Cowardly President Bush Visiting Israel for Domestic Popularity Back Home

In one of the largest security operations in years, more than 10,000 Israeli police officers will secure US President George W. Bush's visit to Jerusalem next week, police said Wednesday.

The three-day visit, which gets under way on Wednesday, will see a total of 10,450 police officers on the streets of Jerusalem to safeguard the president and his entourage during his stay, Jerusalem police chief Cmdr. Aharon Franco said at a police briefing.

No security threats against Bush have been received by police, Franco added.

The police will be out in their largest numbers since the landmark 2000 Jerusalem visit of Pope John Paul II, and the 1998 visit of former US president Bill Clinton, Franco said.

The total number of police forces to be deployed in Jerusalem during Bush's 48-hour visit to Israel even surpasses the 8,000 police officers that oversaw Israel's pullout from Gaza two years ago.

The visit, which has been dubbed by police as Operation Clear Skies, is expected to cause major traffic jams throughout the city as police close off central Jerusalem thoroughfares. JPost