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[Propoganda Statement Galore? Perhaps Mr Bush will also be rallying the US
Troops at War in Colombia, Korea, Japan, the Middle East as well as Kosovo?]
<A HREF="aol://4344:30.L100coY9.5300129.679507428"> 07/14: AOL News: Bush
Prepares for European Trip</A>
Bush Prepares for European Trip
By RON FOURNIER
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - On his second European trip in five weeks, President Bush
hopes to rally the world's richest nations to fight AIDS, poverty and
economic isolationism. <A HREF="aol://4344:30.L100coY9.5300129.679507428">
</A>
He will test his personal charm when he sees Queen Elizabeth II and Pope John
Paul II, and will rally U.S. troops in Kosovo.
But he will not be able to dodge some of the thorny issues that hampered his
first overseas visit: missile defense, global warming and the gnawing
perception among U.S. allies that Bush ignores their pleas with a go-it-alone
approach to foreign policy.
To French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, it is a ``unilateralist mindset.''
``We must hope that this trip ... will help the American administration
evolve toward more negotiating and openness to our points of view,'' Vedrine
said in advance of the president's seven-day trip - beginning Wednesday - to
Britain, Italy and Kosovo.
Unlike that first trip, when Bush toured five nations in five days, the
president is easing his way into action. He arrives in London on Wednesday
night and gets some sleep, then goes sightseeing Thursday before meeting the
queen and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace.
That evening, he meets with Prime Minister Tony Blair at his country estate,
Chequers.
Though the closest of U.S. allies, even Britain declined last week to support
setting aside the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty to make way for Bush's
missile defense system.
The issue will shadow Bush the next three days in Genoa, Italy, where he
attends a summit of the world's seven wealthiest nations, plus Russia.
Because many oppose his missile shield plan, Bush hopes to shift focus to:
Trade. Advisers predict summit participants will seek a new round of global
trade talks.
AIDS. An international AIDS fund, started by the United States with a $200
million pledge, could top $1 billion after donations from other nations and
groups are combined at the summit, according to administration officials
speaking on condition of anonymity.
Poverty. The president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said
the AIDS proposal is critical to alleviating poverty in developing countries.
The United States is expected to also push for an increase in World Bank
grants, as opposed to loans, for nations in need, the administration
officials said.
Organizers are bracing for thousands of protesters against globalization,
poverty and other issues. Inside the secure zones, Bush plans to argue that
wealthy nations have a moral imperative to fight poverty by promoting
economic development and trade.
He might get feisty. In early drafts of one Bush speech, the president
suggests that the protesters do not speak for the poor, U.S. sources said.
Also in Genoa, he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin - the second in
a series of sessions this year that Bush hopes will thaw Moscow's objections
to his missile shield dreams.
Despite talk of compromise during his first meeting with Bush, Putin has
continued to warn the United States against scrapping the arms control
treaty.
Aides expect the pair to announce a schedule for future meetings between
their ministers, including top military advisers, aimed at closing
differences.
Predicting no major breakthroughs in Genoa, Rice said, ``They're going to try
to move the ball forward.''
On global warming, Bush hoped to blunt widespread criticism for his rejection
of a 1997 international climate change treaty by pledging last week to spend
nearly $200 million on research.
Junichiro Koizumi, the popular new Japanese prime minister, may emerge as a
mediator between the United States and its European allies during the Genoa
summit.
Though Japan supports the treaty, Koizumi said during his recent Camp David
meeting with Bush that Japan does not want to go forward without the United
States.
A task force report prepared in advance of the summit urges the leaders to
phase out subsidies for fossil fuels and devote more money for nonpolluting
energy sources such as wind, water and solar power.
Such a plan opposed by the White House, based on the president's desire to
let the market determine how quickly renewable energy sources are adopted
worldwide and his belief that many developing countries are not ready to make
the quick transition from fossil fuels.
Objections to the phase-out from the United States and perhaps Canada would
likely keep it from the summit's final communique, U.S. officials said. But
they said the communique was expected to include language, supported by the
Bush administration, that strongly embraces the expanded use of renewable
energy.
>From Genoa, Bush goes to Rome, where he will meet Italian leaders, and then
to the papal retreat, Castel Gandolfo. Bush is trying to decide whether to
fund embryonic stem cell research, which the Catholic hierarchy staunchly
opposes.
His last stop is Pristina, Kosovo, for an update on peacekeeping operations
and lunch with the troops at Camp Bondsteel.
Analysts such as Antony Blinken, chief European adviser to President Clinton,
said Bush's first trip was a modest success. He left a favorable impression
with foreign leaders, even as they vented their differences.
On his second lap of Europe, Bush hopes to avoid the small mistakes of his
maiden trip - he mispronounced the name of Spain's prime minister - as well
as the larger ones. His own aides winced when Bush said he looked into
Putin's soul and saw a wellspring of trust.
``That wasn't exactly a confidence-building statement,'' said Steven Wayne, a
presidential scholar at Georgetown University. ``It made Americans question
whether he understood the complicated, nuanced aspects of foreign policy.''
On the Net:
Genoa Social Forum: http://www.genoa-g8.org
AP-NY-07-14-01 1418EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news
report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed
without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active
hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
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