Lets start anew and keep our selves civil shall we?
Bush seeks bigger U.S. role in world
President, Blair vow
to ‘finish the job’
in Iraq, Middle East
MSNBC and NBC News
Updated: 6:08 p.m. ET Nov. 12, 2004WASHINGTON - Safely re-elected to a second term after a campaign in which the war was front and center, President Bush is moving aggressively to look beyond the turmoil in Iraq and assert U.S. influence in other parts of the world, particularly Europe, administration officials said Friday.
The president announced during a news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair that he would travel to Europe as soon as possible after his second inaugural, on Jan. 20.
“In my second term, I will work to deepen our trans-Atlantic ties with the nations of Europe,” Bush told reporters at the White House. “We must apply the combined strength and moral purpose of Europe and America to effectively fight terror and to overcome poverty and disease and despair, to advance human dignity and to advance freedom.”
The goal, Bush said, would be “to remind people that the world is better off — America’s better off, Europe is better off — when we work together.”
A senior Bush administration official told NBC News on condition of anonymity that the trip was scheduled in just the last few days as part of an “intense period” of outreach to the European community.
“A re-elected Bush administration is sending the signal we want to work with Europe,” the official said.
Bush was likely to visit Brussels, Belgium, in February for meetings at either the European Union or NATO or both, the official said. In another step aimed at mending fences, Bush’s national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, held an hour and a half of talks with her French counterpart, Maurice Gourdault-Montagne.
Fences to mend
Talk of a trans-Atlantic rift has persisted long after the debate over the Iraq war in the United Nations.
Relations with Germany have improved, and U.S. ties with Central and Eastern European countries are generally warm. But the perception that relations overall remain sour are fueled by Bush’s low popularity levels in Europe, France’s continued skepticism of U.S. power and the election of a socialist government in Spain earlier this year that led to a pullout of the country’s 1,300 troops in Iraq.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has even had a difficult time getting a call through to Bush to congratulate him on his re-election.
Even so, the administration has sent several signals in recent days designed to heal the divisions.
Within 10 days of Election Day, Bush has met publicly with two foreign visitors, both from Europe: NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Wednesday and Blair on Friday. Secretary of State Colin Powell also announced an ambitious round of fence-mending meetings during European travel scheduled for early next month.
Blair heartily endorsed Bush’s view. “I think there is a tremendous desire and willingness on the part of certainly our partners in the European Union to make sure that that alliance is strong,” he said.
As part of that effort, two other key items were on the discussion table for Blair’s visit: Iran and global warming.
Blair wants Bush to allay European fears that the United States would take military action against Iran. The United States wants Iran dragged before the U.N. Security Council to face sanctions, claiming it is trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran contends that its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed at generating energy.
Blair, meanwhile, would also like Bush to soften his rigid opposition to the Kyoto international climate treaty, which goes into effect early next year without U.S. participation. Expressing concern about U.S. jobs, Bush is holding fast to his rejection of the treaty.
This is a good place to start doncha think Brits?
D
aka deltacent aka deltater
Life may not be the party I had hoped for.......
But while I'm here I might just as well listen to the music and dance..
I' m with Becker... we`re all completely out of topic. Delta`s new issue could restart a very interesting conversation but shouldn`t it be a new thread ? Futur policies and alliances in between US, Europre & Middle East. What`s the link with The truth about Kerry ?
By globalizing the subject and dividing responsabilities, we might avoid frontal confrontation with USA1 and Delta ( Just kidding ).
Aude
D, I think you should start the Thread and let`s leave this one....It got boring and it seems to me you guys have exhausted the Kerry issue.....
Should be possible.......but don`t promulgate the idea of having different opinions just because of the mere fact that we are in different countries. We might and actually have diverging opinions on certain matters, simply because we have....nothing to do with nationality........WRONG manner, in my humble opinion, to start the new thread....
D, I address myself to you guys as individual minds not as americans...We all have a nationality, or passport because that`s how the system is set.....I am Aude, wether I am spanish, greek, french or chinese is irrelevant.
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind
Okay Aude I am not trying to start a thread to divide us but to join us in contributing ideas on the future of our countrieis as Allies not anything else
OKaY i AM MOVING THE ARTICLE ABOUT BUSH AND BLAIR TO A NEW THREAD THAT RON OPENED CALLED FOUR MORE YEARS.
COME ALL AND JOIN IN. ITS UNDER 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
PEACE AND OUT.
d
aka deltacent aka deltater
Life may not be the party I had hoped for.......
But while I'm here I might just as well listen to the music and dance..
11-13-2004 01:29 AM
