U.S. planning major deployment for London Olympic security

Story from The Takeaway. Listen to the above audio for a complete report.

U.S. officials feeling extreme unease over British security plans during the London 2012 Olympics and are going so far as to send 1,000 security agents, including 500 from the FBI, to keep American athletes safe.

News of this plan first broke via the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper Monday.

Gordon Corera, the BBC’s security correspondent, said the Olympics are a bit of special case for security. The problem is compounded because the United Kingdom is considered a “high-threat environment” for terrorism.

“I think there’s something unique in London, and that’s why the U.S. (has) more concerns,” Corera said. “Managing this huge security operation is certainly going to be complex.”

The Guardian reported that there was significant disagreements between American and British officials over how American security forces would operate and be accommodated in the U.K. Corera, however, said, while there would be issues behind the scenes, sources he’ve talked to have rejected the notion that there’s some feud between the two countries.

“I’m just not sure there’s been a big dust-up, yet,” he said.

The United States has opened a special office, separate from the Embassy building, to manage the country’s security operations for the Olympics.