Posted on 06/10/2006 4:12:41 PM PDT by Wolfstar
PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President and Mrs. Bush are spending the weekend at Camp David. They will return late Sunday for a long-planned social engagement, and the President will return to Camp David early Monday for two days of meetings on Iraq.
The sessions start with a long day of meetings between GWB and his national security team, along with the military commanders in the field via teleconference from Iraq and Central Command. Between the morning and afternoon sessions, the President will lunch with outside experts. The day ends with dinner Monday night.
On Tuesday, the sessions conclude with a joint meeting via videoconference between President Bush's Cabinet and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his newly completed Cabinet.
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow is already at Camp David working out the media logistics.
Senior presidential advisor, Dan Bartlett, explained the purpose of the two days of meetings: "This is not a meeting about a drawdown. It's a meeting about how we can best help the Iraqis secure their country." Now that the new government has been fully formed and sworn in, Iraq is at a crossroads. "Everybody views the completion of a truly unity government as a moment of opportunity. Everybody also recognizes that there's a window here in which it's important for them to show success," Bartlett told reporters. "And that is exactly why the meeting is taking place now."
In opinion pieces published Friday in U.S. and British newspapers, Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki discussed a detailed plan for dealing with armed militias thought to be behind much of the bloody unrest in Iraq.
The Prime Minister vowed to incorporate the armed groups into the security services "in a way to ensure that militia members are identified at the start, dispersed to avoid any concentration of one group in a department or unit, and then monitored to ensure loyalty only to the state."
"We will also engage with the political leaders of the militias to create the will to disband these groups," said Maliki.
President Bush also cited that goal, praising the Prime Minister's "desire to set priorities, starting with electricity in Baghdad, security in Baghdad and dismantling militia groups that are creating havoc."
The President said he and top aides would pore over how the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and the long-awaited completion of the new Iraqi government affect the future of the U.S.-led war effort.
"Removing Zarqawi is a major blow to Al-Qaida. It's not going to end the war. And it's certainly not going to end the violence. But it's going to help a lot, President Bush said."
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Excerpt from the Presidential Radio Address, Saturday, June 10, 2006.
This was a good week for the cause of freedom. On Wednesday night in Iraq, U.S. military forces killed the terrorist Zarqawi.The killing of Zarqawi is an important victory in the global war on terror. This Jordanian-born terrorist was the operational commander of al Qaida in Iraq. He led a campaign of car bombings, and kidnappings, and suicide attacks that has taken the lives of many American forces, international aid workers, and thousands of innocent Iraqis. Zarqawi had a long history of murder and bloodshed. Before September the 11th, 2001, he ran a camp in Afghanistan that trained terrorists -- until Coalition forces destroyed that camp. He fled to Iraq, where he received medical care and set up operations with terrorist associates.
After the fall of Saddam, Zarqawi went underground and declared his allegiance to Osama bin Laden, who called him the "Prince of al Qaida in Iraq" and instructed terrorists around the world to "listen to him and obey him." Zarqawi personally beheaded American hostages and other civilians in Iraq; he masterminded the destruction of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad; and he was responsible for the assassination of an American diplomat in Jordan and the bombing of hotels in Amman. His goals in Iraq were clear: He wanted to stop the rise of democracy, drive coalition forces out, incite a civil war, and turn that country into a safe haven from which al Qaida could launch new attacks on America and other free nations. Instead, Zarqawi died in the free and democratic Iraq that he fought so hard to prevent, and the world is better off because this violent man will never kill again.
There's still difficult work ahead in Iraq. Yet this week, the ideology of terror has suffered a severe blow. Al Qaida has lost its leader in Iraq, the Iraqi people have completed a democratic government that is determined to defend them, and freedom has achieved a great victory in the heart of the Middle East.
George W. Bush, President of the United States
THE WEEK AHEAD: From White House briefings and news reports.
_ Monday, President Bush will be at Camp David. On Monday, there will be a morning and afternoon meetings with the interagency team on Iraq._ Tuesday, also at Camp David, the President will have a joint video teleconference with the entire Iraqi cabinet, as well as the administration team him at Camp David. Afterward, the President will return to Washington where he will make a statement and/or have press conference (details still being worked out).
_ Wednesday, the President meets with President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia. There will be pool coverage. Also on Wednesday, GWB meets with the members of the Iraq Study Group, and attends the annual congressional picnic.
_ Thursday, GWB will make remarks at the Initiative for Global Development's 2006 National Summit in Washington. At the White House, he will also make remarks on the proposed designation of the 14th National Marine Sanctuary.
_ Friday, President Bush travels to the states of Washington and New Mexico for political events, and then will go to the ranch in Crawford where he will stay until Sunday.
EXTENDED SCHEDULE:
_ June 20-21, President Bush will attend the joint U.S.-European Union summit in Vienna, Austria._ June 22, The President will visit Budapest, Hungary for a bilateral talks with Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom and Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany. During his visit, President Bush will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, underscore the success of the U.S.-European partnership in securing freedom in the region, and highlight the lessons offered from Hungary's successful transition from tyranny to a free-market democracy.
_ June 29, President and Mrs. Bush will welcome Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan to the White House.
_ July 10, President Bush will host Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa at the White House.
_ July 15-17, President Bush will travel to St. Petersburg, Russia to attend the G-8 Summit. In addition to the United States, the G-8 includes leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.
An Iraqi policeman in Baghdad reads a newspaper with the picture of deceased al-Qaeda thug al-Zarqawi.
Great pics!
When Bush introduced the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last year, he declared, "The first thing America needs to know about Pete Pace is that he is a Marine." Pace is, in fact, the first Marine to hold the top job in the military, an important milestone for the few and the proud.
UmmmmHmmmm...yeah...OK. So. What are you trying to say, Yahoo?
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, testifies before the House Armed Services Committee on the Defense Dept. FY '07 budget on Capitol Hill, Feb. 8, 2006. Another file photo Yahoo trotted out without a clear explanation.
But that's OK, because we know what the General was doing here. He was describing Sen. Ted Kennedy's...ummmm...well, you know. ;-)
WOW, WOW, WOW!
Good evening and thanks for the dose
Miss Beazley plays with a soccer ball on the South Lawn.
Barney stands watch outside the South Lawn entrance to the White House, May 9. Barney was intent on preventing Helen Thomas from leaving the confines of the designated press area.
WOO-HOO!
You're first!
Hi. Happy Saturday.
Hi You!
Hi, onyx. Sigh...time continues to slip away from us all in its inexorable way. But GHWB is sure is giving time a fight, isn't he.
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