World>Terrorism & Security
posted June 25, 2004, updated 12:00 p.m.

What to expect from the summits

US wants more European support in Iraq. And is a June 30 Baghdad trip in the offing for Bush?

by Jim Bencivenga | csmonitor.com

All summit, all the time.The next five days for President George W. Bush are all about summitry, reports the Associated Press. He arrived Friday for the US-European Union summit in Ireland at a 16th century estate near Shannon. Then, on Saturday, he'll be in Ankara, Turkey, for meetings with Turkish leaders before continuing on to Istanbul for a summit with the 26 NATO leaders on Monday. The NATO meetings are critical for the president to demonstrate that the US and the European community are " coming back together," reports the Boston Globe.

Bush's trip caps a month of heavy international travel and intense diplomacy ahead of Iraq's power transfer. Earlier this month Bush visited Italy and France, where he attempted to smooth over differences with President Jacques Chirac of France, an outspoken opponent of the war. With the sovereignty transfer just days away, the stakes for the summits in Ireland and Turkey are higher than they were for the Group of Eight summit on Sea Island, Ga., two weeks ago.


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But obtaining further NATO support is a " mission fraught with difficulties," reports the Miami Herald. Domestic pressure against the Iraq war acts as a brake on European leaders getting too close to Bush, the paper reports.

Two of the most prominent war critics, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac, have other domestic political problems that may tempt them to play to anti-American sentiment.

France and Germany have ruled out sending troops to Iraq, the idea pushed by the US, and backed by Poland. Warsaw wants, eventually, to scale down its military presence in Iraq. If need be, the Pentagon is fine-tuning plans to send more troops to boost the 140,000-strong US force in Iraq if the security situation continues to worsen, reports the Herald. What the President must do to get additional support from NATO leaders, says former Secretary of State, Madelene Albright, is to explain this support "in terms of their national interests," reports the Globe. A significant boost to Bush's request for more NATO assistance came on Thursday when Iraqi interim leader, Iyad Allawi, requested technical assistance from NATO, reports the Independent. The request, made on Thursday, produced a positive response from NATO before Bush's arrival:

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO's secretary general, dropped a strong hint that the request would be granted when he said the military alliance should 'never slam the door in this [Iraqi] prime minister's face.' However, [Scheffer] remained vague about whether training would take place inside or outside the country, what added value NATO could provide, or what type of aid would be forthcoming. Mr de Hoop Scheffer replied with irritation when asked if the request was inspired by Washington. 'If I receive a letter from Prime Minister Allawi it is a letter from Prime Minister Allawi, isn't it? Full stop,' he said.

The session in Istanbul will be the first summit since the North Atlantic Treaty Organization added seven Eastern European members in March. Key announcements are expected, reports USA Today:

• Troops and equipment are available for five reconstruction teams that will take over northern Afghanistan from the US coalition. They will be under British, German or Dutch command.

• NATO will declare its support for the new Iraqi government and may agree in principle to provide training for the Iraqi army. • The alliance's nine-year peacekeeping mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina ends in December. A new European Union security force will take over. Guardian columnist Jonathan Steele, writing from Baghdad caps his coverage of the pending meetings with a provocative question: "Will Bush go to Baghdad on June 30?"

The Bush visit has not been announced, and may yet be cancelled for security reasons... But like clues in a treasure hunt, telltale hints ... are there for the finding. First, the extraordinary coincidence that Bush will be attending a NATO summit in Istanbul on June 28 and 29, the eve of the sovereignty transfer in Iraq. From there it is barely 90 minutes' flight to Baghdad.

And though it will be a decidedly "humble affair" behind the heavily-fortified "green zone," a quick helicopter ride in-and out (not a triumphant motorcade), Steele suggests, it could nevertheless score political as well as morale points in a presidential election year.

Like the Thanksgiving turkey platter which Bush carried out from behind a curtain in a hangar at Baghdad airport last November, next week's publicity coup will be hard for the Democratic party's candidate to denounce. You can't sneer at patriotism or deride a president for visiting the trenches.

Meanwhile, insurgents in Iraq have stepped up their efforts "to provoke havoc ahead of next week's handover of power by killing as many as 100 people in simultaneous attacks in five [Iraqi] cities," reports the Guardian. The unprecedented attacks appeared to be coordinated and showed a new level of planning and sophistication. "Most of the victims were civilians and Iraqi police officers."

...many fighters in Baquba wore yellow headbands inscribed with the name of [Abu Musab] al-Zarqawi's group. They handed out leaflets warning Iraqis not to work with the Americans. 'The flesh of collaborators is tastier than that of Americans,' the leaflets said.

The attacks were not unexpected and senior officials in Baghdad "have warned publicly for months that they expect the level of violence to rise ahead of the transfer of power to an appointed Iraqi government on Wednesday," says the Guardian.