The White House released a photo showing the Salahis in the receiving line in the Blue Room with Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in whose honor the dinner was held. Obama and reality TV hopeful Michaele Salahi are smiling as she grasps his right hand with both of hers and her husband looks on. Singh is standing to Obama's left.
The Secret Service earlier this week had said the president was not in danger because the couple — like others at the dinner — had gone through magnetometers. But in light of their close proximity to the president, no such claim was made Friday.
Well, then, they went through magnetometers. No problem.
Wrong. Have we learned nothing from 9/11? Those killers didn't smuggle air-to-ground missiles on to those planes--just box cutters that nobody much worried about. But those tools once on the inside turned planes into cruise missiles.
Once inside the White House, what manner of weapons might terrorists have found? Knives, to be sure. Unless the menu was purely soup and curried rice and only spoons were set out. Perhaps a carefully broken bottle of wine. Or just a heavy object to serve as a nice cudgel.
I'm not satisfied that the couple went through magnetometers, and so by implication were no threat despite their unauthorized presence. Had the gate-crashing couple been terrorists, they would have been the weapon--not whatever they took in with them--and they would have found something inside the White House to kill with.
I don't want my president assassinated and I don't want our nation's guests murdered. This breach in our security should be taken very seriously by the White House.
