Bush's trip to Europe gets off to rough start
VIENNA, AUSTRIA - President Bush confronted high-stakes nuclear showdowns with North Korea and Iran and grisly news about U.S. war deaths Tuesday as he began a quick trip to strengthen ties with European allies unhappy about Iraq. A week after Bush made a surprise, celebratory visit to Baghdad, he learned that two U.S. soldiers captured in Iraq had been found slain. They were killed by the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, an insurgent umbrella group said in a Web statement that suggested the servicemen had been beheaded.More than 2,500 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003.
Anti-Americanism is widespread in Europe, where Bush is seen by many as a cowboy president who doesn't care about the concerns of other countries. The abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib, allegations of a massacre of unarmed civilians by U.S. Marines at Haditha and reports of secret prisons for terror suspects have hurt America's image.
Bush will hold several hours of talks today with leaders of the 25-nation European Union. Tonight he will go to Budapest, Hungary, to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1956 uprising against communist rule. He returns to Washington Thursday evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment