Posted on 07/16/2006 2:08:25 PM PDT by Wolfstar
PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: The President and First Lady are in Russia for the G8 summit, which will conclude tomorrow. In addition to attending the group sessions, President Bush held a series of bilateral meetings with key leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and French President Jacques Chirac.
Significantly, the President also had a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, which was characterized as "on the sidelines" of the G8 summit. (China is not a member of the G8.)
Here is a link to the White House transcript of their joint press conference held after their meeting.
Here is a link from the article in Kyodo News about bilateral U.S.-China summit.
Regarding the Middle East crisis, the G8 struggled to come to an agreement, but did issue a joint statement. Led by President Bush, who pointedly said that Israel has a right to defend herself, the statement by the G8 leaders said:
The recent crisis "results from efforts by extremist forces [Iran and Syria] to destabilise the region and to frustrate the aspirations of the Palestinian, Israeli and Lebanese people for democracy and peace."Hezbollah and Hamas, though not named, were ordered to "immediately halt their attacks" to avoid plunging Middle East into "chaos" and provoking a wider conflict.
Israel's right to defend itself was confirmed by the G8 leaders, but they asked Israel to be "mindful of the strategic and humanitarian consequences of its actions."
In other words, the G8 statement closely parallel's President Bush's position. British Prime Minister Tony Blair also said Israel has a right to defend herself, and he accused Iran and Syria of undermining efforts to build a lasting peace in the Middle East.
Here is a link to a transcript of the G8 leaders' complete statement.
THE WEEK AHEAD: Skimpy news today, primarily because the President's schedule has not been finalized for next week.
The President will campaign in Colorado for Republican congressional candidate Rick O'Donnell, who is seeking the seat of Rep. Bob Beauprez, who is running for governor. This open seat is the 7th Congressional District in suburban Denver.The White House would not confirm the President's plans for next week after he returns from Russia. Ken Lisaius, a White House spokesman, said GWB's schedule for next Wednesday is still to be announced, and he has no public events scheduled for Thursday. The schedule could change, he said.
However, NAACP leaders said yesterday that they were optimistic President Bush would attend the organization's 97th annual convention next week in Washington.
"I am hopeful that he has decided to attend," said Bruce S. Gordon, president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "I cannot confirm that he will be there, but I'm optimistic."
Paul Brathwaite, the Congressional Black Caucus' communications director, who has spoken with leaders planning the meeting, said Bush is expected to speak at the conference Thursday.
The King is probably hoping things won't escalate into a wider war.
When was that I may have it.
Exactly. I still haven't come to terms with what happened with the two male kittens.
The people who took Sara are very nice, and they live in the same city I do. That gives me a measure of comfort. BTW, they are keeping her name, and that makes me happy.
Hello homemom, good to see you. I just read Sec State Rice stated Israel may have to keep up the offensive. Good news.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1666772/posts
Hi mom .. here's a pretty descriptive map
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1666163/posts?page=1031#1031
Great dose Wolfstar! Do either of you know how the language divide is handled? I assume interpretation tools are in place, but I wonder how many of them speak English.
Be sure to tell us tomorrow on the dose. I doubt I'll be able to watch.
Doesn't surprise me! I am sure he loves even that bit of freedom. I suspect he wishes he could have landed that plane in Iraq, too! :)
That is what txrangerette said as well. I have never heard anyone talk about his personal aide before. Makes sense. I know that I recognize the other passenger as Secret Service.
Nice job WS!
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
Shalom Israel
Wolfstar:
THANK YOU for the awesome DOSE tonight . . . love the photos of our President 'piloting' his own electric car -- once a pilot always a pilot!!
Of course, someone MUST post the President's cycling photos from yesterday:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060715/481/d3899a39b240486a82fcbe1abe7273f4
and
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/060715/481/3414a66729d14edb821c82c58d67de57
MUST READS . . .
STRIKES ARE CALLED PART OF BROAD STRATEGEY
U.S., Israel Aim to Weaken Hezbollah, Region's Militants
[We Dosers had already discerned the President's strategery . . . Remember, our Dubya plays chess not checkers!!]
By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 16, 2006; A15
Israel, with U.S. support, intends to resist calls for a cease-fire and continue a longer-term strategy of punishing Hezbollah, which is likely to include several weeks of precision bombing in Lebanon, according to senior Israeli and U.S. officials.
For Israel, the goal is to eliminate Hezbollah as a security threat -- or altogether, the sources said. A senior Israeli official confirmed that Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah is a target, on the calculation that the Shiite movement would be far less dynamic without him.
For the United States, the broader goal is to strangle the axis of Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran, which the Bush administration believes is pooling resources to change the strategic playing field in the Middle East, U.S. officials say.
You can read the entire article at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500957_pf.html
BUSH'S FAB FIVE
The president's favorite foreign leaders.
by Fred Barnes
07/24/2006, Volume 011, Issue 42
PRESIDENT BUSH, en route to last weekend's G8 summit in Russia, paused for a day in what used to be Communist East Germany, where he learned from German chancellor Angela Merkel the proper way to carve a roasted boar.
Earlier in the day she and Bush had sat in front of a fireplace in the town hall of Stralsund, Merkel's hometown, and chatted. "It's a little warm for a fire," Bush noted, though there was no fire going in the fireplace. They conferred privately past the scheduled time for their joint press conference. At the press event, the president referred to Merkel as "Angela." He said: "We found that there is a lot that we agree on."
Of course, there is. Bush knew this from her visit to Washington last January, shortly after she had become head of a new Christian Democrat-led government in Germany. Following talks at the White House, Merkel predicted their meeting "will open up, also, a new chapter, as I hope, in our relationship"--the one between Germany and the United States. And it did.
Merkel is one of Bush's favorite foreign leaders. From discussions with administration officials and watching the president, I've come up with a list of the leaders Bush gets along with best. There are five of them. Besides Merkel, they are the prime ministers of Australia (John Howard), Japan (Junichiro Koizumi), Denmark (Anders Fogh Rasmussen), and Great Britain (Tony Blair). The new conservative prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, is a potential Bush favorite.
You can read the rest of the article at
http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/445qgcvk.asp
BIRTH OF AN ARMY
With the Iraqi forces in Ramadi.
by David Bellavia, Owen West & Wade Zirkle
07/24/2006, Volume 011, Issue 42
Ramadi
On the fourth day of operation-no-name in Al Anbar's deadly provincial capital, Ramadi, an Iraqi infantry squad moves into a dingy alley on the eastern edge of the Mu'saab district. It's quiet. As their combat boots pick a trail along the garbage-strewn street, the crunch of glass can be heard. The operation is subdued, nameless by design. After two years and dozens of urban battles in Iraq announced with catchy titles, reverberating tank engines, and even rock music, this late-June operation is a slow squeeze. And Iraqis are leading.
American troops have heard that before, of course. Since early 2004, when defense department officials first began touting Iraqi leadership in battle, U.S. soldiers have been wondering where exactly this phantom was, sometimes bumping up against a group of insurgents and sarcastically shouting, "It's the ICDC [Iraqi Civil Defense Corps], leading from the front again!" Here in Ramadi, it's real.
You can read the rest of the article at
http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/443zhpmy.asp
Lovely image with which to turn in. Sleep well dear snugs.
Thanks for posting the picture!
Will do!
THANKS for posting the 'cycling' photo -- LOVE the 'power' red socks!!
Night all!
Yep. Re the cycling photos from yesterday, I'm sorry I forgot to include them. Maybe snugs can put them on tomorrow's Dose?
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