Excerpts from my book shelf 2 - US Presidents and Secret Service Agents

'Within arm's length' is an interesting book by Dan Emmett, a former Secret Service Agent (SSA). The books is about his life as a SSA protecting the most powerful person on earth, the US President or what they call, POTUS (President Of The US).


The book, for obvious reasons, doesn't delve too much into the different incidents that happened in life as a SSA, except for a brief account of what happened when President Bill Clinton took a stroll on the Bridge of No Return diving North Korea from the South. The book is more about the practical challenges faced by a Secret Service Agent like traveling extensively with the President across different countries and time zones with little or no rest and yet having to be alert all the time and protect the POTUS from any impending danger.


The book talks extensively about the physical training that goes into making a SSA to ensure their physical fitness and alert reflexes to guard their most important person they are out to protect.


What caught my attention more than anything else was the fitness levels of the US Presidents. Many of them were in the habit of running and the SSAs, entrusted with the task of being by the President's side at all times, had to run with them too.


Former President Bill Clinton took just about 9 minutes to run a mile while President George HW Bush, surprisingly, took just 6 minutes to run a mile, leaving the SSAs puffing and panting for breath. I compared that with my 10-and-a-half minutes per mile distance and am still looking for a place to hide my face.

Excerpts from my bookshelf - 1 - Middle Eastern Crises

With 2014 coming to a close I'm speeding up my reading to reach the target of 12 books for the year. I have picked up some really wonderful books from the library and a few from my India trip.


Meanwhile Time magazine, which I have been subscribing, has also been publishing some really interesting stories on ISIS and the crises in the middle eastern region. The articles elaborate on the fundamental differences in the Islamic countries in the region for someone like me who always gets mixed up between Sunni and Shias countries, their relationship with each other and with Israel.


Some interesting nuggets of information from Time magazine.


The rise of terrorist group ISIS (Islamic State in Syria and Iraq) has in a way got US closer to Iran. The US in fact has partnered with Saudi Arabia to host training camps for Syrian rebels to help fight ISIS. Saudi in return wants US to stay away from Iran, which the country considers its worst enemy.
The Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad, who has been facing rebellion within his country and criticism around the world for using chemical weapons against his own country men, is an ally with Iran in this fight against ISIS.

Sri Lanka's strategy in Tamil fishermen issue

I'm wondering what kind of foreign policy approach is Sri Lanka following wrt India? If the five fishermen facing death sentence are indeed guilty of smuggling drugs then how is the President willing to pardon them?




The Sri Lankan President's argument is that, Indian High Commission should not file an appeal in the Colombo High Court contesting the sentence as the judgment may take months to come while he, as a President, could pardon the fishermen in a few days. Should we suspect that the case against the fishermen is weak and that is why the President not want the Indian High Commission to appeal in a higher court?




The Sri Lankan President has also said that he has been in talks with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the pardoning and that Indian High Commission should not waste effort in trying to appeal the case. It is understandable that there would be back channel talks in such sensitive issues. But somehow, something seems fishy here.