The Truth:
It is true that President Obama is travelling
to India and that this will be his biggest trip
since he began his term in the Oval Office.
On
October 31, 2010 article United Kingdom's Daily Mail said that the entire five star Taj Mahal Hotel
has been reserved for "two
days of his visit and the property will be a no-go area for non-hotel
staff while he is staying." Full details of security measures have
not been released but the Daily Mail article did say that the U.S. Secret service
will "set up two command posts in Delhi and Mumbai which will act as the
communication nerve centres." As an added security measure,
the British paper also said that
thirty sniffer dogs will be utilized during the Presidential visit.
The trip to India is
only the first leg of the President's ten day trip that will cover
India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. An
October 27, 2010 White House press conference confirmed that the
President would be accompanied by the First Lady, Michelle Obama.
The White House held a
press conference on November 4, 2010 to correct what it said were
inaccurate reports from international press articles about the upcoming
trip that sparked a fury of
allegations and viral eRumors on the World Wide Web. The
transcript of the press conference can be found on in a
November 4, 2010 article by Fox News.
Here is what we have
been able to find out:
The India visit is not an official state visit but more of a sight seeing
trip - Fiction!
The White House said that this is not a sight
seeing visit as the eRumor alleges but the purpose for this trip
is to build important links between the US and India, which is on the
fast track towards economic growth. The President will be attending a
business summit that was organized by the U.S.-India Business Council.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that the President will
also be taking part in a commemoration ceremony on the 1 year
anniversary of the Mumbai terrorist attack. In a
briefing, Gibbs said that the President would "take
the time to pay his respects to the victims who lost their lives and to
sign the guest book there, but also to make some brief remarks."
40 planes, 3 Helicopters and 6 armored vehicles used
to transport entourage -Unproven!
TheDaily Mail article did say that 40 planes, including Air Force One, would
transport the President and his entourage to India. The paper said
that three
Presidential Marine One helicopters and six heavily armored cars,
including the President's fortified "Obama Mobile" Cadillac, fully
equipped with nuclear launch codes and communications center, will be
on hand to transport the president and members of his party when they
arrive in India. We have not found any official
White House disclosure of logistics for this trip.
An entourage of
3,000 travelling with the President to India-
Disputed!
The Press Trust of India news
service said that "3,000 people
including Secret Service agents, US government officials and journalists
would accompany the President." White House spokesperson Tommy Vietor said, "The numbers reported in this article have no basis in
reality." Owing to security details Vietor could not go into details but
said the numbers were "widely inflated."
A
flotilla of 34 warships to protect the President-
Fiction!
On November 4, 2010
New Delhi Television (NDTV) reported that Obama will be "protected
by a fleet of 34 warships, including an aircraft carrier, which will
patrol the sea lanes off the Mumbai coast during his two-day stay there
beginning Saturday. The measure has been taken as Mumbai attack in 2008
took place from the sea." Pentagon press secretary Geoff
Morrell told reporters at the White House Press Conference, "I will take
the liberty this time of dismissing as absolutely absurd this notion
that somehow we are deploying ten percent of the Navy, some 34 ships,
and an aircraft carrier in support of the president's trip to Asia --
that's just comical. Nothing close to that is being done."
This trip will cost the American Tax
payers $200 Million a day-
Unproven!
Similar versions of this eRumor have also been circulating focusing on
the current economic conditions in the U.S. and financial cost saying that this trip could cost
the American taxpayer $200 Million a day. According to a
November 4, 2010 CBS report, those numbers were reported by the
Press Trust of India without a substantial source. CBS News
asked the White House to verify this amount and an email response
said, "The numbers reported in this article have no basis in reality."
The President will
be accompanied by children, Sasha and Malia-
Fiction!
Some false reports from international news agencies originally said that the
President will be accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and two daughters, Malia and Sasha.
On October 29, 2010, a
Press Trust of India article said that daughters Sasha and Malia
will not be travelling to India owing to commitments with school.
updated 11/4/10
