2/23/2005
The Listening Tour
Bush is calling his current charm offensive in Western Europe a "listening tour." (BBC)
"You might call this a listening tour," said President Bush in answer to one question here at the Nato headquarters in Brussels, and that is not a bad way of characterising this, the president's first foray abroad of his second term.Here's some of the listening he's been up to: (The Times of London)
Mr Bush is in favour of giving Nato a more political dimension In private, many Nato and European Union leaders remain sceptical about the trajectory of Mr Bush's foreign policy over the next four years.
“We liberated Iraq. And that decision has been made, it’s over with and now it is time to unify for the sake of peace. The key now is to put that behind us and to focus on helping the new democracy succeed.”Mr. Bush explained he is in favor of a more unilateral US-led form of listening. He also explained that he would continue to refer to world leader's by their first name, as any parent would do to a child.
Looking forward to future visits Spiegel Online weighs in with some suggested alternatives next time Bush wants a "listening tour": (Spiegel)
Our suggestion for Bush's next visit: given the already astronomical costs of moving the president from place to place and the extraordinary security precautions necessary to bring him, wouldn't it simply be better to limit Bush's trip's to the world's most remote spots? That way, the fewest people possible would be bothered. He could then ask those he really wanted to see to visit him. Here is our list of potential European presidential destinations: Germany's Helgoland, an island in the North Sea (70 km from land) with a population of 1,650 (likely just about the number in the president's entourage). Scotland's Highlands, where there aren't many people but there is one of the only free-living herd of reindeer in the world. Any of Denmark's 18 Faroe islands. They're mid-way between the Atlantic and the Norwegian Sea. An online city calendar for the main city of Torshav shows there are no official events all month.Lower Slobovia is also nice this time of year.
Ever get the impression that these guys hate us for our superior listening skills?
|
