EU-DIGEST

Can Obama Stop the Bush Administration's Final Economic Heist? - by Naomi Klein

"The question now is whether Obama will have the courage to take the ideas that won him this election and turn them into policy. Or, alternately, whether he will use the financial crisis to rationalize a move to what pundits call "the middle" (if there is one thing this election has proved, it is that the real middle is far to the left of its previously advertised address). Predictably, Obama is already coming under enormous pressure to break his election promises, particularly those relating to raising taxes on the wealthy and imposing real environmental regulations on polluters. All day on the business networks, we hear that, in light of the economic crisis, corporations need lower taxes, and fewer regulations -- in other words, more of the same.

"The $700-billion "rescue plan" should be regarded as the Bush Administration's final heist. Not only does it transfer billions of dollars of public wealth into the hands of politically connected corporations (a Bush specialty), but it passes on such an enormous debt burden to the next administration that it will make real investments in green infrastructure and universal health care close to impossible. If this final looting is not stopped (and yes, there is still time), we can forget about Obama making good on the more progressive aspects of his campaign platform, let alone the hope that he will offer the country some kind of grand Green New Deal".

Labels: Bush, Obama

Bush's sad finale - Reaping the whirlwind

Plenty of people can be blamed for the calamity on Capitol Hill on September 29th. Two-hundred and twenty-eight congressmen decided they were ready to risk another Great Depression. Nancy Pelosi made an idiotic speech damning the Republicans. Sheriff McCain claimed that he was going to ride into town to sort out the mess—and promptly fell off his horse. But there is no doubt where the lion’s share of the blame belongs: with George Bush. The dismal handling of the financial crisis over the past fortnight is not only a comment on Mr Bush’s personal shortcomings as a leader. It is a comment on the failure of his leadership style over the past eight years.

The crisis underlined Mr Bush’s two biggest personal weaknesses—his leaden tongue and his indecisiveness. He failed to explain in simple language that a crisis on Wall Street also means a crisis on Main Street. The self-styled decider was also singularly lacking in decisiveness. He handed responsibility for the bail-out to a technocrat, his treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, but then failed to provide him with the necessary political backup. He started lobbying legislators only days before the vote. He failed to travel to Capitol Hill to make a personal appeal to Congress. Worse still, he wasted political capital on a farcical photo-op meeting in the White House with the presidential candidates. Mr Clinton would have done things a lot better.

Labels: Bush, US Economic Meltdown

Sarkozy Deserts Bush, Europe Drifting From America

When Nicolas Sarkozy was elected President of France, it appeared that for the first time a French President was going to play a second fiddle to President Bush. He gave the impression that he was also a staunch rightist who was bent upon reversing the liberal and leftist traditions of France and tows the neo conservative and reactionary policies of President Bush. However, the recent developments in Europe and the Middle East show that Sarkozy has parted company with Bush.

What made Sarkozy change his policies? Europe is fundamentally different than the United States. America remains the only country in the world that is loyal to the pure and unadulterated consumerist capitalism. Europe has long back deserted the traditional capitalism and has adopted the concept of a social welfare state based upon what can be called utilitarian capitalism. This form of capitalism can also be called “Capitalism with a human face”.

The poor performance of the American consumerist capitalism as compared to the European utilitarian capitalism has convinced Europe that it is on the right track. Failure of the American policies in Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea and Iran as well as the deepening economic crisis at home has convinced the Europeans that time has come to put a distance between America and Europe. The resurgence of Russia as a global power and the relative decline of the American power has also led the Europeans to review their relations with Russia and America and adopt a more balanced and independent stand in the conflict between the two countries.

Labels: Bush, EU, France, Sarkozy

The People, the Press, & the Case for Impeachment of George W. Bush

"When our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence they were not worried about political will, how much time there was, or about any parties' political future, they were just worried they were going to be hanged by the neck. But they did what was right. Now it is your time", said Elliott Adams, President, Veterans for Peace, testimony July 25, 2008. The July 25, 2008 House Committee on the Judiciary hearings focused on the Kucinich resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush. In his resolution, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) argues that Bush knew that the Iraqis had no weapons of mass destruction, yet claimed that they did in order to justify the March 2003 invasion. The "fraudulent misrepresentations," as they're referred to in the resolution, cost lives, compromised national security, and represented a clear abuse of constitutional power. The evidence supporting these claims is highly persuasive.

For the most part, the witness statements from House members and the panel of invited witnesses contain specific justifications for impeachment. The Kucinich resolution for impeachment, H. Res 1345, offers a concentrated body of evidence substantiating the charges and demonstrates the main charge in the resolution: the president knew that he was misrepresenting the facts about Iraq at the time he was doing it.

Labels: Bush, Impeachment

Climate Change - White House censored scientific reports on climate change - Kate Sheppard

In a letter made public this week, former EPA associate deputy administrator Jason Burnett indicated that both the office of the vice-president and the White House Council on Environmental Quality have directly attempted to censor discussions of the consequences that global warming poses to human health. While all this information about the White House's continued efforts to undermine the science on climate change was coming to light, Bush was in Japan hailing the G8's agreement as "significant progress" against the threat of global warming. How's that for cognitive dissonance? Yet the long-term goal of cutting emissions 50% by 2050 is well below the 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 that most scientists agree is necessary. And even that lower goal lacks an implementation plan with teeth to force world leaders to comply.

Labels: Bush, Climate Change, US

Bush: "Russia's new president is 'smart guy'" - by Deb Riechmann

Like former Russian President Vladimir Putin, still the top powerbroker in Moscow, Medvedev remains critical of the West, in particular the United States. He has shown no sign of softening opposition to U.S. plans for missile defense facilities in Europe or to NATO's promise to eventually invite Georgia and Ukraine in. Personal relations between the two appear warm, but Bush didn't go as far as to repeat what he said about Putin when he first met him in June 2001. Then, Bush said he looked into Putin's eyes and "was able to get a sense of his soul".

"I'm not going to sit here and psychoanalyze the man, but I will tell you that he's very comfortable, he's confident, and that I believe that when he tells me something, he means it," Bush said. The two, however, are at opposite ends of their political lives. Bush is on his way out and Medvedev just took office in May. This is Bush's eighth and final G-8. This is Medvedev's freshman year at the summit. Note EU-Digest: A friendly statement by Mr. Bush about Mr. Medvedev, but nobody seems to care what Bush his opinion is as he prepares to leave office, which actually could also be a dangerous situation?

Labels: Bush, Medvedev, Russia

Bush Returns from Europe without Understanding the Old Continent's Position on Iran - by Ida Garibaldi

There was little more than the window dressing of a farewell tour in President Bush's trip to Europe earlier this month. Most significantly, he failed to come away with a clear idea of where Europe stands on Iran. It is a pity, but it is not surprising. At the end of his second mandate an American president progressively loses his political influence, becoming a semi irrelevant actor on the political scene of his country. This element coupled with the entrenched European indecision in facing the Iranian issue undermined the results of a trip that otherwise could have had a very positive effect on the transatlantic alliance.

Labels: Bush, EU, Iran

In Europe, Bush encounters more disregard than disdain - by Geraldine Baum

In his sweep across Europe last week, President Bush found a continent that has largely moved beyond him. The American president who enraged and infuriated Europeans over everything from military intervention in Iraq to climate change and once provoked massive street protests was greeted this time like a former boyfriend who is no longer even worth fighting with.

Labels: Bush, Europe

Europe to Bush: Hasta la vista, 'cowboy' - by Shelley Emling

As President Bush makes what is expected to be his last tour of Europe as president this week, the continent is already looking to the next American president with hopes of improved relations. The Iraq war and other policy differences cast a chill over U.S.-European relations. The Bush years have often been characterized in Europe as an era of unilateral "cowboy" diplomacy by America with little regard for cooperation with traditional allies. When Bush travels this week to Slovenia for a European Union summit and then to Britain, France, Germany and Italy for meetings with leaders and the pope, there might be some poignant speeches, but there will be little nostalgia.

Labels: Bush, EU

Putin beats Bush on points in the battle of the legacies - by Bronwen Maddox

Putin beats Bush on points in the battle of the legacies - by Bronwen Maddox

President Putin was the first winner from the Nato summit in Bucharest, and he wasn't even there. The Nato-Russia Council begins only today, but Putin, who has played the Western alliance with obsessive skill in his last months as President, ensured that relations with Russia dominated the earlier gathering. For him and George W. Bush, Bucharest was a battle of the legacies, and on points Putin won. The summit failed to give a date for Ukraine and Georgia to join, which Bush had forthrightly declared it should, but which Germany and France blocked, partly to avoid antagonising Russia. Gordon Brown yesterday said that “no one outside a Nato meeting could influence it”, but Russia's threats and courtship seem to have done just that.

Labels: Bush, EU, Nato, Politics, Putin

Allies reject Bush's call for NATO role for Ukraine, Georgia

President Bush threw the NATO summit here off-script yesterday by lobbying hard to extend membership to Ukraine and Georgia, but he failed to rally support for the move among key allies. Bush believes Ukraine and Georgia should be welcomed into a Membership Action Plan, or MAP, which prepares nations for NATO membership. The US stance contradicts German and French positions stated earlier this week, and it risked upsetting efforts to persuade Russia to soften its opposition to a missile defense array in Eastern Europe. Bush failed to win over a consensus of NATO members in a debate at a dinner of NATO leaders, a senior German official said last night, with at least seven countries lined up against him.

Labels: Bush, EU, Nato

Nato summit: George Bush abandoned over Ukraine and Georgia - by Michael Evans and Francis Elliott

President Bush was today being abandoned by his closest allies as his appeal for Ukraine and Georgia to be earmarked for Nato membership met with opposition from Britain, France and Germany.Nato leaders, including Gordon Brown according to senior officials, thought it was premature to put Ukraine and Georgia into the official Nato membership system, even though it can take ten years before a formal invitation is made to join the alliance. The British judgment is that, although there was full support for both Ukraine and Georgia, the question of "when" they joined should remain in the balance. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and President Sarkozy of France are of the same mind.

Labels: Bush, Georgia, Nato

Bush Coming to Sochi With Hat in Hand - by Peter Lavell

U.S. President George W. Bush will meet President Vladimir Putin for the last time in Sochi this weekend. The agenda is full of contentious issues -- Kosovo, anti-missile defense, NATO expansion and the state of Russian-U.S. relations. As the presidents bid their farewells, it is worth reflecting on the relationship. Bush's last meeting with Putin was unscheduled. Does Bush have some unfinished business? There is good reason to believe that he does, particularly since the two presidents plan to get together on the sidelines at this week's NATO summit in Romania. Bush wants a last one-on-one visit with Putin, and it is clear he wants to talk about -- or talk up -- U.S.-Russia relations.

There could be two reasons for this meeting. Bush has only a matter of weeks to make some kind of broad strategic deal with Putin before Putin steps down in favor of President-elect Dmitry Medvedev. Such a deal could quite possibly be the single foreign policy success of Bush's presidency.

Labels: Bush, Ukraine

Pro-Russia enemies of Nato give Bush a mixed reception in Ukraine- Tony Halpin

About 3,000 Communist and Socialist party supporters rallied in Independence Square, the scene of the pro-Western Orange Revolution in the capital, carrying Soviet-era flags and banners that read “Ukraine against Nato” and “Nato is worse than the Gestapo”, while an effigy of Mr Bush was set on fire. Mr Bush arrives for his first visit to Kiev, before tomorrow's opening of the Nato summit in Romania, determined to show his support for Ukraine's ambition to join the alliance despite strong opposition from Russia.

Labels: Bush, Ukraine

A US Political requiem: George W. Bush leaves country with scars -- by Rachel Patron

These days, as we watch the two men and a woman clawing their way to the Oval Office, we must hope that somewhere in their souls is enough humility to propel them — and us — to greatness. Though Mr. Bush claims to be guided by his Christian faith, one can detect only smugness in the way he handled the lives of millions entrusted to him by the power of his office. Look what Jesus accomplished in his 33 years on Earth. With humility and compassion, learning and maturing, he transformed the way people perceive their surroundings, and uplifted their souls in the process.

President Bush has achieved one goal: Osama Bin Laden is either dead or alive. And he's likely to remain this way forever, which doesn't matter anymore because, either way, we feel vulnerable and still unsure what exactly constitutes the "war on terror" — or where its pursuit is taking us.

Labels: Bush, US elections

George W Bush, White House told 935 lies after September 11

US President George W Bush and other top officials issued almost one thousand false statements about the national security threat from Iraq following the September 11 attacks, according to a study by two not-for-profit organisations. The Associated Press reports the study, published on the website of the Centre for Public Integrity, concluded the statements “were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanised public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretences”.

According to the study, 935 false statements were issued by the White House in the two years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.“The cumulative effect of these false statements – amplified by thousands of news stories and broadcasts – was massive, with the media coverage creating an almost impenetrable din for several critical months in the run-up to war,” the study concluded.

Labels: Bush, Iraq, Iraq war

Remember him? Bush begins Middle East tour - Leonard Doyle and Andrew Buncombe

Voters in the United States may have switched their attention to the contest to find his successor, but George Bush will embark on an ambitious nine-day tour of the Middle East tomorrow in a last desperate effort to salvage a legacy from two terms in office overshadowed by a catastrophic foreign policy that has earned him the distinction of being one of the worst presidents in the country's history. The Bush legacy will not be peace in the Middle East nor an end to conflict in Iraq, but it could be a political earthquake among voters so dismayed by the mess he has made of America's foreign policy and fearful of economic recession that they are deserting his party in droves. As he prepares to board a plane for Israel and wrap himself in the tattered flag of victory in Iraq, Mr Bush's real legacy to the American people is evident in the disillusionment on display in New Hampshire. Enraged Republicans are switching sides to support the Democrat Barack Obama. Others are backing Mike Huckabee, the maverick Christian conservative hopeful.

Labels: Bush, Diplomacy, Middle East, US

Enough with Democracy! - by Robert Baer

The Bush administration is particularly culpable in creating the chaos in Pakistan because it forced a premature reconciliation between President Musharraf and Bhutto; it forced Musharraf to lift martial law; it showered money on Musharraf to fight a war that was never popular in Pakistan. The administration could not understand that it can't have both in Pakistan — a democracy and a war on terrorism.It is high time Americans return a pragmatic president to the White House. When George H.W. Bush, James Baker, and Norman Schwartzkopf decided not to occupy Iraq in 1991 at the end of the first Gulf War, they understood that imposing an American style democracy wasn't going to work.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, keying off the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, sharply criticized the Bush administration's Pakistan policy and called for an immediate cutoff of all military aid to that country that does not go directly to the fight against terrorism.

Labels: Bush, Pakistan, US

Iraq calmer, but more divided - by Ned Parker

The U.S. troop buildup in Iraq was meant to freeze the country's civil war so political leaders could rebuild their fractured nation. Ten months later, the country's bloodshed has dropped, but the military strategy has failed to reverse Iraq's disintegration into areas dominated by militias, tribes and parties, with a weak central government struggling to assert its influence.

Labels: Bush, Iraq war, US

IRAN: Bush has nothing to offer but scare tactics - by Marianne Means

Bush stubbornly refuses to admit that the Iranian menace has changed. He had been told of the new information in August by national intelligence director Mike McConnell but went ahead anyway to beat the drums of war by raising the specter of World War III with Iran. Without the war scares, you see, what does he have to offer? The public has hit the mute button on him. Without scare tactics, his popularity would be even lower than its present 30 percent. And he was, after all, accustomed to a Central Intelligence Agency under the thumb of Vice President Dick Cheney, famous for seeing the worst in everything. Bush claimed not to know the details of the report until recent days. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Joe Biden said he didn't believe Bush's excuse and that if Bush believes nothing has changed in the wake of the intelligence report, he is in denial.

Labels: Bush, Iraq war, US

Cost Iraq War: As Turks mass on border, $2.4 trillion?

If Americans wanted some reassurances that the war in Iraq was going well, they aren't getting it right now.The U.S. has spent about $604 billion on the wars so far, it says. If the U.S. were to reduce the number of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan to 75,000 six years from now, it would cost $1 trillion more and $705 billion in interest to pay for them through 2017. "That estimate is a far cry from the administration's original claim of a $50 billion price that the Iraqis could pay themselves," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "The depth of this tragedy is stunning, particularly for our military families - and for prospects for peace in the region."

Americans have grown skeptical of the Bush administration's insistence on keeping troops at full strength in Iraq.

Note EU-Digest: In America there is a saying - "you can fool some of the people sometimes, but you can't fool all the people all the time". Unfortunately today the majority of the American population seems to be fooled all the time by an Administration which is wasting money at a scale never seen before. This same Administration now also seems to have convinced its taxpayers that if they don't "take care of Iran" they can expect the Third World War will break out. In this context Europe needs to take a hard look at their efforts in Afghanistan and what it needs to do on an independent basis. Europe's objectives are very different from those of the Bush Administration.

Labels: Bush, EU, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, US

Nuclear hypocrisy - by Joe Conason

Trying to understand what is on George W. Bush's mind when he opens his mouth is often a fruitless exercise, but his latest statement concerning Iran, nuclear weapons and World War III was troubling as well as opaque. Just what did the president mean when he uttered those apocalyptic remarks on Wednesday? "We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," he blathered. "So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." Sorry, but the Iranian leadership and many other unsavory figures around the world cannot be prevented from "having the knowledge" needed to build a nuclear weapon, since, as Matthew Yglesias has noted, the scientific and engineering information is commonly available.

Labels: Bush, Iran, Nuclear, US

WWIII – Bring It On !- by Gordon Prather

Last week, Iran hosted a "summit" of leaders of the Caspian Sea littoral states – Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Iran. Russian President Putin met with Iranian President Ahmadinejad, and afterwards declared that "Iran is an important regional and global power." Putin also said that he had seen no evidence that Iran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program and announced that Russia would go ahead and complete the Iranian nuclear power plant at Bushehr. The summit, itself, resulted in a number of "milestone" agreements, including one prohibiting other countries – such as the United States – from using territory or facilities of one or more Caspian Sea littoral states for attacks on another "in any circumstances," and another "disallowing" the passage on the Caspian Sea of any ship not flying the national flag of a littoral state.

Bush's promptly convened an unusually lengthy press conference, in which to get off zingers like this one. "We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."

So, if Bush is to be believed, he's recently told Putin that he is willing to start World War III, not because Iran allegedly has nukes with which to allegedly attack Israel, or not because Iran has the capability of making the material to make nukes with which to allegedly attack Israel, or not even because Iran allegedly wants to make nukes with which to allegedly attack Israel. Now all it takes to start WWIII is some Iranians knowing how to make a nuke.

Labels: Bush, Iran, Putin

Bush, Sarkozy promote ties over burgers

President George W. Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday stressed friendship over disagreement at a lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs at the Bush family estate aimed at improving relations strained by the Iraq war. The American holiday, which has drawn criticism in France, was briefly interrupted when Sarkozy flew home to attend the funeral of Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger on Friday. Sarkozy's wife, Cecilia, called first lady Laura Bush on Saturday morning and said she and her children were not feeling well and would not attend the lunch. Sarkozy said when he returned from France he discovered they had sore throats.

The setting for the lunch -- which also featured corn-on-the-cob, baked beans and fresh blueberry pie -- was a cluster of dark brown buildings with tennis courts and a swimming pool on a point jutting over rocks, with boats and ducks bobbing nearby in the waves.

Labels: Bush, EU, France, Sarkozy, USA

Subprime or Subcrime? Time To Investigate and Prosecute

French Bank freezes billions of US subprime funds: Subprime or Subcrime? Time To Investigate and Prosecute

"A French bank froze BILLIONS Thursday saying, “The complete evaporation of liquidity in certain market segments of the U.S. securitization market has made it impossible to value certain assets.” Translation from the French: "We are all in deep sh..".

On Thursday morning, President Bush was asked about this at a press conference. He blamed borrowers for not understanding the documents they signed. "If you have ever tried to read the documents banks prepare for mortgage closings, you will know that they are written by risk minimizing lawyers to be too long and dense to be understood." (Later in the day, the market reacted to his upbeat assessment with the Dow plunging 387 points.)"

The Washington Post reports that the US has started a bail out “pumping more than $150 billion into the financial system to keep it operating smoothly.” Where is this money coming from? Not from the military budget you can be sure."

Note EU-Digest: "Today Mr. Bush and Mr. Sarkozy, the new French President will be having lunch in Maine. With the above in mind most of us in Europe are hoping Mr. Sarkozy will start to water down his great admiration for the US economic system. It is in shambles. "

Labels: Bush, EU, Sarkozy, US Economy, World Economy

Bushes to lunch with President Sarkozy of France in Maine

President George W. Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet this weekend at the coastal home of Bush's parents in the northeastern state of Maine, the White House said Wednesday.The Bushes are having Sarkozy and his wife, Cecilia, to a private lunch on Saturday, presidential spokesman Tony Snow said. Laura Bush extended the invitation during meetings of world leaders in Germany in June, Snow said. "The U.S. and France share the deepest of friendship," Snow said. "They've worked together since the founding of our nation to protect freedom around the world."

Labels: Bush, EU, France, Sarkozy

Bush and Napoleon - by Richard Bulliet

What does George W. Bush share with Napoleon Bonaparte? Perhaps only one thing. Both men launched spectacular attacks on Arab countries, won stunning initial victories, and then became bogged down in a hopeless military occupations.

Labels: Bush, Iraq. War, Napolean, US

Czech Republic: Bush worships democracy, but he should study history - by Pat Buchanan

Last week, at Czermin Palace in Prague, George Bush delivered his latest epistle on democracy as mankind's salvation, as though he had learned nothing since ordering the invasion of Iraq -- to bring the blessings of democracy to Mesopotamia and the Middle East. President Bush began by paying tribute to the founding father of Czech democracy. "Nine decades ago, Tomas Masaryk proclaimed Czechoslovakia's independence based on the "ideals of democracy.'" Well, that may be what the Masaryk said, but it is not exactly what he did. In 1918, he did indeed proclaim the independence of Czechoslovakia, confirmed by the Allies at Paris. But inside the new Czechoslovakia, built on the "ideals of democracy," were 3 million dissident Germans who wished to remain with Austria and half a million Hungarians who wished to remain with Hungary. Many Catholic Slovaks had wanted to remain with Catholic Hungary. Against their will, all had been consigned to Masaryk's Czech-dominated nation.

Labels: Bush, Democracy, the Czech Republic

Bush urges independence for Kosovo

After getting a rock star's welcome in Albania, U.S. President George Bush pressed the United Nations to quickly grant independence to neighbouring Kosovo. "At some point in time, sooner rather than later, you've got to say 'Enough is enough, Kosovo is independent'," Bush told a news conference Sunday in what was a sitting American president's first visit to Albania.

Labels: Bush, Kosovo

So is the world a better place after the G8 summit? The answer might surprise you - by Geoffrey Lean and Raymond Whitaker

When George Bush first met Angela Merkel, shortly after she became the Chancellor of Germany 18 months ago, he thought he had finally found a friend from "Old Europe". Believing - like British ministers at the time - that the right-wing former East German would be far less interested in the environment than the red-green government she had toppled - he patronizingly suggested that they could forget the Kyoto protocol.

"Mr President, you are mistaken," Mrs Merkel announced, drawing herself up to her full 5ft 8in. "I am one of those responsible for the protocol." And she told him how, as her country's environment minister, she had chaired the meeting that had made the crucial breakthrough on the road to Kyoto, and then led its negotiating team when the treaty was agreed.

Labels: Bush, G8, Merkel, Sarkozy, Tony Blair

Italy - Prodi Hopes His Ministers Avoid Anti-Bush Rally in Rome

When U.S. President George W. Bush visits Rome next week he will be met with pomp and ceremony by Italy's leaders, but also by an angry anti-war demonstration which some government ministers have said they might attend. Prime Minister Romano Prodi said on Saturday he hoped none of his ministers -- some of them hard-line communists -- would attend the rally, although he would not ban them from doing so.

Labels: Bush, EU, Italy, Prodi

Bush heads for Europe with heavy baggage - by Matthew Schofield

President Bush is to arrive in Europe on Monday faced with a long to-do list, and one over-riding obstacle in the way of all of it: For Europeans, he's the least popular U.S. president in history. Bush's problems extend beyond public opinion. He's at odds with the leaders of countries east and west, whom he's to meet during a summit of leading industrialized nations at a Baltic seaside resort.

Labels: Bush, Europe

Bush climate proposal gets mixed reviews in Europe; some see end run around UN

German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel criticized the White House move as an attempted end run around world climate talks. "It looks a little as though the American administration wants to halt the whole United Nations process in climate protection and go a special way," Gabriel told Deutschlandradio Kultur radio. "That would certainly not be what the (German) government wants, what Europe wants." European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also said Bush's proposal was not enough.

Labels: Bush, Environment: climate change, EU

Bush pushes vague new climate change plan

US President George Bush said on Thursday he would urge major industrialised nations at a summit next week to join a new global framework for fighting climate change after the Kyoto Protocol lapses. Environmental groups immediately criticised the plan as vague and based on non-binding limits on the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, but Britain and Germany hailed the move as an important, if symbolic, step forward. "The United States will work with other nations to establish a new framework on greenhouse gas emissions for when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012," Bush said in a speech laying out his agenda for the June 6-8 G8 summit in Germany.

Labels: Bush, Environment: climate change

George Bush's estate at Walker Point, in Kennebunkport, Maine

For the complete report from the Buffalonews/LA Times click on this link

Bush and Putin to talk in Maine July 1 - 2 - by Maura Reynolds

In an effort to warm the deepening chill in U.S.-Russian relations, President Bush will host Russian President Vladimir V. Putin in July at his family’s vacation compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. The two men say they have a friendly relationship, even as serious strains have developed between the two countries over NATO’s plans to install missile defense systems in former Soviet bloc countries, over the status of Kosovo, and other issues. U.S. officials said Wednesday the aim of the Kennebunkport visit, set for July 1-2, is to ease tensions, starting at the top. The presence of the president’s father, the first President George Bush, during the visit was also seen as a way to personalize the encounter and evoke a more optimistic period in U.S.-Russian relations.

Labels: Bush, Missile Crises, Putin, Russia, US

In France, Running Against Bush

American elections do not usually turn on the question of how the candidates for president propose to relate to foreign countries.

That is certainly not the case in France where the two contenders in today's presidential contest have taken distinctly different stances with regard to whether France should maintain or alter what are now relatively strained relations with the U.S.

Sarkozy is no Blair-like puppet. He says that "the messianic side of Americans can be tiresome."

Labels: Bush, France

Wolfowitz plans to weather storm at World Bank - by Greg Robb

Paul Wolfowitz, the president of the World Bank, said Sunday he intends to remain at the helm of the bank despite the recent storm over his handling of a female friend's promotion and salary.
"I believe in the mission of this organization and I believe I can carry it out," Wolfowitz told a press conference Sunday, where he was asked repeatedly if he had the credibility necessary to run the bank.

In an extraordinary scene at World Bank headquarters on Thursday, World Bank staffers heckled Wolfowitz by shouting "resign" as he attempted to apologize for his handling of the issue.

Labels: Bush, Credibility, USA, Wolfowitz, World Bank

An Abyss Called Iraq - by Thaddeus Gadfly

"I'm going to dare to proclaim the unthinkable: Democracy isn't for every country. My reasoning is that when a nation whose people are so divisive and uncivilized they must war with each other, with little hope of factions learning to coexist peacefully, as evidenced by history, what hope does such a nation have on the immediate horizon for democracy to take root? Can democracy be a viable system in such a country? I realize it is an American ideal to think that all countries deserve democracy, but, after this Iraq debacle, I’m not so sure. Maybe they do, maybe they don't."

"Spreading democracy at the barrel of gun is a policy we should abandon, and one that I believe is un-American in the first place. There are no meters or instruments to help us measure and make such an evaluation; we must study the history of the region in question. Bush, I fear, made no such serious study. Bush has made a blunder of a magnitude the likes of which our country has never experienced."

Labels: Bush, Iraq, USA

What Pelosi's road to Damascus means to Bush- by Mark Tran

Nancy Pelosi's trip to Damascus is not so much freelance diplomacy - something no president likes to see and which is forbidden by the 1799 Logan Act - as another telling sign of ebbing presidential power. Through her peregrinations - Ms Pelosi was in Iraq in January - the House speaker is saying to Mr Bush that the balance of power is shifting away inexorably away from the White House and the Republicans to Congress and the Democrats.

When Mr Bush stands in the White House rose garden and rails about mixed messages, the subtext is that he has been confronted by yet another intimation of political mortality and - understandably - he does not like it one bit.

Labels: Bush, Middle East, Pelosi, Politics