Posted on 05/07/2003 10:05:38 AM PDT by knighthawk
WASHINGTON - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar is the latest in a long list of foreign leaders winning up-close-and-personal thank yous from President Bush for supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq
Aznar was due to see Bush on Wednesday at the White House in a visit complete with a joint appearance before reporters in the Rose Garden. The Iraq allies were to talk about reconstruction and plan for the push to lift U.N. sanctions on Baghdad, said Sean McCormack, a White House spokesman.
Expansion and reform of NATO also was likely to come up, McCormack said.
The U.N. Security Council is waiting for the Bush administration to present its proposals, possibly later this week, for removing the sanctions and carving a U.N. role in postwar Iraq.
Under council resolutions, sanctions cannot be lifted until U.N. weapons inspectors certify Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have been destroyed. Washington has sent its own weapons teams and doesn't want U.N. inspectors to return.
Additionally, friction is likely between the U.S. position and that of France and Russia, both of which have vetoes on the Security Council. Both opposed the war, and neither wants early repeal of sanctions.
Aznar was one of several world leaders — among them Prime Ministers Tony Blair of Britain, John Howard of Australia and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy — who bucked widespread opposition among their people and supported Bush on the war.
Aznar was a high-profile backer of Washington's Iraq goals and sent equipment and several hundred support troops to the Persian Gulf. Some pollsters say Aznar may pay a price in local and regional elections this month.
Bush, however, has not forgotten his friends.
Last week, he played host to Howard on his ranch. Aznar had his own Texas visit in February, a few weeks before the war began.
Bush also is considering a stopover in Poland when he travels to Europe and Russia this month for a meeting in France of the Group of Eight nations. Australia and Poland offered small numbers of troops to the Iraq war; Australia sent about 2,000 and Poland contributed about 200.
On Tuesday, the White House put on an East Room signing ceremony to celebrate a new free trade agreement with Singapore and give a public tribute to the country's prime minister, Goh Chok Tong. Singapore's support for the war in Iraq contrasted with vocal opposition from its predominantly Muslim neighbors, Malaysia and Indonesia. Goh also has offered to send police and health care workers to help with Iraq's reconstruction.
The White House will be filled with Iraq war supporters on Thursday as Bush hosts Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen; the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani; and the foreign ministers of the seven eastern European nations preparing to join NATO.
Denmark is among the countries that have committed troops to serve as peacekeepers in Iraq under British or Polish command; Qatar allowed the U.S. Central Command to base its Iraq war operations there; and six of the seven eastern European countries were at least nominal U.S. partners during the military campaign.
The White House has insisted there is no direct link, but some countries that resisted Bush's drive to disarm Iraq and depose President Saddam Hussein haven't fared as well.
Efforts to complete negotiations on a trade agreement with Chile, for instance, slowed with that country's criticism of the war. The White House said the delay wasn't punishment, and Bush indicated Tuesday the deal remains a priority.
The White House also ditched the lively Cinco de Mayo celebrations of the past two years, contending Bush's schedule wouldn't allow time for observing the Mexican celebration. Instead, the White House issued a half-page written statement on Monday. The administration's relations with Mexico have been cool since Mexican President Vicente Fox opposed Bush on Iraq.
Also, in an interview with NBC's Tom Brokaw last month, Bush said he doubted that French President Jacques Chirac, a leader of anti-war opposition within the United Nations, would "be coming to the ranch any time soon."
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