Can the White House really be protected?

WHEN an armed intruder jumped the fence and penetrated deep into the White House, it provided a field day for cartoonists and some members of the House of Representatives - who turned Julia Pierson, the hapless Secret Service director, into a figure of ridicule.

Barack Obama and his family, fortunately, had left for the weekend before the intrusion. Omar J. Gonzalez, an Iraq Army veteran, said he wanted to warn the president, “the atmosphere was collapsing.” But the incident raised serious questions about the chief executive’s safety in his own home.

The White House is usually described as the most heavily guarded residence in America. Uniformed Secret Service patrol the perimeter, backed by a SWAT team with automatic weapons. An attack dog, a Belgian Malinois, is trained to take down any intruder. The dog was not released on September 19, however, when Gonzalez got in the unlocked front door.