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Bush
braces for UK protests
President George Bush has said he is ready for antiwar protests when he visits Britain next week and praised his "smart, trustworthy" friend, Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Thousands are expected to demonstrate against Bush, who will
stay at Queen Elizabeth's London residence, Buckingham Palace, visit Blair's
northern English constituency and talk with relatives of British soldiers killed
in Iraq. "I can understand people not liking war, if that's what they are
there to protest," Bush told the British news agency the Press Association and
the Daily Telegraph and Financial Times newspapers in an interview published on
Friday. "I fully understand not everybody is going to agree with the
decisions I've made." Blair's public ratings have plunged over war in Iraq, which most
Britons opposed. Mounting guerrilla resistance seven months after the fall of
President Saddam Hussein has raised fears of more British casualties beyond the
20 already killed in combat. Bush said he would take the opportunity to explain his Iraq
policy, which he said aimed to keep America secure and create around the world
"free societies ... which do not breed terror". A poll of British voters this week showed 60% disapproved of
Bush's handling of Iraq, while only 40% thought Blair's close ties with Bush
were good for Britain. Bush went out of his way to compliment his closest international
ally and denied he slavishly followed Washington. "I have never heard him complain about the polls or wring his
hands. The relationship is a very good relationship because I admire him and I
admire somebody who stands tough," he said. Bush said both he and Blair thought the Iraqi people were
"plenty capable of running their own country", a signal perhaps that a faster
handover of power is under active consideration.
Thousands plan to demonstrate
against Bush's invasion of Iraq One possibility would be an announcement on British soil that
the United States will lift tariffs protecting its steel industry which this
week were declared illegal. "I am listening, looking and we will decide at an appropriate
time," Bush said. The president said he would meet the families of some UK
soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and deliver two messages. "One, the prayers of the American people and prayers of the
president are with them as they suffer," he said. "Secondly, I will tell them that their loved ones did not die in
vain. The actions we have taken will make the world more secure and the world
more peaceful in the long run." Handover in Iraq On Thursday, Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser,
confirmed that the president, after two days of talks with US Iraq administrator
Paul Bremer, was now considering ways to hand Iraq over to the Iraqis before a
formal constitution is written. While Rice said it remained essential for Iraq to have a
permanent constitution and elections for a permanent government, "What is also
as important is that we find ways to accelerate the transfer of authority to the
Iraqi people. They are clamouring for it. They are, we believe, ready for it.
And they have very strong ideas about how that might be done." Bush told reporters in the Oval Office he wanted the effort to
"encourage the Iraqis to assume more responsibility." An early hand over of power was previously rejected by the
United States in favour of having the US-established Iraqi Governing Council
write a constitution, then hold elections before power would be transferred.
The
Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" |
