Cartel May Try to Kill Bush on Trip, CBS Says

Secret Service security agents are concerned that a cocaine cartel could try to kill President Bush, possibly by downing his plane, when he goes to an anti-drugs summit in Colombia next month, CBS news reported Monday night.

“The Secret Service is investigating a growing number of intelligence reports that members of the drug cartel will attempt to assassinate President Bush,” CBS Evening News said.

“Reports that a cartel has obtained surface-to-air missiles are being taken seriously,” it said.

The report referred specifically to SA-7 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, which the drug cartel could use to try to shoot down Air Force One when Bush flies to Cartagena for the summit with Colombia, Bolivia and Peru.

It said the jet was fitted with electronic defenses to fool the missiles but that “concerns are growing” about the possible danger and “the Secret Service is considering other ways of bringing the President into Colombia.”

Bush has declared that he intends to attend the summit.

In Washington, a Secret Service spokesman told Reuters that it was standard procedure to consider all possible modes of transport whenever the President traveled.

“Everything is considered everyplace he goes,” he said. “But we haven’t come up with anything that could cause us to change our methods or procedures or posture on the whole trip.”

The CBS report also cited officials’ concerns about other security problems, violence and disruption at the summit.

Almost 200 people have been killed and 1,000 injured in bombings and other attacks since Colombian President Virgilio Barco declared all-out war on the cocaine cartels in August.