The Bushes recent foreign policy trip to the G8 summit in Evian, France produced some results. One is a big bill for the American taxpayer. The other results are for you to decipher for yourselves. So read the itinerary. Here it is…
Friday, May 30, 2003,President Bush and his wife, Laura, boarded Air Force One at Andrews AFB, Maryland, and flew nonstop to Poland.
Saturday, May 31. Arriving in Poland, they meet with the Polish leader in Krakow, and, I assume, they discussed some details about Poland’s new role in Iraq. Then, he and Laura went on a tour of Krakow and took in a view of the Nazi death camp at Birkenau- part of Auschwitzs’ prison. ‘Stay for dinner?’ Sorry, they had previously accepted to dine with the Putins, in St. Petersburg, Russia. He didn’t have much time for anything else because it’s already at least 2 hours later in Russia. Air Force One’s refueled, and it’s getting late. Off the president goes to a bilateral meeting scheduled with the Russian president.
Saturday evening, Vladimir Putin met the President and Laura when they arrived for dinner. Afterwards they’re off to the fireworks display and then to the ballet for the evening. Sundays important meeting to make amends with president Putin takes place. All things considered, it was a good meeting and progress was made. Too bad president Bush had to leave right away, but you know the ol’ G8 summit was on the agenda. The travel agent did a fine job, it helps having Air Force One. None stop to France.
Sunday afternoon, June 1, the president is in Evian (talk about jet lag! ). Bush meets president Chirac. They shake hands, but there’s no time for the opera. There are some photo shots to do with Chirac, Blair, and the other present world leaders. Then, Bush has got to get ready for the Big, and I mean BIG meeting. The G8 Summit Meeting tomorrow morning. This is where the business of the World is discussed and decided, and there is no more important business than this.
Monday, June 2, Evian, France and things are heating up fast. All the major world leaders are in attendance, 30,000 security personnel cordoning off the area 6 miles in every direction, protesters out in force, close air attack helicopters over head, and rioting in the streets of ultra conservative Switzerland. Wait a minute… what’s this, the U.S president is leaving early. He’s not even going to be here for tomorrow’s discussions? Apparently, that’s correct. There was a bit of a scheduling problem it seems, and President Bush has to leave now and go to Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt. He must see Hosni Mubarak this afternoon and have a summit talk there. Since Egypt does not rank as a major power, Mubarak was not invited to attend the G8 Summit, so President Bush takes off for Sharm El-Sheik.
Monday afternoon, June 2, Egypt, the president is greeted by Mubarak and later they dined together.
Tuesday, June 3, Egypt Bush and Mubarak get down to the business at hand. King Abdullah II of Jordan, Prince Abdullah bin Abdelaziz of Saudi Arabia, King Hamed bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, as well as Mubarak were all there…Topic A: “What’s Egypt’s new role in the Bushs’Middle East plan?” The day proved well spent and the president was warmed up and ready for his next days meeting. Did you think that was with Mubarak and the other Kings and Princes? No, that’s all finished and done. It’s time we fly to Jordan.
Wednesday, June 4, Jordan Yes, our president is now in Jordan. Along with our president and the Jordanian King Abdullah II, we now introduce 2 warring factions- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian P.M. Mahmoud Abbas. This American president must be relishing his role in this part of the world. He seems to be a person of not some little importance. He’s also on everyones guest list. The King of Jordan thanked him for the lift home (just a surmise, I don’t really know how Abdullah II got home). Bush said he’d be getting back to the King soon. On board Air Force One for one more stop. Got to see his troops in Doha.
Thursday, June 5, Qatar Bush meets with Amir of Doha, Qatar. Hi, how are you, and all that, then off to ‘rally the troops’. It was a real morale booster, and one of the highlights of the trip. Nice seeing Tommy again. Now it’s time to get Laura home. It was a long and tiring 6 day trip throughout Europe and the Middle East…..(see <WWW.usinfo.state.gov> for official Bush trip and photos)
There are no more details I can give you on all the summit talks the president participated in. I don’t have any other information. There must be some details available somewhere, but you need to do your own inquiry. Being a bit of your conscience is enough. Your hearts desires are yours to tame…
A newspaper article slid cross my desk, however, and it mentions the president flying over Bagdad before coming home. Just that, a blip on the radar screen. The idea struck me as humorous. Recalling the sight of Sadam Hussein out walking the streets of Bagdad afew days before U.S. tanks rolled into town, and him shaking peoples hands and smiling and how happy they all seemed, then he’s gone. Now, I have this vision before me of George Bush peering into the same streets of Bagdad through a telescope from 33,000 feet above. He’s smiling, shaking hands with the stewardess, the pilot, his guests, and being happy, and he’s gone too. There’s 140,000 U.S. troops down there. I wonder if he dropped afew leaflets on them? I’m curious, also, how many private Lynches there are in that army camped inside the palace and the airport? By the way, do you know the whole story surrounding her rescue? Very interesting…you should read about it. Her entire family was ordered not to discuss the matter with the news media or anybody else.
So, here is the president, not exactly paying a visit, but nevertheless, in Iraq. Again, there seems to have been a total blackout of information on this momentous flight of our president into Iraqis airspace. Not one anonymous tid-bit about anything that was talked about or discussed during the historic moment over Bagdad, that I could find.
As good as the European G-8 Summit was, as fruitful as the Middle East Summits were, and everything else put together…not even landing on the deck of the <U.S.S>. Lincoln tops this high. From the man in the streets, contemplating the bird in the sky, I allow my imagination to run free. Here’s my take of the Bushes fly-by of Bagdad:
Up close and personal, the Bushes watched the live aerial ‘spy’ cameras video on the wide screen aboard Air Force One. From 33,000 feet above Bagdad the conversation I imagine, might have gone something like this:
“Gee, Laura, I never thought from the pictures on CNN that Bagdad would look like that, did you?… See all those American flags down there on the bottom? That’s our new airport there. Some of the troops wanted to name it Bush airport. I told them to hold off for a year or two until the remodeling is done, at least. And those other Flags flying from that big building, that’s where most of our troops are now staying… It’s Sadam old palace. Hope they don’t get too comfortable in that palace…(laughter).”
“Now, notice all those people on the outskirts of town. Mostly homeless people that don’t have jobs. See those large groups of people here, here, and over here? Those are most likely the good Iraqies that are shopping in the outdoor market places like they have all over the this part of the world. I’m told they often celebrate those hours by waving flags and carrying banners. Just one of their strange customs, I guess. ”
(A server comes by with Buluga caviar) “Is that the stuff Vladimir gave us when we left St Petersburg? I wonder if it will go good with the steaks back at the ranch? I like him. He and I are going to build a strong coalition soon. We’ll need to have him on our side if we are to combat this anti-American alliance of France and Germany. I like Rummys idea of taking the rug right out from under them, and placing all the Euro power center in Poland.”
” I can see it’s alittle hard for some of the elderly getting around the piles of rubble in some of those run down areas in the city. I’ll speak to Bremer about getting wheelchair ramps made for the handicapped. They’re managing better than before, I can tell you that. I think better than some of the intelligence reports I’ve been receiving (laughter).”
“It’s getting better all the time now. I feel confident… Soon we’ll have a democratic government set up there for those people. The people aren’t ready to govern themselves yet. They’ve never had this much freedom. We’ll have to teach them, and educate their children on what a good government is before they can take care of themselves and do that. But let’s leave the Bill of Rights out of their constitution, O.K. Colin?”
“I’m told that the biggest problem we have is their religion, and this book they read called the Koran. Once we get those two things out of the way, we’ll have turned the corner. One of our think tanks was telling me the Iraqis had a real system of laws back when Jesus was around. Christ, look at them now…looting and lawless bands of armed resistance. It’s a good thing we’re there to preserve law and order, otherwise they might start killing each another. I believe that within the next 10 years, you’ll see, it’ll be just like the United States.”
” When Texaco and Exxon get set up and running, the Iraqis won’t have any more gas shortages like you see now. We’ll also build them Wal Marts and McDonalds and Burger Kings all over that desert!… American corporations will be able to employ thousands of those people. At least, the ones that really want a job. We might even have room for some of their engineers. The homeless will always be with them, just like they are in Los Angeles, or any big U.S. city … but, you see, I will not always be with them.”
“Someday, the Iraqis will again have their own government. But one that will listen to us, and share our vision of the world. Our troops will have a real oasis here in Iraq when they come for their next tour of duty. Those boys are probably getting accustomed to living in royal surroundings. Do you think they will expect to stay in a palace everytime they come here? (laughter).”
“Give us that camera shot to the east, boys, if you could”…” Look there, Laura, see that large area without any <U.S.flags>?… that’s Iran. We might catch some flak if we did a fly-by right now. I’d like to see it from 30,000 feet up the next time we come over here…I guarantee you, it will look differently.”
“You’ll see some U.S. flags flyng . I’ll promise you that…”
So went the presidents’ foreign policy trip. And, as you might expect, he’s probably going back to the ranch with Laura to review all his notes so he can tell the American people all about it, right? He also wants to be more prepared the next time he meets with all the important heads of states of Europe and the Middle East.
Six days and six nights package tour. Includes six nations with world summit talks, bilateral meetings, 5 star accommodations with 24 hour security for you and your wife and as many hundreds, or thousands, of people you want to bring along. Price tag : 100 thousand million gazillion dinars,(not verified) courtesy of someone spoken on condition of anonymity (anonymity not verified). Price includes meals.
How much does an escort squadron of fighter jets cost per mile? (Or was it two fighter squadrons?). Bush didn’t steal the show, he was the show! … Do you think the American people got their moneys worth from president Bushs’ foreign policy mission, or were they stiffed- big time?
What will he do next? The national debt ceiling stands at about 7 Trillion dollars. Not only is America the only Super Power, it’s the only Super Debtor. Of the roughly $600 Billion dollars individual tax payers paid this year, $174 Billion went to pay interest on the National Debt. Corporate taxes paid were negligible at about $40 Billion. The poor American Corporations had a bad year. The American family, luckily, is there to shoulder the debt.
Do you know how much $7 Trillion is? It would make a stack of $100 bills the height of twenty one thousand (21,000) Empire State Buildings!!..Why do banks keep loaning our government all this money? Do they really think they’ll be paid back? What collateral does our government offer them? There’s only one thing they need. Know what it is? If you just said “Enough Oil Reserves” you’re right…Do you see any correlation now between Iraq and American banks and financial institutions? I hope you didn’t say no again.
Americans, it’s time to use your political think pads and put your brains to use in something other than simply making yourselves richer. Your guess about what’s coming next is as good as mine right now…maybe better….maybe Bush will start campaigning for re-election, or give more of our governments money away to recruiting troops in Central America, or wherever…or whatever…Then we must watch for the results.
Did what you expect to happen, actually happen? Did you see exactly what you believed would happen? Did you believe what you were led to believe by the T.V. and radio news media, or other people? If the results are not what you expected, re-examine the premise, and the information you based it on. Stop watching and listening to the regurgitated network T.V. ‘Goo’! You will be misled, confused, worried, and never know what is really going on. Is that what you want?
Do not get stuck in the quagmire of all these little side shows and news media feeds, while you miss the importance of every act. If you do, ultimately The Masters’ entire play was simply a tragedy with no meaning or purpose, and unintelligible to you.
Did I lose you? Alright, then try this. If you went to see a Shakespearean masterpiece performed on stage, would you be wearing your Walkman and listening to Jimmy Hendrix and The Doors throughout the entire performance?
Along with ignorance comes false pride, arrogance, anger, misfortune, and worse. Make up your minds today whether you wish to accept these ‘sins’ (Christian theology here) as your Lot, or not. Better to get as far away from them as possible.
Wake Up! Gather the powers of good within you, and keep them safe. Keep looking for the answers. Keep searching for the Truth. This is where your freedom lies.
WAYNE SAUNDERS is a freelance writer based in Canada. He can be reached at planetway@netscape.net