Vizita e presidentit Bush ne Mbreterine e Bashkuar

[Shpirt Njeriu]

Nga Toni Bler*

Leximi i ketyre rradheve mund te habise dike, por nuk kam dyshim mbi rendesine ose tempizmin e vizites ne Britanine e Madhe te Presidentit Bush, e parashikuar per kete jave.


Di qe disa prej kritikeve te tij me te ndezur dhe kundershtareve te politikes amerikane ne Irak po ferkojne duart me kenaqesi perballe prespektives per ta zene ngushte. Por besoj, me te gjithe forcat e mia, se nuk mund te kete moment me i mire se ky per nje vizite ne Britanine e Madhe nga ana e Xhorxh Bush. Dhe mundesi me e mire per vendet tona per te riafrimuar si marredheniet e vecanta qe na lidhin, ashtu dhe impenjimin tone te perbashket per t'i ofruar popullit iraken mundesine per nje te ardhme me te mire, per prosperitet me te madh dhe ne paqe.

Afirmimi im, nuk do te thote se une jam totalisht dakort me ate qe bejne Shtetet e Bashkuara. Ne fakt, disa kendveshtrime me ndajne nga ky President, si edhe nga ai paraardhes.

Kjo vizite, me kenaq ne menyre te vecante edhe sepse eshte momenti te nenvizoj se dy vendet tona ndajne te njejtat vlera, te njejten dashuri per lirine dhe demokracine dhe vendosmerine per te ndertuar nje bote me te sigurt per qytetaret tane dhe per popujt e botes.

Me kenaq edhe sepse Amerika eshte jo vetem aleatja jone me e ngushte, por edhe se eshte kombi me i fuqishem i botes. Nese duam te perparojme ne realizimin e prioriteteve tona, qe kemi shenuar per kete bote, duhet te kapim cdo mundesi bashkepunimi me Shtetet e Bashkuara. Jam i vetedijshem, gjithsesi, se ky kendveshtrim nuk ndahet nga ato qe kete jave duam te manifestojne kunder vizites se Presidentit Bush.

E kam te qarte se gjallerimi i pjeses me te madhe te demonstruesve do te jete kunder principit te nderhyrjes ushtarake ne Irak. Respektoj nje pozicionim te tille dhe nuk pres qe keta persona te ndryshojne mendim mbi kete ceshtje. Por dua t'i kerkoj te shohin te ardhmen ne vend qe te shohin te kaluaren. Dhe te njohin se, ne qofte se nuk do te kishte nje nderhyrhje ushtarake, Sadam Husein dhe djemte e tij do te gezonin ende pushtetin absolut ne Irak, te lire te vazhdonin te kercenonin vendet fqinje. Te lire edhe te vazhdonin veprimet e represionit dhe masakrat ndaj popullit te tyre, masakra qe ashtu sikurse na kane mesuar varret e perbashketa te zbuluara, u pergatiten ne permasa aq barbare, sa te linin ne fusha qinderamijera viktima. Asnje nuk mund te shtiret qe situata ne Irak eshte perfekte. Masakra e tmerrshme e karabiniereve dhe te forcave te policise italiane dhe te civilece irakene, qe ndodhen javen e kaluar, vune ne dukje problemet e medha te mbajtjes se sigurise, qe tashme ekzistojne.

Por nje paraqitje e ekuilibruar e asaj qe ndodhte ne territorin iraken, do te tregonte se populli i sfilitur iraken ka, per here te pare, nje shprese konkrete per te ardhmen. Pothuajse te gjitha shkollat dhe te gjitha universitetet jane hapur. Impiantet per furnizimin energjitik dhe hidrik jane rindertuar. Spitalet mjekojne pacientet ne baze te nevojave te tyre, jo sipas mbeshtetjes se tyre dhe aq me pak ndaj Sadamit. Pothuajse 40 mije police irakene te stervitur kontrollojne rruget. Ne vend qarkullon nje shtyp i lire dhe plot me jete, nderkohe qe interneti dhe televizionet satelitore kane rimarre ligjshmerine.

Objektivi yne mbetet ai i nje Iraku te lire dhe te qeverisur nga irakenet. Tashme, realiste eshte prespektiva e nje qeverie provizore irakene, e cila do te funksionoje para fundit te vitit te ardhshem. Kjo nuk do te thote fundin e impenjimit tone ushtarak ne Irak, por padyshim do te perfaqesoje nje hap te vendosur drejt objektivit tone per nje Irak te lire dhe te qeverisur nga irakenet.

Eshte shume e rendesishme se asnje qindarke nga parate e mbedhura nga nafta irakene nuk eshte terhequr nga fondi per rindertimin e vendit, fond i administruar nga Kombete e Bashkuara.

Gjithashtu, shpresoj, qe demonstruesit te kuptojne se kush ndalon prespektivat vijuese dhe progresin e shpejte. Nuk behet fjale per Presidentin Bush ose te nenshkruarit,as per forcat amerikane ose britanike. Faji duhet t'i atribuohet asaj qe ka mbetur ne kembe nga sistemi brutal i Sadamit, me mbeshtetjen e terroristeve qe kane mberritur nga vende te tjera. Jane ata, jo forcat e koalicionit, qe kane organizuar sulmet kunder Kryqit te Kuq, vrasjen e civileve dhe policeve irakene, sabotimin e impianteve per furnizimin elekrik dhe hidrik.

Motivi i ketyre atentateve te neveritshme qendron ne faktin se edhe ato kuptojne se sa vendimtare eshte e ardhmja e Irakut per stabilitetin jo vetem te rajonit, por te te gjithe planetit. Ata jane te vetdijshem qe te dy vendet tona jane angazhuar ne ndihmen per popullin iraken, qe ai te ndertoje nje te ardhme ne paqe, demokraci dhe prosperitet. Dhe dine qe suksesi ne kete ndermarrje do te tregoje njehere e pergjithmone boshllekun dhe falsitetin te rrenjosura ne ate urrjetie ekstreme dhe helmuese, qe ata ushqejne ndaj Shteteve te Bashkuara dhe Perendimit. Ky eshte cmimi qe i takon mbare botes nese do te arrijme ne permbushjen e qellimit tone. Edhe eshte i madh cmimi qe do te paguajme ne qofte se do te leme qe mospajtimi te futet ndermjet Shteteve te Bashkuara dhe aleateve te saj, do te deshtojme ne ndermarrjen tone.

Britania e Madhe mundet, me mire se cdo vend, te garantoje qe komuniteti nderkombetar te bashkepunoje ne rindertimin e asaj te ardhmeje me te mire per Irakun dhe, si rrjedhoje, per te gjithe qytetaret tane. Ja perse, megjithese dikush e ve ne dyshim, jam i bindur qe vizita e kesaj jave e Presidentit Bush eshte ne te interesin me te mire te ketij vendi te botes.

* Kryeminister i Britanise se Madhe

[Fringo]

Kujt i flet o Toni, kujt i flet.
Te ishte per ata protestuesit qe na merziten shpirtin me klithma paqe paqe, Slobo do ishte akoma mire e bukur ne krye te vendit, dhe Sadami do ishte duke perdhunuar akoma grate e vajzat e Irakianve.
Pismilet!

[Albo]

Bush's Speech at Whitehall Palace

Wednesday, November 19, 2003

LONDON — The following is the text of a speech U.S. President George W. Bush Delivered at Whitehall Palace in London on Nov. 19, 2003:

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all. Thank you very much.

Secretary Straw and Secretary Hoon, Admiral Colbold (ph) and Dr. Shipman (ph), distinguished guests, I want to thank you for your very kind welcome that you've given to me and to Laura. I also thank the groups hosting this event, the Royal United Services Institute and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

We're honored to be in the United Kingdom. And we bring the good wishes of the American people.

It was pointed out to me that the last noted American to visit London stayed in a glass box dangling over the Thames.

(LAUGHTER)

A few might have been happy to provide similar arrangements for me.

(LAUGHTER)

I thank Her Majesty, the queen, for interceding.

(LAUGHTER)

We're honored to be staying at her house.

Americans traveling to England always observe more similarities to our country than differences. I've been here only a short time, but I've noticed the tradition of free speech exercised with enthusiasm...

(LAUGHTER)

... is alive and well here in London.

We have that at home too. They now have that right in Baghdad as well.

(APPLAUSE)

The people of Great Britain also might see some familiar traits in Americans.

We're sometimes faulted for a naive faith that liberty can change the world. If that's an error, it began with reading too much John Locke and Adam Smith.

Americans have on occasion been called moralists, who often speak in terms of right and wrong. That zeal has been inspired by examples on this island, by the tireless compassion of Lord Shaftesbury, the righteous courage of Wilberforce and the firm determination of the Royal Navy over the decades to fight and end the trade in slaves.

It's rightly said that Americans are a religious people. That's in part because of the good news that was translated by Tyndale, preached by Wesley, lived out in the example of William Booth.

At times Americans are even said to have a puritan streak. And where might that have come from?

(LAUGHTER)

Well, we can start with the Puritans.

To this fine heritage, Americans have added a few traits of our own: the good influence of our immigrants and the spirit of the frontier.

Yet there remains a bit of England in every American. So much of our national character comes from you, and we're glad for it. The fellowship of generations is the cause of common beliefs.

We believe in open societies ordered by moral conviction. We believe in private markets humanized by compassionate government. We believe in economies that reward effort, communities that protect the weak and the duty of nations to respect the dignity and the rights of all. And whether one learns these ideals in County Durham or in West Texas, they instill mutual respect and they inspire common purpose.

More than an alliance of security and commerce, the British and American peoples have an alliance of values. And today this old and tested alliance is very strong.

(APPLAUSE)

The deepest beliefs of our nations set the direction of our foreign policy. We value our own civil rights, so we stand for the human rights of others. We affirm the God-given dignity of every person, so we are moved to action by poverty and oppression and famine and disease.

The United States and Great Britain share a mission in the world beyond the balance of power or the simple pursuit of interest.

We seek the advance of freedom and the peace that freedom brings.

Together our nations are standing and sacrificing for this high goal in a distant land at this very hour. And America honors the idealism and the bravery of the sons and daughters of Britain.

The last president to stay at Buckingham Palace was an idealist without question. At a dinner hosted by King George V in 1918, Woodrow Wilson made a pledge. With typical American understatement, he vowed that right and justice would become the predominant and controlling force in the world.

President Wilson had come to Europe with his 14 points for peace. Many complimenting him on this vision yet some were dubious.

Take, for example, the prime minister of France. He complained that God himself had only 10 commandments.

(LAUGHTER)

Sounds familiar.

(LAUGHTER)

At Wilson's high point of idealism, however, Europe was one short generation from Munich and Auschwitz and the Blitz.

Looking back, we see the reasons why. The League of Nations, lacking both credibility and will, collapsed at the first challenge of the dictators.

Free nations failed to recognize, much less confront, the aggressive evil in plain sight. And so, dictators went about their business, feeding resentments and anti-Semitism, bringing death to innocent people in this city and across the world and filling the last century with violence and genocide.

Through world war and cold war we learned that idealism, if it is to do any good in this world, requires common purpose and national strength, moral courage and patience in difficult tasks. And now our generation has need of these qualities.

On September the 11th, 2001, the terrorists left their mark of murder on my country and took the lives of 67 British citizens. With the passing of months and years, it is the natural human desire to resume a quiet life and to put that day behind us as if waking from a dark dream. The hope that danger has passed is comforting, is understanding and it is false.

The attacks that followed in Bali, Jakarta, Casablanca, Bombay, Mombasa, Najaf, Jerusalem, Riyadh, Baghdad and Istanbul were not dreams. They're part of a global campaign by terrorist networks to intimidate and demoralize all who oppose them.

These terrorists target the innocent and they kill by the thousands. And they would, if they gain the weapons they seek, kill by the millions and not be finished.

The greatest threat of our age is nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in the hands of terrorists and the dictators who aid them.

The evil is in plain sight. The danger only increases with denial. Great responsibilities fall once again to the great democracies. We will face these threats with open eyes and we will defeat them.

(APPLAUSE)

The peace and security of free nations now rests on three pillars.

First, international organizations must be equal to the challenges facing our world, from lifting up failing states to opposing proliferation. Like 11 presidents before me, I believe in the international institutions and alliances that America helped to form and helps to lead.

The United States and Great Britain have labored hard to help make the United Nations what it is supposed to be: an effective instrument of our collective security.

In recent months, we've sought and gained three additional resolutions on Iraq, Resolutions 1441, 1483 and 1511, precisely because the global danger of terror demands a global response.

The United Nations has no more compelling advocate than your prime minister, who at every turn has championed its ideals and appealed to its authority. He understands as well that the credibility of the U.N. depends on a willingness to keep its word and to act when action is required.

America and Great Britain have done, and will do, all in their power to prevent the United Nations from solemnly choosing its own irrelevance and inviting the fate of the League of Nations.

It's not enough to meet the dangers of the world with resolutions; we must meet those dangers with resolve.

In this century, as in the last, nations can accomplish more together than apart. For 54 years America has stood with our partners in NATO, the most effective multilateral institution in history. We're committed to this great democratic alliance and we believe it must have the will and the capacity to act beyond Europe where threats emerge.

My nation welcomes the growing unity of Europe and the world needs America and the European Union to work in common purpose for the advance of security and justice.

America is cooperating with four other nations to meet the dangers posed by North Korea. America believes the IAEA must be true to its purpose and hold Iran to its obligations. Our first choice and our constant practice is to work with other responsible governments.

We understand as well that the success of multilateralism is not measured by adherence to forms alone -- the tidiness of the process -- but by the results we achieve to keep our nations secure.

The second pillar of peace and security in our world is the willingness of free nations, when the last resort arrives, to retain aggression and evil by force.

There are principled objections to the use of force in every generation, and I credit the good motives behind these views.

Those in authority, however, are not judged only by good motivations. The people have given us the duty to defend them and that duty sometimes requires the violent restraint of violent men. In some cases, the measured use of force is all that protects us from a chaotic world ruled by force.

Most in the peaceful West have no living memory of that kind of world. Yet in some countries the memories are recent.

The victims of ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, those who survived the rapists and the death squads had few qualms when NATO applied force to help end those crimes. The women of Afghanistan, imprisoned in their homes and beaten in the streets and executed in public spectacles, did not reproach us for routing the Taliban. Inhabitants of Iraq's Baathist hell, with his lavish palaces and his torture chambers, with his massive statutes and its mass graves, do not miss their fugitive dictator; they rejoiced at his fall.

In all these cases, military action was preceded by diplomatic initiatives and negotiations and ultimatums and final chances until the final moment.

In Iraq, year after year, the dictator was given the chance to account for his weapons programs and end the nightmare for his people. Now the resolutions he defied have been enforced.

And who will say that Iraq was better off when Saddam Hussein was strutting and killing, or that the world was safer when he held power?

Who doubts that Afghanistan is a more just society and less dangerous without Mullah Omar playing host to terrorists from around the world?

And Europe, too, is plainly better off with Milosevic answering for his crimes instead of committing more.

It's been said that those who live near a police station find it hard to believe in the triumph of violence. In the same way, free peoples might be tempted to take for granted the orderly societies we have come to know.

Europe's peaceful unity is one of the great achievements of the last half century. And because European countries now resolve differences through negotiation and consensus, there's sometimes an assumption that the entire world functions in the same way.

But let us never forget how Europe's unity was achieved: by Allied armies of liberation and NATO armies of defense.

And let us never forget, beyond Europe's borders, in a world where oppression and violence are very real, liberation is still a moral goal and freedom and security still need defenders.

(APPLAUSE)

The third pillar of security is our commitment to the global expansion of democracy and the hope and progress it brings as the alternative to instability and hatred and terror. We cannot rely exclusively on military power to assure our long-term security. Lasting peace is gained as justice and democracy advance.

In democratic and successful societies, men and women do not swear allegiance to malcontents and murderers. They turn their hearts and labor to building better lives. And democratic governments do not shelter terrorist camps or attack their peaceful neighbors.

They honor the aspirations and dignity of their own people.

In our conflict with terror and tyranny, we have an unmatched advantage, a power that cannot be resisted, and that is the appeal of freedom to all mankind.

As global powers, both our nations serve the cause of freedom in many ways in many places.

By promoting development and fighting famine and AIDS and other diseases, we're fulfilling our moral duties as well as encouraging stability and building a firmer basis for democratic institutions.

By working for justice in Burma, the Sudan and in Zimbabwe, we give hope to suffering people and improve the chances for stability and progress.

By extending the reach of trade, we foster prosperity and the habits of liberty.

And by advancing freedom in the greater Middle East, we help end a cycle of dictatorship and radicalism that brings millions of people to misery and brings danger to our own people.

The stakes in that region could not be higher.

If the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation and anger and violence for export. And as we saw in the ruins of two towers, no distance on the map will protect our lives and way of life.

If the greater Middle East joins the democratic revolution that has reached much of the world, the lives of millions in that region will be bettered, and a trend of conflict and fear will be ended at its source.

The movement of history will not come about quickly. Because of our own democratic development, the fact that it was gradual and at times turbulent, we must be patient with others.

And the Middle East countries have some distance to travel. Arab scholars speak of a freedom deficit that has separated whole nations from the progress of our time. The essentials of social and material progress -- limited government, equal justice under law, religious and economic liberty, political participation, free press and respect for the rights of women -- have been scarce across the region. Yet that has begun to change.

In an arc of reform from Morocco to Jordan to Qatar, we are seeing elections and new protections for women and the stirrings of political pluralism.

Many governments are realizing that theocracy and dictatorship do not lead to national greatness; they end in national ruin. They're finding, as others will find, that national progress and dignity are achieved when governments are just and people are free.

The democratic progress we've seen in the Middle East was not imposed from abroad, and neither will the greater progress we hope to see. Freedom, by definition, must be chosen and defended by those who choose it.

Our part as free nations is to ally ourselves with reform wherever ittle for self-government, yet the poor especially need the power of democracy to defend themselves against corrupt elites.

People from the Middle East share a high civilization, a religion of personal responsibility and a need for freedom as deep as our own.

It is not realism to suppose that one-fifth of humanity is unsuited to liberty. It is pessimism and condescension, and we should have none of it.

(APPLAUSE)

We must shake off decades of failed policy in the Middle East. Your nation and mine in the past have been willing to make a bargain to tolerate oppression for the sake of stability. Longstanding ties often led us to overlook the faults of local elites.

Yet this bargain did not bring stability or make us safe. It merely bought time while problems festered and ideologies of violence took hold.

As recent history has shown, we cannot turn a blind eye to oppression just because the oppression is not in our own back yard. No longer should we think tyranny is benign because it is temporarily convenient. Tyranny is never benign to its victims and our great democracies should oppose tyranny wherever it is found.

Now we're pursuing a different course, a forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East. We will consistently challenge the enemies of reform and confront the allies of terror. We will expect a higher standard from our friends in the region, and we will meet our responsibilities in Afghanistan and in Iraq by finishing the work of democracy we have begun.

There were good-faith disagreements in your country and mine over the course and timing of military action in Iraq. Whatever has come before, we now have only two options: to keep our word or to break our word.

The failure of democracy in Iraq would throw its people back into misery and turn that country over to terrorists who wish to destroy us. Yet democracy will succeed in Iraq, because our will is firm, our word is good and the Iraqi people will not surrender their freedom.

(APPLAUSE)

Since the liberation of Iraq, we have seen changes that could hardly have been imagined a year ago. A new Iraqi police force protects the people, instead of bullying them. More than 150 Iraqi newspapers are now in circulation, printing what they choose, not what they're ordered.

Schools are open, with textbooks free of propaganda. Hospitals are functioning and are well-supplied.

Iraq has a new currency, the first battalion of a new army, representative local governments, and a governing council with an aggressive timetable for national sovereignty.

This is substantial progress. And much of it has proceeded faster than similar efforts in Germany and Japan after World War II.

But the violence we are seeing in Iraq today is serious. And it comes from Baathist holdouts and jihadists from other countries and to the prospect of innocent bloodshed.

It is the nature of terrorism and the cruelty of a few to try to bring grief and the loss to many.

The armed forces of both our countries have taken losses felt deeply by our citizens. Some families now live with the burden of great sorrow.

Cannot take the pain away, but these families can know they are not alone. We pray for their strength. We pray for their comfort. And we will never forget the courage of the ones they loved.

Now we're pursuing a different course, a forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East. We will consistently challenge the enemies of reform and confront the allies of terror. We will expect a higher standard from our friends in the region, and we will meet our responsibilities in Afghanistan and in Iraq by finishing the work of democracy we have begun.

There were good-faith disagreements in your country and mine over the course and timing of military action in Iraq. Whatever has come before, we now have only two options: to keep our word or to break our word.

The failure of democracy in Iraq would throw its people back into misery and turn that country over to terrorists who wish to destroy us. Yet democracy will succeed in Iraq, because our will is firm, our word is good and the Iraqi people will not surrender their freedom.

(APPLAUSE)

Since the liberation of Iraq, we have seen changes that could hardly have been imagined a year ago. A new Iraqi police force protects the people, instead of bullying them. More than 150 Iraqi newspapers are now in circulation, printing what they choose, not what they're ordered.

Schools are open, with textbooks free of propaganda. Hospitals are functioning and are well-supplied.

Iraq has a new currency, the first battalion of a new army, representative local governments, and a governing council with an aggressive timetable for national sovereignty.

This is substantial progress. And much of it has proceeded faster than similar efforts in Germany and Japan after World War II.

But the violence we are seeing in Iraq today is serious. And it comes from Baathist holdouts and jihadists from other countries and to the prospect of innocent bloodshed.

It is the nature of terrorism and the cruelty of a few to try to bring grief and the loss to many.

The armed forces of both our countries have taken losses felt deeply by our citizens. Some families now live with the burden of great sorrow.

Cannot take the pain away, but these families can know they are not alone. We pray for their strength. We pray for their comfort. And we will never forget the courage of the ones they loved.

The terrorists have a purpose, a strategy to their cruelty. They view the rise of democracy in Iraq as a powerful threat to their ambitions. In this, they are correct.

They believe their acts of terror against our coalition, against international aid workers and against innocent Iraqis will make us recoil and retreat. In this, they are mistaken.

(APPLAUSE)

We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq and pay a bitter cost of casualties and liberate 25 million people only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins.

(APPLAUSE)

We will help the Iraqi people establish a peaceful and democratic country in the heart of the Middle East. And by doing so, we will defend our people from danger.

A forward strategy of freedom must also apply to the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is a difficult period in a part of the world that has known many. Yet our commitment remains firm. We seek justice and dignity. We seek a viable, independent state for the Palestinian people, who have been betrayed by others for too long.

We seek security and recognition for the state of Israel, which has lived in the shadow of random death for too long.

(APPLAUSE)

These are worthy goals in themselves. And by reaching them, we will also remove an occasion and excuse for hatred and violence in the broader Middle East.

Achieving peace in the Holy Land is not just a matter of the shape of a border. As we work on the details of peace, we must look to the heart of the matter, which is the need for a viable Palestinian democracy.

Peace will not be achieved by Palestinian rulers who intimidate opposition, who tolerate and profit from corruption and maintain their ties to terrorist groups. These are the methods of the old elites, who time and again have put their own self-interest above the interests of the people they claim to serve.

The long-suffering Palestinian people deserve better. They deserve true leaders, capable of creating and governing a Palestinian state.

Even after the setbacks and frustrations of recent months, goodwill and hard effort can bring about a Palestinian state and a secure Israel.

Those who would lead a new Palestine should adopt peaceful means to achieve the rights of their people and create the reformed institutions of a stable democracy.

Israel should free settlement construction, dismantle unauthorized outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people and not prejudice final negotiations with the placements of walls and fences.

Arab states should end incitement in their own media, cut off public and private funding for terrorism, and establish normal relations with Israel.

Leaders in Europe should withdraw all favor and support from any Palestinian ruler who fails his people and betrays their cause.

And Europe's leaders, and all leaders, should strongly oppose anti-Semitism, which poisons public debates over the future of the Middle East.

(APPLAUSE)

Ladies and gentlemen, we have great objectives before us that make our Atlantic alliance as vital as it has ever been.

We will encourage the strength and effectiveness of international institutions. We will use force when necessary in the defense of freedom.

And we will raise up an ideal of democracy in every part of the world.

On these three pillars we will build the peace and security of all free nations in a time of danger.

So much good has come from our alliance of conviction and might. So much now depends on the strength of this alliance as we go forward.

America has always found strong partners in London, leaders of good judgment and blunt counsel and backbone, when times are tough. And I found all those qualities in your current prime minister, who has my respect and my deepest thanks.

(APPLAUSE)

The ties between our nations, however, are deeper than a relationship between leaders. These ties endure because they are formed by the experience and responsibilities and adversity we have shared.

And in the memory of our peoples, there will always be one experience, one central event, when the seal was fixed on the friendship between Britain and the United States: The arrival in Great Britain of more than 1.5 million American soldiers and airmen in the 1940s was a turning point in the Second World War.

For many Britons, it was a first close look at Americans other than in the movies. Some of you here today may still remember the friendly invasion. Our lads, they took some getting used to. There was even a saying about what many of them were up to in addition to being overpaid and over here.

(LAUGHTER)

At a reunion in North London some years ago, an American pilot who had settled in England after his military service said, "Well, I'm still over here and probably overpaid, so two out of three isn't bad."

(LAUGHTER)

In that time of war, the English people did get used to the Americans. They welcomed soldiers and flyers into their villages and homes and took to calling them "our boys."

About 70,000 of those boys did their part to affirm our special relationship. They returned home with English brides.

Americans were getting a certain image of Britain as well. We saw an island threatened on every side with a leader who did not waiver in a country of the firmest character.

And that has not changed. The British people are the sort of partners you want when serious work needs doing. The men and women of this kingdom are kind and steadfast and generous and brave, and America is fortunate to call this country our closest friend in the world. May God bless you all.

(APPLAUSE)

[Shpirt Njeriu]

Presidenti Bush - në vizitë shtetërore në Britani - ka thënë se kombet e lira duhet të jenë të gatshme të përdorin forcën për t'u mbrojtur. Nganjëherë, tha ai, kjo ishte e gjitha që i mbronte ato nga kaosi.
Presidenti Bush po qëndron në Pallatin e Bakingamit


Në një fjalim gjithëpërfshirës në të cilin paraqiti filozofinë e politikës së jashtme të administratës së tij, zoti Bush tha se edhe Iraku edhe Afganistani ishin tani më mirë se sa kur qeveriseshin nga presidenti Sadam Husein dhe Talebani.

Ai tha se forcat amerikane, pasi kishin paguar një çmim të hidhur për çlirimin e 25 milionë njerëzve, nuk do të detyroheshin të largoheshin tani nga vrasës.

Zoti Bush kritikoi edhe Izraelin dhe i bëri thirrje që t'i jepte fund asaj që e quajti nënçmim të përditshëm të popullit palestinezë, të ndërpresë ndërtimin e vendbanimeve të reja të hebrenjve në territoret e pushtuara palestineze, dhe të ndërpresë ndërtimin e mureve, siç u shpreh ai.

Por ai tha se edhe palestinezët duhej t'i jepnin fund përdorimit të dhunës, dhe i bëri thirrje udhëheqësve evropianë që t'i bojkotonin udhëheqësit palestinezë që nuk e bëjnë këtë.

[gezo]

RROFTE BUSHI DHE AMERIKA

PER MENDIMIN TIM ESHTE NJE NJERI QE DON PAQE POR PAQJA FITOHET VETEM ME SHEMBJEN E DIKTATURAVE NEPER BOTE.

[Shpirt Njeriu]

US President George Bush has mounted an impassioned defence of the invasion of Iraq and vowed to win the war on terror.
During the first day of his historic state visit to London he said the US and the UK "share a mission" as defenders of freedom across the globe.

And he told the audience at London's Banqueting House that the danger of terrorists using weapons of mass destruction aided by dictators represented "the greatest threat of our age".

"The evil is in plain sight. The danger only increases with denial.

"Great responsibilities have fallen once again to the great democracies. We will face these threats with open eyes and we will defeat them."

The speech to foreign affairs experts came amid tight security for the president's visit.

Who will say that Iraq was better off when Saddam Hussein was strutting and killing or that the world was safer when he held power?

President George W. Bush


Key points: Bush speech
Later on Wednesday police made some arrests as protesters gathered in the Mall near Buckingham Palace.

In his speech, Mr Bush said a global response was needed to address such threats, along with a recognition that "in some cases the measured use of force is all that protect us from a chaotic world ruled by force".

Defending the war in Iraq, he said: "The dictator had been given many chances to account for his weapons programmes. Now the resolutions he defied have been enforced.

"Who will say that Iraq was better off when Saddam Hussein was strutting and killing, or that the world was safer when he held power?"

[Shpirt Njeriu]

The formal welcome for Mr Bush and his wife Laura from the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh came after a 41-gun salute.

Peace campaigners are attempting to demonstrate their opposition to Mr Bush's visit in a series of protests across the capital.

Parliament Square, the South Bank and the Exxon-Mobil headquarters are among the locations earmarked for demonstrations.

A "roaming" Street Party and a Resist Bush Tea Party are also planned, while London Mayor Ken Livingstone has organised a peace party in City Hall for groups opposed to the war in Iraq.

Mr Bush is due to meet British families of those who died in the 11 September attacks in New York.

The president is also due to meet Mr Howard, who supported the war, and the Liberal Democrat leader, Charles Kennedy, who opposed it.

In the evening, Mr and Mrs Bush will be guests of honour at a state banquet at the Palace.

[Shpirt Njeriu]

George W Bush came to office in a storm of controversy, unified the United States after the attacks of 11 September and then took the country into a divisive war against Iraq.

George Bush had a nervous start as president
He had promised to be "humble" in his foreign policy but he went on to declare a "war on terror" and to remove from power the man his father had only removed from Kuwait: Saddam Hussein.

His supporters see a clear-sighted patriot and a leader who has extended freedom in the world.

His opponents see an arrogant American and a unilateralist who has ignored world concerns.

George Bush had a nervous start. He won power on a minority vote and only got to the White House because the US Supreme Court decided that recounts in Florida should stop.

But after the World Trade Center in New York City had been attacked and destroyed on 11 September 2001, he rallied Americans with a defiant call from the rubble that "Those who did this will hear us".


They did. He launched a war against the Taleban in Afghanistan which had given shelter to Osama Bin Laden.

He extended that war into a general offensive against al-Qaeda and its various manifestations.

He capitalised on the sympathy for the United States around the world, which had led even the French newspaper Le Monde to declare: "We are all Americans now".


But the mood and the sympathy did not last. Opposition to President Bush grew as his threats to Iraq grew. Declaring that Iraq had developed weapons of mass destruction, he went to war. Saddam Hussein was overthrown but, so far, no weapons have been found.

[Shpirt Njeriu]

Ja edhe fotoja e tij ne.

[Reina]

Postuar më parë nga Djal{serioz}
US President George Bush has mounted an impassioned defence of the invasion of Iraq and vowed to win the war on terror.
During the first day of his historic state visit to London he said the US and the UK "share a mission" as defenders of freedom across the globe.



"The evil is in plain sight. The danger only increases with denial.

Qe sa pash fjalen "evil" e dija qe ishte Presidenti i dashur i Amerikes (habitem ndonjehere si nuk thot dhe fjalen qe perdorin femijet me shpesh.."boogieman".. pfff .. Bushi sdo paqe jo.. por vetem LUFTE..