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U.S. Army Capt. Daniel Bucur
prayed with soldiers during Easter
services Sunday along the Tigris River
in central Baghdad.
Posted on 04/21/2003 2:38:15 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
For Bush, a day of positive signs
After Easter services with freed POWs, he offers optimistic view of Syria, Iraq's future
04/21/2003
FORT HOOD, Texas – President Bush, offering an upbeat Easter assessment of Iraq's future, said Sunday that Syria was "beginning to get the message" not to harbor leaders of the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein.
"There's some positive signs," he said, noting that Secretary of State Colin Powell would be visiting Syria soon to continue the diplomatic full-court press.
After attending church services at Fort Hood with his family and two former prisoners of war, Mr. Bush said of the Syrian leaders, "I believe it when they say they want to cooperate."
He also offered an encouraging assessment of another world hot spot, saying the United States, China, Japan and South Korea had a "good chance" of persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
In Baghdad, meanwhile, Army troops replaced Marines as the main forces that will continue to secure the capital and other parts of the country so that humanitarian efforts can proceed, rebuilding can begin and a new democratic government can evolve.
Mr. Bush went to the sprawling Army base from his ranch in nearby Crawford to attend Easter services at the 4th Infantry Division Memorial Chapel, along with the two Army helicopter pilots rescued a week ago in northern Iraq.
Both former prisoners of war, Chief Warrant Officers David Williams and Ronald Young Jr., joined him afterward at a news conference on the church lawn.
"This is definitely one of the highlights of my life, absolutely," Chief Warrant Officer Young said, wearing a desert-tan flight suit and combat boots.
Mr. Bush said he had thanked God for their safe return and prayed for peace.
"It was a glorious day," he said, calling the returned POWs "good, strong men."
The other five Americans freed in Iraq last week spent Easter with their families at Fort Bliss near El Paso or attended church services.
Asked if the two pilots at his side might speak as well, Mr. Bush told reporters, "Sure they can."
But he made clear, "That's up to them. They don't have to. I have to speak to the press. They don't have to. But it's not that bad an experience."
The two pilots were cautious and brief in their remarks.
"It's an absolute honor, sir, an absolute honor," Chief Warrant Officer Williams volunteered. And Chief Warrant Officer Young declared, "We stand a hundred percent behind whatever our president decides to do. We're honored to serve him."
Then Mr. Bush quickly took another question.
Syria developments
He was encouraged, he said, by developments in Syria, which the administration has been pressuring publicly and privately for several weeks to deny safe haven to the remnants of Mr. Hussein's regime.
"When we think there is somebody there or know somebody is there," Mr. Bush said, "we will pass on the name and fully expect the Syrian government to hand that person over."
In Syria, which Mr. Bush has charged has chemical weapons, President Bashar Assad told a pair of visiting congressmen Sunday that his government would not grant asylum to suspected Iraqi war criminals and would expel any former high-ranking Iraqis.
Asked about Mr. Hussein, Mr. Bush said that whether he is dead or alive, he clearly is no longer in power in Iraq.
"If he is alive," Mr. Bush said, "I would suggest he not pop his head up."
The war will not end, Mr. Bush said, until Gen. Tommy Franks, who is directing the military operation in Iraq, "says it's complete."
"I will tell you this, though," he added. "The liberation of Iraq will make the world more peaceful."
In Baghdad, U.S. Army soldiers taking over the city from the Marines met community leaders to discuss security concerns, and the U.S.-run Information Radio station announced an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.
Jay Garner, the retired lieutenant general chosen to step into the power vacuum and temporarily lead the administration of Iraq, was to arrive Monday in Baghdad.
The scene in Iraq
Across Iraq on Sunday, Shiite Muslim pilgrims journeyed by the thousands to holy cities, and Christians packed churches for Easter, giving full voice to religious convictions suppressed in the time of Mr. Hussein.
But there were fears, too, that religious rivalries that had been uneasily – and sometimes brutally – kept in check would flare anew and consume the new order.
Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Sunday that the normalization process in Iraq could take several years.
"That may understate it," he told NBC's Meet the Press, dismissing any notion that a new government could take root quickly.
"We really have to do better in Afghanistan, too, while we are working on Iraq," Mr. Lugar said. "And this may require training of a new type of civil servant in our country that is really prepared to come in and bring some hope, some cohesion to peoples after our military is extraordinarily effective in getting rid of the opposition."
Throughout Iraq, Mr. Lugar said bluntly, "There's not much to work with at this point."
Mr. Bush also indicated that a difficult road lies ahead in Iraq.
"But I'm not worried. Freedom is beautiful," he said. "I've always said democracy is going to be hard. It's not easy to go from being enslaved to being free. But it's going to happen, because the basic instinct of mankind is to be free."
On a bright, breezy Easter morning, Mr. Bush and his family and a few top aides flew on Marine helicopters from his ranch to Fort Hood, for his second visit in less than four months.
With him were first lady Laura Bush; their twin 21-year-old daughters, Barbara and Jenna; his brother Neil and nephew Pierce; Ms. Bush's mother, Jenna Welch; and Mr. Bush's parents, former President George Bush and Barbara Bush.
At the chapel, most of them sat in the front row, across the aisle from the rescued Apache helicopter pilots and their families.
Lt. Col. Robert Thompson, an Army chaplain, prayed for the former POWs, their commander in chief, troops killed in action and the "many Iraqi families brutalized by outrageous cruelty."
Another chaplain, Lt. Col. Bill Phillips, talked in his Easter sermon of the meaning of life.
"Sir, if you'll forgive me, I won't get a sermon demonstration like this again," Col. Phillips said, turning to the commander in chief. "It doesn't matter if you're president, or a former president, or a corps commander, or the deputy chief of chaplains, your life has meaning."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
E-mail bhillman@dallasnews.com
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