Posted on 06/01/2004 3:46:03 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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| Bush to Meet Pope, One of His Harshest Iraq Critics Tue Jun 1, 2004 06:18 PM ET By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush heads to Europe this week seeking more international support for his Iraq mission and will start off by meeting one of his harshest critics, Pope John Paul II. Bush leaves on Thursday on a trip that will take him to Rome and Paris and the French coast of Normandy to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. He ends up at Sea Island, Georgia, for the annual summit of the Group of Eight nations -- the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia. Bush's first stop on Friday is at the Vatican, where he will meet John Paul, who last week publicly condemned torture as an intolerable affront to human dignity. In the pope's remarks last Thursday, the pontiff did not mention Iraq but it was the first time he has spoken specifically about torture since photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqis in Abu Ghraib prison emerged last month. The pope strongly opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and dispatched envoys to both Bush and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to try to avert the conflict. Bush will then see a key ally in the Iraq war, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. During the weekend, he will have the first of several meetings scheduled this month with French President Jacques Chirac as he tries to negotiate a new U.N. Security Council resolution that endorses the interim Iraqi government and sets up a multinational force to help Iraqis with security. Chirac, along with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russian President Vladimir Putin, were strong critics of the Iraq war, but the Bush administration is working to mend transatlantic ties and get a wider international stamp on the Iraq mission. "Look, we've had our differences, we've had difficulties over Iraq," said Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. "But I sense in all of the countries of the alliance, all the countries of the free world, a fundamental understanding that whatever differences we had in the past, that a free and prosperous and stable Iraq is a linchpin." After remarks commemorating the 60th anniversary of D-Day, Bush moves on to Sea Island from Normandy next Sunday. There, he will push his Greater Middle East Initiative for reform, and on June 9 will have lunch with the leaders of Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Turkey and Yemen. Saudi Arabia and Egypt will not attend. The initiative is designed to counter militant Islam and has been criticized by some Arabs for seeking to impose reform from abroad while failing to address festering issues like the Arab-Israeli conflict. Bush will have separate meetings with each of his G8 counterparts -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, Schroeder, Putin, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Berlusconi and Chirac. On June 10 they will lunch with leaders of Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda to discuss how to accelerate private-sector growth and development in Africa. |
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Kondrake even says this ts a monumental day with the new Iraq Goverment.
"Bush to meet world leaders, who all hate him just like we do."
--Reuters
The Holy Father will not be so crass as to upbraid Bush in public, though he would no doubt like to.
This trip has me nervous.
While I'm sure the pope opposes the war, he didn't say that the war was "cooked up in Texas" or "he betrayed this country". So, no, the pope is not one of the harsher critics...
Just a hunch, but I think the Pope may change his tune after the visit. I imagine the President has some things to tell him that are a bit too sensitive to be made public. My feeling is that if the world -- including the Democrats -- knew the hidden details of this fight -- the terrorist attacks thwarted since 9/11, the imminent danger of WMD and dirty nukes -- the public discourse would be a LOT different.
The Pope did disagree with President Bush on invading Iraq, but he has hardly been "one of his harshest Iraq critics." That's just Reuters spin.
All I have really heard is the whine of an ex papal nuncio, there hae been no formal criticisms by the Pope. My feel is that the Papal offices have benn hijack by a pro EU socialist clique inside the Vatican.
I think Bush is brilliant to visit with the Pope. The Pope is a friend of America. Bush needs the Catholic vote. Catholics need to vote for Bush. Kerry is a skank!
Nice, staying on topic, discourse.
No pointed remarks from the Pope on torture when Hussein was in power, though.
Two Great Men settling their differences in a cordial fashion. What an example!
Why?
Security, nothing else. He can handle his own with the different heads of state.
I consider the pope's criticism harsh. He should have kept quiet and minded his own business.
So what is with the Pope being against the liberation of Iraqi's? Did the pontiff prefer the rape rooms, torture and murder of Sadam & Sons?
Prairie
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