Posted on 06/04/2004 4:48:14 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
ROME (AP) -
President Bush got a sharp dose of Europe's opposition to his Iraq policy Friday, quietly in the halls of the Vatican from Pope John Paul II and loudly in the streets of Rome from thousands of demonstrators.
The ailing pontiff complained about recent "deplorable events," an apparent reference to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops. In the absence of a commitment to shared human values, "neither war nor terrorism will ever be overcome," he said, struggling to speak.
However, the pope welcomed the recent establishment of an interim government and called for a speedy transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis.
Not far from the Vatican walls, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to demonstrate through central Rome, many with signs demanding Italy withdraw its troops from Iraq. A score of demonstrators hurling stones clashed with police during the march. Others threw firecrackers and set a trash can on fire.
Bush had dinner with a top ally on Iraq, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. On Saturday, the president heads to Paris to meet with one of his sharpest war critics, French President Jacques Chirac.
Despite Berlusconi's backing, and his decision to send 3,000 Italian troops to Iraq, polls show that a majority of Italians oppose the U.S.-led war and occupation of Iraq, a sentiment common throughout western Europe.
Bush is on a three-day trip to Italy and France to help commemorate the June 1944 liberation of Rome and the allied D-Day invasion of Normandy. He was also using the trip - and an international economic summit next week in Sea Island, Ga. - to try to build more support among leading nations for a new U.N. resolution to deal with post-occupation Iraq.
But the announcement in Baghdad that five U.S. soldiers were killed and five wounded on Friday when their vehicles were attacked in east Baghdad served as a reminder that Iraq remained an extremely dangerous place.
Seated next to the pope, Bush promised his nation would work for "human liberty and human dignity," without making any reference to Iraq. He presented the pontiff with the presidential medal of freedom, America's highest civilian award, calling him "a devoted servant of God."
The president and his wife Laura laid a green wreath at the Ardeatine Cave Memorial, where Nazi occupiers massacred 335 Italian citizens in 1944. Bush, alone, approached the wreath, straightened its blue ribbon and bowed his head as a bugler played.
At the Vatican, Bush sat impassively as the 84-year-old pope, seated in front of a microphone, read his statement in English in a voice that was audible, but not easily understood. His hands trembled from Parkinson's disease.
"Mr. President, your visit to Rome takes place at a moment of great concern for the continuing situation of grave unrest in the Middle East, both in Iraq and in the Holy Land," the pope said.
"In the past few weeks, other deplorable events have come to light which have troubled the civic and religious conscience of all."
Although the remarks appeared directed at abuses of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, they could also be taken to include other atrocities such as the kidnapping of foreign civilians in Iraq by Islamic militants and the beheading of an American contractor.
The pope did not elaborate. Neither would papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls, although he did not dispute characterizations that the comments referred primarily to abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.
The spokesman said that while the pope had reiterated the Vatican's long-standing opposition to the war, he made plain he was ready to move forward.
Later, Navarro-Valls issued a brief statement summing up Bush's visit to the Vatican. "There were some points of agreement, especially regarding the process of normalization of Iraq," he said.
Navarro-Valls also spoke about the U.S. humanitarian role around the world, particularly in Africa, and, as the pope himself had stated, the promotion of moral values in American society.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "We appreciate the Holy Father's words of support for the interim government and for the transfer of sovereignty."
Regarding the pope's apparent reference to Abu Ghraib, McClellan said, "I'm sure the Holy Father is concerned about the abuses. The president is as well. That's why we are acting, taking a systemic look at the prison system and holding those responsible who committed those atrocities."
Friday's was Bush's third meeting with the pope since he became president.
Bush has aggressively courted Roman Catholic voters - a bloc making up about a quarter of the electorate that split evenly between Bush and Democrat Al Gore in 2000.
Thanking Bush for the medal of freedom award, the pontiff said: "God bless America."
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President Bush came off very well! Remember John anti-life Kerry would not dare meet with the Pope.
Not only did I hear the Pope equate 9-11 and Abu Ghraib, the Pope also admonished Bush to "restore sovereignty and stability " to Iraq, soon.
Now Pope, Sir, messenger of God, your Holiness- whatever- we have Saddam Hussein in custody. A man who murdered a colonial puppet leader and seized power and, using the example of men he admired - like Josef Stalin - maintained a ruthless stranglehold over 25 million souls for 20 years, murdering maybe 10% of them- mostly innocents- during that time..
Are you suggesting he was the "sovereign" leader of Iraq?
Your Holiness, was not Adolph Hitler the sovereign of Germany? Germany was, admittedly, stable under him. Why did you join in partisan warfare against his troops? Hitler's claims on Poland were not far different in statement than Saddam's claims on the Shatt-al Arab that led to over a million deaths of Iranian and Iraqi boys and men, and Saddam's claims on Kuwait.
Excuse me Your Holiness, today I heard no thanks or praise for our removing Saddam Hussein - the man who launched missiles into Iranian and Israeli cities - the man gassed Kurdish infants in their mothers' arms. The man who ruled from dozens of golden thrones in dozens of lavish palaces- his personal wealth all built atop the broken skulls and bones of raped, tortured, men and women and children.
Your Holiness, I cannot seem to locate your praise made the day we opened the underground dungeons of Iraq and released small children into the daylight.
Would restoring Saddam or an equally squalid psychopath be the moral imperative of "sovereignty" to you?
Your Holiness, you admonished us to let the UN "in". Who is keeping them out? They left.
Your Holiness, have your advisors filled you in on the extent of corruption in the oil-for-food program, and the names and positions of the UN and world leaders who called for "peace and patience" in dealing with Saddam, while selling their souls and those of the Iraqi people to fatten their bank accounts?
I am really focused on the WH political team failing, as they always to, to anticipate the spin coming from this. The sheeple are being saturated with this - I drive home listening to a Jazz music FM station, and the news clip at the top of the hour talks about the Pope slamming Bush. And the newsradio stations are even worse.
This is why Bush is not doing well in the polls - they have to break the cycle of day after day attacks on him from every angle, the sheeple are being saturated with this. He should have done a quick photo op with the pope, tossed that medal his way, and been done with it. If they couldn't make an arrangement with the Vatican to not release this propaganda as part of this meeting - then just meet with Berlusconi.
It will get worse after he goes IMHO. He managed to stem the tide for a time but from what I can see there will be a sharp movement away from his positions once he has gone. The RC hierarchy is in a deep moral morass, there will be deeper failures and tragedies _ and even greater farces - before they come face to face with their immorality, and this will be true as well of most of the leadership in the Liberal West.
It may well be that the Pope is ill-informed of events and one really has to question the clarity of his intellect at this point. It is hard to believe that the Lion of Poland who stood up to the Soviets would have in his prime countenanced this sort of nonsense.
Well we are probably getting a very biased report out of the media.
But it certainly is upsetting!
LOL
I imagine many of these "thousands" came from the thousands upon thousands of muslim invaders of Italy who are ruining that country.
For a passionate description of the problems these vermin are causing Italy, read Oriana Fallaci's "The Rage and the Pride." She paints a picture of their activities that will make you want to call the Orkin man!
The problem is that the pope did not attck Bush or America. It is contrived by those in the press who have an agenda.
Pardon?
How many divisions does the Pope have?
I know it is. But its working.
I guess he'd rather that 40,000+ innocents continue to die each year.
" They brought dozens of suits for the men in Bush's entourage to try on. There was no immediate word on whether Bush modeled suits, too. "
The AP manufactures a story out of thin air and then tries to spin it negatively against President Bush.
The AP tries to makes it sound as if President Bush was prancing around in public,frivolously " modeling " suits.
Of course, a) there is no evidence that President Bush met with the Italian tailors and b) trying on a suit , which we assume would be done privately, now becomes " modeling ."
This is why the fossil media has zero credibility.
I wondered how he was going to handle the "pedophiles in the priesthood" problem...
there is a lot of made up news here
This seems the purification by fire that is going to drive those true to God directly to Him (the true Body of Christ) and away from any denomination that is no longer following the perfect will of God.
It would have been an historical moment had the Pope taken from Samuel I, "And the Lord sent thee on a journey and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalakites, and fight against them until they are consumed."
I know what you mean. Election Day this November will tell the tale.
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