Bush trip a tough diplomatic testFri May 6, 2005 13:5864.140.158.51
Bush trip a tough diplomatic test
The White House says there is no hidden message in the trip
By James Coomarasamy
BBC News, with President Bush
As President George W Bush heads for Europe to take part in ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the World War II, the BBC's James Coomarasamy examines what the president hopes to achieve.
In Washington there is general agreement that this will be the toughest test yet of Mr Bush's second term in office.
The centrepiece event remains the military parade on Red Square on 9 May - when the US president will be among 56 world leaders, paying tribute to the sacrifice of an estimated 27 million Soviet troops who died in the conflict.
His predecessor, Bill Clinton, did not attend the parade on the 50th anniversary of VE Day, in protest at Russia's war in Chechnya.
So Mr Bush's presence is - to a degree - a public relations triumph for Vladimir Putin.
Less welcome for the Russian leader, though, is the fact that on the eve of the Moscow events Mr Bush will be meeting the leaders of Lithuania and Estonia; two countries which are boycotting the parade.
Strained relations
With the backing of Washington, the three Baltic States have been pushing the Kremlin to apologise for their annexation by the Soviet Union in 1940.
It is a tricky, nuanced diplomatic task for a president, who is perceived as often having a black and white view of the world
So far, the Russians have declined the offer.
From Russia, Mr Bush flies to Georgia, where he will become the country's highest profile visitor since its Rose Revolution of 2003.
Moscow has traditionally been wary of any US intervention in countries such as Georgia, which it considers to be within its sphere of influence and Mr Bush arrives at a time when Tbilisi's relations with Moscow are worsening.
He will tread warily, but will use the location to reflect on one of the central themes of his presidency; the onward march of freedom and democracy.
It will be an uncomfortable time for Mr Putin, who is facing growing American criticism for his attitude towards democratic institutions and who spoke nostalgically about the Soviet Union, in his recent State of the Union address.
Black and white view
The White House says there is no message in the president's itinerary, but Mr Putin will see an implicit and highly symbolic one.
That is, from the US point of view, that the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the defeat of the Nazi regime were both victories for freedom.
At the same time, Mr Bush will seek to avoid overly antagonising the Russians, so he will raise issues of concern to the Kremlin on his travels.
He will urge Latvia to protect the rights of its Russian-speakers and Georgia to forgo ideas of military intervention in its troubled region of South Ossetian, which has close links to Moscow.
It is a tricky, nuanced diplomatic task for a president, who is perceived as often having - in public, at least - a black and white view of the world.
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Rice Heads to Moscow Prior to Bush Trip
Secretary Rice Heads to Moscow Prior to Bush Trip
GOOGLE: BUSH TRIP
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Bilderberg: The ultimate conspiracy theory
By Jonathan Duffy
BBC News Online Magazine
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3773019.stm
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The Bilderberg Group
- The Invisible Power House -
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/Bilderberg.htm
In the closing plenary session of the forum, philosopher/author Sam Keen summarized the consensus of the learned ones. Among the conference participants, said Keen, "there was very strong agreement that religious institutions have to take primary responsibility for the population explosion. We must speak far more clearly about sexuality, about contraception, about abortion, about the values that control the population, because the ecological crisis, in short, is the population crisis. Cut the [world's] population by 90 percent and there aren't enough people left to do a great deal of ecological damage."
How do we "cut" the planet's population by 90 percent? Even genocidal mass murderers Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, and Mao combined did not come close to attaining such a "lofty" goal. As always, the devil is in the details. Forum participant Barbara Marx Hubbard may already have provided some of the devilish answer. In The Book of Co-Creation she writes: "Out of the full spectrum of human personality, one-fourth is electing to transcend.... One-fourth is destructive [and] they are defective seeds. In the past they were permitted to die a 'natural death.'... Now as we approach the quantum shift from the creature-human to the co-creative human -- the human who is an inheritor of god-like powers -- the destructive one-fourth must be eliminated from the social body.... Fortunately, you are not responsible for this act. We are. We are in charge of God's selection process for planet Earth. He selects, we destroy.We are the riders of the pale horse, Death."
Lord help us all if this de facto "Brain Trust" of diabolical misfits, murderers, megalomaniacs, terrorists, and tyrants succeed in establishing their "new world order," their "new global civilization."
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/Bilderberg.htm
Another Secret Bilderberg conference: more 'New World Order
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/01-24-05/discussion.cgi.39.html
U.S. Sen. John Edwards at Bilderberg
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/06-10-04/discussion.cgi.4.html
PROOF OF A CONSPIRACY: THE U.S. MEDIA & BILDERBERG
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/06-12-04/discussion.cgi.49.html
WORLD DEPOPULATION IS TOP NSA AGENDA
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/06-12-04/discussion.cgi.50.html
A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER!
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/06-12-04/discussion.cgi.51.html
Bilderberg Conference: more Starving the Beast in Holland
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/01-24-05/discussion.cgi.38.html
World Bank: An army doesn't march on an empty stomach...
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/03-26-05/discussion.cgi.78.html
Guess who's at super-secret Bilderberg meeting today
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/06-06-04/discussion.cgi.50.html
BUSH: Bilderberg Conference Stresa, Italy, June 3-6, 2004
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/06-04-04/discussion.cgi.5.html
Bilderberg: The ultimate conspiracy theory
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/06-04-04/discussion.cgi.6.html
Who Really Runs the World?
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/06-04-04/discussion.cgi.7.html
Creature From Jekyll Island
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/06-04-04/discussion.cgi.4.html
- Will Bush Be Attending The Bilderberg Meeting? — Fri May 6 14:30
- George W. Bush: Getting His Orders at Bilderberg? — Fri May 6 14:20
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