QandO

June 10, 2004

"A Proud Day" for Bush
Posted by McQ

As we near the 30 June handover, James Lakely of the Washington Times tells us of a meeting between President Bush and the president of free Iraq, Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer.

President Bush said yesterday was "a proud day for me" as he sat down with a free Iraq's new president, who expressed gratitude to the U.S.-led coalition that liberated his country from Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.

"This is a special day for me and those of us in my administration who are here, because I really never thought I'd be sitting next to an Iraqi president of a free country a year and a half ago, and here you are," said Mr. Bush just before his meeting with Iraqi President Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer.

"Having listened to you, I have got great faith in the future of your country because you believe in the hopes and aspirations of the Iraqi people," Mr. Bush said. "It's a proud day for me, and I'm glad you're here."

For his part, Mr. al-Yawer said he was grateful to be the first test of Mr. Bush's new doctrine in the Middle East and personally thanked the president and the American people for liberating his country.

"Thanks to the American people for the leadership of George Bush, without which we couldn't have been here," Mr. al-Yawer said. "I would like to express to you the commitment of the Iraqi people to move toward democracy. We are moving in steady steps toward it."

Mr. al-Yawer pledged that the people of Iraq would not let "the sacrifices that the brave men and women of the United States endured" be in vain.

"We are working with all our hearts to make sure that all these sacrifices ... will be to the benefit of the Iraqi public," Mr. al-Yawer said.

Bush also sat down with the leaders of four other Arab nations -- Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria and Jordan, all of whom said they support his Middle East initiatives.

Also on the table was the possibility of an expansion of NATOs role. 16 of NATO's 26 member countries (i.e. a majority for those of you still yelling about "unilateral action") are already involved in Iraq. Naturally the French stand in the way of an agreement about an expanded role.

Mr. Bush also urged the G-8 nations to support further NATO involvement in what is now an occupation of Iraq but after the June 30 turnover of power will be a peacekeeping force.

But French President Jacques Chirac, who was against the Iraq war, would not go along.

"We believe NATO ought to be involved," Mr. Bush said after a breakfast meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the United States' strongest ally in the war. "We will work with our NATO friends to at least continue the role that now exists and hopefully expand it somewhat."

Mr. Chirac said he is still "very much open to debate and discussion" of an expanded role for NATO in Iraqi peacekeeping, but only if "the sovereign Iraqi government were to ask for it."

"I do not believe it is NATO's purpose to intervene in Iraq," said Mr. Chirac, who this week joined German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in declaring that they would not supply troops to Iraq.

Lakely also reports some apparent progress in international fence mending was evident:

Yesterday, it was apparent that those fences have been mended because Mr. Bush was able to secure unanimous agreement for the overarching goal of his foreign policy -- the spreading of democracy in the Middle East.

The plan commits the G-8 nations to establishing a "Democracy Assistance Dialogue" to help the Arab world foster democratic societies and encourage private-sector investment as the nations progress to representative governments.

The diplomatic breakthroughs might prove to be politically helpful to Mr. Bush, who has been harshly criticized by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts for damaging U.S. relations with its traditional allies.

All in all, the G8 appears to shaping into a political plus for Bush.

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