-Caveat Lector- Russia has already forged new ties! With Communist China! - Bill WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Bush Urges Russia to Forge New Ties Updated: Fri, Jun 15 1:00 PM EDT By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer WARSAW, Poland (AP) - President Bush crossed Europe's old Iron Curtain divide Friday and offered his vision of a new, more unified continent where nations, including Russia, cooperate to "build the house of freedom." He expressed hope for a "truly great" Russia where national greatness is measured by "the strength of its democracy, the good treatment of its minorities and the achievements of its people." "NATO, even as it grows, is no enemy of Russia," Bush said. "Poland is no enemy of Russia. America is no enemy of Russia." The president addressed foreign policy notables at the Warsaw University Library, a city landmark with a facade of giant copper plates with fragments of great scholarly writings. Aides had billed the speech as a major policy address, but Bush did not offer specific new policies or proposals. "When Europe and America are divided, history tends to tragedy," Bush said. "When Europe and America are partners, no trouble or tyranny can stand against us." Bush cited the decade of transition to democracies throughout the formerly communist Eastern and Central Europe, and said he would make the case - starting Saturday during his meeting in Slovenia with Russian President Vladimir Putin - that it is time to move past Cold War doctrine to reach for the fruits of democracy. "The Iron Curtain is no more," Bush said. "Now we plan and build the house of freedom, whose doors are open to all of Europe's peoples and whose windows look out to global challenges beyond." Outside the library, about 200 demonstrators shouted at Bush when he arrived. Groups of young people held banners, one of which read: "Bush to outer space; Missiles to dust bin." The president praised Poland for its successful political and economic transition and said it should be an example for others. "I have come to the center of Europe to speak of the future of Europe," he said. Some still call this `the East,' but Warsaw is closer to Ireland than it is to the Urals," he said, referring to the mountain range east of Moscow. "It is time to put talk of East and West behind us." Bush said he believes in NATO membership for "all of Europe's democracies that seek it and are ready to share the responsibilities that NATO brings." He mentioned no specific candidate countries. In remarks preceding Bush's address, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski urged that "the doors of NATO remain open." He said Slovakia, Slovenia and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania be asked to join because they have built functioning democracies. He also urged membership for Bulgaria and Romania, and said the matter may be settled when NATO leaders meet in November 2002 in Prague, Czech Republic. Bush began his Warsaw visit - the fourth stop on an inaugural five-nation European tour - by meeting with Kwasniewski at the 17th century Presidential Palace, a Baroque-style mansion where his father attended a state dinner in 1989. Much of Bush's speech, his only public address during his week in Europe, was directed at Russia. "We have a stake in Russia's success, and we look for the day when Russia is fully reformed," he said. The United States and Europe "can and should build partnerships with Russia and with all the countries that have emerged from the wreckage of the former Soviet Union." At a news conference with Kwasniewski, Bush said he envisions Russia as a partner and ally, and said the former Soviet empire "should not fear the expansion of freedom-loving people to her borders." He announced that the United States had begun the process of transferring a second frigate to the Polish navy, and expressed support for Poland to gain membership in the European Union. The two leaders also discussed NATO expansion, which Bush said is inevitable and should be not be based on the politics of exclusion. "And we don't believe any nation should have a veto over who is accepted," Bush said. Bush said he would seek to assure the Russian president that he wants to help elevate Russia's role "in the world and Europe" while raising concerns about possible Russian shipments of weapons material to Iran. Bush said his primary goal is to build trust with Putin so that when their meeting is over, "I am confident I'll be able to say I got a pretty good feel for the man, and he's got a good feel for me." Bush met later Friday with Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Karol Buzek, and laid wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial. Bush faced the tomb at attention while two soldiers placed a wreath of red, white and blue flowers before an eternal flame under arches that are the only surviving remnant of the Saxon Palace destroyed by the Germans during World War II. In his speech, Bush praised Poland as a shining example of a formerly communist nation that wisely managed its transition to a free-market democracy. That transformation was sparked by the Solidarity union movement in the early 1980s, clinched by the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and capped by Poland's entry into NATO in 1999. "You have proven that communism need not be followed by chaos," he said. The idea of continuing the integration of the formerly communist nations of Eastern and Central Europe into institutions born during the Cold War is one Bush raised at each stop on his first trip to Europe as president, which began Tuesday in Spain and included a NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
