Bush, Blair tackling tough topics
Posted on 04/06/2002 3:57:45 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Bush, Blair tackling tough topics
Leaders at ranch to discuss Mideast turmoil, war on terror
04/06/2002
CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush welcomed British Prime Minister Tony Blair to his ranch Friday for a little down-home hospitality and a lot of serious talk about the Middle East and the international war against terrorism.
Mr. Bush the rancher, in boots, blue jeans and a brown jacket met his guest as he landed in a Marine helicopter after a quick flight from the Waco airport.
"We'll see everybody tomorrow," Mr. Bush said, trying to head off reporters' questions.
"I know you can't wait, and neither can I ... and neither can the prime minister for that matter," he said.
Mr. Blair flew to Texas from London on Friday afternoon after a brief ceremony in Parliament for the late Queen Mother Elizabeth.
His wife, Cherie Booth, had been in Dallas on Thursday night with Laura Bush to address a benefit dinner for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the United Kingdom's Breast Cancer Care.
The president and first lady planned a small ranch-house dinner for Mr. Blair on Friday night, and a larger gathering of staff and friends Saturday night, much like they did last fall when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited.
The Blairs will leave Sunday to return to London for the Queen Mother's funeral on Tuesday. Mrs. Bush will lead the U.S. delegation.
The weekend visit to Mr. Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch was planned weeks ago, before the Middle East erupted into a new spiral of violence and when Iraq was emerging as a likely new front in the war against terrorism.
Mr. Bush's aides said both matters were now at the top of the ranch summit, with a host of other pressing issues not far behind.
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer suggested that the pending expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would be reviewed as well as trade, where Mr. Blair is at odds with Mr. Bush over new U.S. tariffs on imported steel.
"The agenda is going to be very far reaching," Mr. Fleischer said Friday, predicting "free-flowing" discussions.
In London, though, British officials made it clear that the ranch meetings were no "war council."
"We're not proposing military action at this point in time," Mr. Blair said Friday on NBC's Today Show.
Before he left, the prime minister delayed the release of evidence the British have compiled on Iraq's development of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.
Still, Mr. Blair said, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is a growing threat not only because of his development of weapons of mass destruction, but also because of his willingness to use them.
"One of the toughest things in politics sometimes is to persuade people that if something isn't right on their doorstep worrying them you know, on the street corner, visible they should still worry about it," Mr. Blair said.
In Texas, Mr. Fleischer acknowledged that the crisis in the Middle East was now commanding world attention, but said the president remained determined to prosecute the wider war against terrorism.
"It's not a one-size fits-all issue," Mr. Fleischer said, explaining that various "regional issues" would occasionally ebb and flow.
The British prime minister, while among the staunchest U.S allies, is facing increasing criticism back home about his cozy ties to America and for what some see as his shunning of domestic issues.
"The criticism comes with the job," he said, insisting that he was spending plenty of time on the "bread-and-butter issues" that helped elect him.
"The British people understand that," Mr. Blair said. "And I've shown by our commitment, not just to America in its hour of need, but actually elsewhere in the world, that when things are difficult, we're prepared to play our part. And we know that's part of our destiny to do so."
The Brits have been there when we needed them.
Something I will never forget.
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