Soul-searching at the Secret Service

WASHINGTON — A day after President Bush was nearly struck in the head by flying footwear at a Baghdad news conference, U.S. Secret Service officials faced questions Monday about how an Iraqi television reporter was able to hurl not one but two shoes at the president without the agents responsible for protecting him being able to move into the line of fire.

Secret Service officials said they were reviewing the episode, including the procedures used by agents guarding Bush during his unannounced visit to Baghdad. But officials said they believed the agents reacted appropriately in a situation where all those present in the room had already undergone intensive security screening.

Nonetheless, some security experts and former agents who reviewed tapes of the assault predicted that it would lead to minor changes to improve procedures for safeguarding the president.

"They will probably make a decision to have more close-in agents, right around the president," said Ronald T. Williams, a former Secret Service agent. "They will make some adjustments, so if a shoe is thrown again, they can intercept it, or at least give the president cover."

Secret Service officials said their agents began moving as soon as the first shoe was thrown. Ed Donovan, a spokesman for the agency, said the videos show agents quickly moving in from the sides of the room.

"We think the response was appropriate," he said. "You can see agents reacting after the first shoe was thrown."

Everyone at the news conference, Donovan said, had already passed through several layers of security and had been searched multiple times. But he added that the agency would nevertheless examine its performance.

"We are our own harshest critics," he said. "This will be reviewed to see if there is anything we can do differently. We always strive to make ourselves better as an agency."

Patrick J. Lennon, another former agent, said that after he saw the video, his impression was that the agents seemed to react more slowly than he would have expected.

"I thought they would have responded after the first shoe," Lennon said.

The agents guarding Bush were not able to immediately get in front of him because they were positioned at the side of the room, not beside him, as they would be if he was working a rope line, Lennon said. Luckily, he added, Bush moved quickly.