Interesting ... I remember that when GWB visited our neighbourhood here in Germany I made a thread about the absurd security measures that were taken (e.g., closing down whole highways, making people stay at home in a whole quarter of the city of Mainz, sealing manhole covers in the city).

At that time some people argued that this was "normal" procedure for such visits.
Only a day later GWB went to Slovakia to take a bath in the crowd.

Now, in Georgia it seems again that security measures were not that harsh.

Of course the difference in the latter two cases is that GWB could expect the crowds to cheer for him while during his visit in Mainz the crowd most likely would have been less welcoming.

So - lesson learned: The security of GWB's ego seems to be much more worthy of protection than his physical intactness ... go figure