Security for Bush, not for the troops

With 418 soldiers now dead in Iraq, 57 in the last 11 days, Bush had better figure out how to prevent more killings. Instead, he's working out the details of his own safety during his upcoming visit to Britain. He's requested: the total closure of the Tube network, the presence of US military jets and Black Hawk helicopters, diplomatic immunity for Secret Service agents who might "accidentally" pick off a protester, and the right to use a tank-fired "mini-gun," a battlefield artillery. Most of these requests have been refused. Any US president should be protected when traveling, and this one probably has more to fear than most, but if George W. Bush demonstrated such care for Allied troops as he does for himself, the situation in Iraq would look very different.

Update 11/16: One in three Britons polled believe Bush is "stupid" while 60 percent think he's a threat to world peace, a new poll says.