Bush to seek more world help for Iraq
WASHINGTON -- President Bush will continue to push for more international help for Iraq this weekend when he travels overseas on a five-day trip to Ireland and Turkey just before Iraq regains sovereignty on Wednesday.
Bush's trip to Turkey, where he will attend the NATO summit, is expected to be dominated by discussion of Iraq, and will be the president's longest stay in a Muslim country since the start of the war.
Turkish officials are eager to have a safe, smooth summit to bolster their country's international stature and demonstrate that Turkey should be allowed entry to the European Union, whose members have rebuffed Turkey's attempts to join the organization.
Yesterday, the Turkish government pledged even greater security following two bombings by a Marxist group -- one in the capital, Ankara, the other in Istanbul -- that killed four people.
Bush's trip caps a month of heavy international travel and intense diplomacy ahead of Iraq's power transfer. Earlier this month Bush visited Italy and France, where he attempted to smooth over differences with President Jacques Chirac of France, an outspoken opponent of the war.
In Ireland, where Bush is scheduled to participate in a US-EU summit tomorrow before going on to Turkey, large protests are expected. Officials in Turkey are also gearing up for protests, warning demonstrators to remain in designated areas.
With the sovereignty transfer just days away, the stakes for the summits in Ireland and Turkey are higher than they were for the Group of Eight summit on Sea Island, Ga., two weeks ago.
Criticized by presumptive Democratic nominee Senator John F. Kerry and others for not having enough international support in Iraq, the White House hopes to use the gatherings to show that, as a senior administration official said on Wednesday, "The international community is coming back together."
Economic issues, AIDS relief, and diplomatic efforts in Northern Ireland are also expected to be topics of discussion when Bush meets with European leaders in Ireland.
Bush is scheduled to meet with President Mary McAleese of Ireland as well as with Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.
At both summits, the Bush administration is expected to continue its push to have NATO train security forces in Iraq. Chirac has said that having NATO train security forces in Iraq would take the international security organization beyond its traditional role and insists that France would not send troops to Iraq under any circumstance.
The White House welcomed a request on Wednesday from Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi of Iraq for more assistance from NATO for training security forces.
"The question of NATO and Iraq is not so much what the United States and other countries want in the abstract," said the senior Bush administration official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity. "It's what the Iraqi government wants. My sense from the Iraqi government is they want help so they can stand up for themselves."
Critics have said the latest spate of violence stands in contrast to the Bush administration's consistently sunny characterization of Iraq.
Former national security adviser Sandy Berger, in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, said the American people are losing confidence in the administration's handling of Iraq because "our expectations have repeatedly not been met on the ground."
Albright and Berger, Kerry supporters who were critical of Bush, said this weekend's summits are an important opportunity for the president to convince France and Germany that NATO's role should be expanded.
"It requires a very clear and persuasive explanation from the president," Albright said. "I think they are prepared to help if the president can explain it in terms of their national interests."
That's one of the administration's goals, but officials made it clear that they don't expect to come away from the summits with commitments from other countries to send troops to Iraq.
"There is no magic wand that produces lots of new troops," one senior administration official said. "That's not been expected. We never expected a massive influx of new troops."
