Posted on 02/16/2002 6:50:22 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AP) — In a star-spangled sendoff, President Bush told hundreds of fatigue-clad U.S. soldiers Saturday that ``America will not blink'' from the fight against terrorism and Osama bin Laden. He vowed to bring that message to Asia.
Amid cheers of ``USA! USA!'', the commander in chief made a quick refueling stop at this snowy Air Force base to rally U.S. troops and headline a $400,000 fund-raiser for the Alaska Republican Party. He was leaving from here for a three-nation Asian trip that ends Friday.
In a cavernous fighter jet hangar, Bush pledged to tell his global counterparts, ``Either you're with us or you're against us. Either you stand for freedom or you stand for tyranny. And the good news is many nations have heard that message.''
An American flag hung behind Bush. A fighter jet was parked nearby, next to a hand-painted sign that read, ``God Bless America.'' Getting in the snowy spirit of things, Bush briefly donned a fur-lined parka.
Japan, South Korea and China — the stops in Bush's seven-day trip — all support his war on terrorism to different extents. But with the battle in Afghanistan yielding successes, Bush is starting to brace the American public and world leaders for a lengthy, global war against terrorists beyond Afghanistan.
``This cause is more than just an individual,'' Bush told the self-dubbed Arctic Warriors. ``Oh, I know sometimes the people on the airwaves like to say, 'Well, so, bin Laden is hiding here and he's hiding there.' But this cause is much bigger than a single person. This is about fighting terror wherever it hides. This is about defending America and our friends and allies.''
Air Force One landed on a snow-swept runway, carrying Bush and a large delegation that included Secretary of State Colin Powell and Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice stepped gingerly on to the slippery tarmac, covered head to toe in a black coat, hood and scarf.
Bush pledged to press Chinese leaders on trade issues impacting U.S. farmer and, in touting his energy plan, urged Congress to open for oil drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
Later, at the fund-raiser, the president said he hoped to usher in an era of responsibility that would see corporations disclose their assets, a reference to the Enron scandal. He was serious, but apparently the big-monied Republicans thought Bush was joking; their laughter seemed out of place, and caught Bush off guard.
Before leaving Washington, Bush said the dividing zone between North and South Korea is ``one of the most dangerous places on earth.'' The United States will resist any move by the communist North to use its arsenal to menace peace and freedom, he said.
Bush said he supports South Korean efforts for a dialogue of friendship and reconciliation with North Korea. But, he added, ``I will remind the world that America will not allow North Korea and other dangerous regimes to threaten freedom with weapons of mass destruction.''
North Korea, Iran and Iraq are part of what the president has branded an ``axis of evil,'' and in his weekly radio address, Bush did not back away from that assertion. But he did not repeat the phrase, which has alarmed European allies and generated anti-American sentiment.
The address aired shortly after Bush and his wife, Laura, left the White House on their six-day trip to Japan, South Korea and China.
The trip occurs on the 30th anniversary of President Richard M. Nixon's historic visit to China. Like Nixon, Bush will meet with Beijing's top leaders and visit the Great Wall of China.
The most dramatic moments, however, probably will come in South Korea, where Bush will peer across the peninsula's dividing line at the heavily fortified communist North.
``I will visit South Korea and travel to the Demilitarized Zone, one of the most dangerous places on earth, where barbed wire marks a line dividing freedom and oppression,'' Bush said on the radio. He said he will meet with some of the 38,000 U.S. troops ``who defend this frontier.''
Bush, whose trip was delayed by the Sept. 11 attacks, said he will thank the governments and people of all three countries for ``moving displays of sympathy and support'' and will discuss ``our progress in ridding the world of this great threat to civilization.''
The president expressed confidence that Japan, trying to shake off economic recession, ``will make the bold reforms necessary to restore growth and opportunity.''
In China, which he first visited when his father was U.S. envoy to Beijing in the mid-1970s, Bush said he will encourage the government to further open markets to U.S. trade.
In a planned meeting with Chinese university students, Bush said he will express his hope that their country's leaders will ``embrace the universal demands of human dignity, freedom of conscience and religion, and the rights and value of every life.''
Bush elaborated on his stance toward North Korea in a pre-departure interview with Asian journalists.
``I made an offer to have dialogue with North Korea, and they didn't accept,'' he said.
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