fast Jedermann der etwas zu tun hatte m