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US President Barack Obama on Wednesday led a cabinet-level exercise to probe a massive Canadian security operation being rolled out for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver this month.
The White House praised the complex security blanket being laid down by the Canadian government as "thorough and professional" and said Obama had also been keen to test US contingency plans for any incident at the sporting spectacular.
"Earlier today the President led a Cabinet-level exercise to discuss preparedness, crisis response and incident-management procedures for the upcoming 2010 Vancouver Olympics," said Nicholas Shapiro, a White House spokesman.
"Just as the president has participated in exercises before focused on hurricanes, mock terrorist attacks and earthquakes, the president wanted to see first-hand the prudent work being done to prepare for the Winter Olympics in Canada."
Obama also wanted to know that if need be, the United States could respond in "a full, swift and aggressive manner and that those efforts have a solid foundation for disciplined-decision making in case anything were to happen."
Canada is deploying over 15,000 highly-trained security personnel, backed by a lethal arsenal of military hardware, ahead of the February 12-28 Games with a budget of one billion Canadian dollars (936 million US).
Olympic venues are spread over 15,000 square kilometers (5,800 square miles), from the urban metropolis of Vancouver to the rugged mountains of Whistler, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the city.
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