LONDON, Nov 18: George W. Bush flew into Britain on Tuesday for a historic visit during which the US president and his top ally Tony Blair will close ranks against a groundswell of protest over the Iraq war.
The two men may have hoped the trip would mark their countries’ victory side by side in Iraq, but increasing attacks on their occupying forces have dulled any sense of celebration and massive street protests await Bush in London.
Organizers expect up to 100,000 anti-war demonstrators to cap their protest by toppling a giant statue of Bush in central London’s Trafalgar Square — an echo of the toppling of a statue of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in April.
If Prime Minister Blair is a reluctant host, though, he has shown no sign of it, robustly defending his decision to defy other big European powers and support Bush’s war in Iraq.
“The prime minister believes this is precisely the right time for President Bush to be visiting this country,” Blair’s spokesman said.
Bush is equally defiant.
A spokesman travelling with him on the presidential jet to London said Bush would tell the British people that there are times when the use of military force is necessary.
“History has shown that there are times when countries must use force to defend the peace and to defend values and he will say that we have to recognise that times will come when the use of force is necessary. It is never the first choice,” the official told reporters.
London’s maverick Mayor Ken Livingstone has called Bush “the most dangerous man on the planet” and said that, even if asked, he would refuse to shake hands with the American leader.
Bush was to be met at London’s Heathrow Airport by Prince Charles and will stay at Buckigham Palace as the guest of Queen Elizabeth. But his guardians, fearing a terror attack as well as angry crowds, have ruled out such traditional events as a royal horse-drawn carriage ride.
British police are mounting a five million pound security clampdown, with weekend suicide bombings in Istanbul adding to the tensions.
British commentators say the visit will be uncomfortable for Blair — under fire at home over Iraq, especially within his own left-leaning Labour Party.
But Blair has remained steadfast. In a key foreign affairs speech last week he said critics of the war should accept that Iraqis were better off without Saddam, and denounced what he called a “propaganda monster about America”.
Despite much talk in the media about Bush’s unpopularity, a poll in the left-leaning Guardian newspaper showed more British voters welcome the visit than reject it, and that 62 percent think America “a force for good, not evil, in the world”.
Bush and Blair are expected to hammer out details of plans discussed last week for speeding up the transfer of power in Iraq to an interim government.—Reuters
