Pope's guards bemoan 'mission impossible'

[emad]

ABC Newsonline
The job of protecting Pope John Paul II from an assassin's bullet is a nightmare "mission impossible", Italian security officials have admitted with rare candour.

Enrico Marinelli, the former chief of the grim-faced men in sunglasses who stride alongside the 'Popemobile' during the pontiff's regular public forays, has confirmed how difficult the job is.

"It's a bit of a 'mission impossible' to absolutely guarantee the Holy Father's security," he said.

Italian police inspector Gerardo Centanni said that providing "total security" for the 84-year-old Pope, hit by two bullets in an assassination attempt in 1981, "would mean completely curtailing his pastoral duties".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1281053.htm

[benburch]

1. W's guards have an even worse problem.

The Pope is not the most hated man on the planet, W is.

And some of the people who hate W have the proven ability to destroy whole city blocks.

[emad]

2. With good reason. UK TV last week did a piece on why Brits

loathe W and came up with the conclusion that universal disgust in the UK pre-dates the Iraq biz and 9-11.

Most who expressed an opinion said they thought he was the epitome of evil and had worked a huge con trick to get into office, supported by organised crime in the energy industry.

[displacedtexan]

3. Having a problem with that headline...

Were guarding the pope truly a "mission impossible," wouldn't his holiness be dead now?

Guarding W. is easy: liberals don't normally assassinate; that seems to be a rightwing nut's vocation.