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Bush to Hail Canadians for Response to Sept. 11
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| josh4 |
Wed Dec 1, 2004 02:08 AM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle....src=rss/topNews
By Steve Holland
OTTAWA (Reuters) - President Bush, scorned by many in Canada for the Iraq war, will hark back on Wednesday to help given after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as an example of a close relationship between two neighbors that do not always see eye to eye.
Working to improve U.S. ties with Canada, Bush will use a speech at a pier at the Atlantic port city of Halifax to thank Canadians for their heartfelt response to Americans in the aftermath of Sept. 11.
It is part of a strategy he is undertaking since winning re-election on Nov. 2 -- to try to reach out to world allies and look beyond the disagreement over Iraq to confront common challenges like security and economic growth. In February Bush is to travel to Europe to continue reaching out.
After discord between Bush and Jean Chretien, who was Canada's previous leader, the U.S. president and current Prime Minister Paul Martin are joining in what Martin called a "spirit of renewal in the relationship between our two countries."
Lingering in the background are simmering trade disputes. Martin pressed Bush in talks on Tuesday about ending a U.S. ban on imports of Canadian beef that is costing Canada's cattle industry millions of dollars. The ban was triggered in May 2003 by a single case of mad cow disease.
Bush made clear in a joint news conference that he wanted a U.S. proposal to lift the beef ban to be expedited through his government, then he tucked into Alberta beef at a state dinner where tall totem poles of Pacific Northwest aboriginal cultures watched over the guests.
About 33,000 Americans were stranded in Canada when U.S. air traffic was frozen on Sept. 11. Canadians provided many of them shelter until airliners were flying again.
"This is an opportunity for the President to go out there and thank Canadians for their kindness and hospitality at a very difficult moment for us in our own nation's history," a senior Bush administration official said.
Bush will also use the speech to point out that Halifax was an entry point for immigrants coming into Canada, akin to New York's Ellis Island near the Statue of Liberty, and an exit point for Canadian troop carriers headed for Europe and North Africa during World War II, and Europe during World War One.
The senior official said Bush will talk about "the common values that we hold, and how those common values really need to be expressed, and how both Canada and the United States work together in the world."
During his visit to Ottawa, crowds of protesters demonstrated against Bush over the Iraq war. The president said at his news conference it was a "legitimate point to debate" whether it is possible for Iraq to have democracy but that he had no doubt it was right to topple Saddam Hussein.
"I'm the kind of fellow who does what I think is right, and will continue to do what I think is right. I'll consult with our friends and neighbors, but if I think it's right to remove Saddam Hussein for the security of the United States, that's the course of action I'll take," he said.
"And some people don't like that; I understand that. But that's a good thing about a democracy, people can express themselves freely," he said. |
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| stren |
| quote: | Originally posted by josh4
"I'm the kind of fellow who does what I think is right, and will continue to do what I think is right. I'll consult with our friends and neighbors, but if I think it's right to remove Saddam Hussein for the security of the United States, that's the course of action I'll take," he said.
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:stongue: :haha: :stongue: yeah that really makes sense; Lets talk but I don't care what you say, cause I'll do what I like anyway |
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