Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Rebecca’s War Dogs of the Week: Obama’s entourage of 30 sniffer pups

By Rebecca Frankel Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent President Barack Obama flies off on his big trip to Asia this week, and traveling with him, among others, will be 30 bomb-sniffing military dogs. Working security detail for the president has its perks — these dogs will be traveling in style, staying in 5-star hotels where ...

PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images
PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images
PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent

President Barack Obama flies off on his big trip to Asia this week, and traveling with him, among others, will be 30 bomb-sniffing military dogs.

Working security detail for the president has its perks — these dogs will be traveling in style, staying in 5-star hotels where they can receive the kind of proper care they need, including special diet food sent ahead from home and a temperature-regulated environment to help the dogs adjust to a new climate.

Some of these reports of the dog detail traveling with the president — like others alleging that the cost of Obama’s trip is a $200 million per day expense — seem a little sketchy.

But according to an English-language website based in India, a source inside the Mumbai travel agency arranging transportation for Obama’s service detail told reporters that the preparations for Obama’s sniffing dogs have been in the works for months when prior to the trip, the U.S. consulate "asked for more than 10 customised cars for dogs during the president’s visit" to apparently "move with the president’s convoy. …"

The cars, apparently, had to be specially outfitted: "For the comfort of the dogs, the back seats in the cars were removed and the interiors were refurbished to ensure they [sic] were no sharp edges." The source added, "Never before, have we seen such VIP treatment for animals."

It seems the arrival of one U.S. military dog in Obama’s bomb-sniffing troop to India — allegedly named "Khan" — is already causing something of a media storm.

Yes, we Khan!

 

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

More from Foreign Policy

An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.
An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.

A New Multilateralism

How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.

The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy

Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

The End of America’s Middle East

The region’s four major countries have all forfeited Washington’s trust.