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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (515721)	12/25/2003 1:14:59 AM
From: calgal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

Bush Faces Positive Week in Foreign Policy Wednesday, December 24, 2003 WASHINGTON — It was, arguably, the best foreign policy (search) week of the Bush presidency, starting with the capture of Saddam Hussein (search) and ending with Libya's commitment to dismantle its doomsday weapons programs. In between, Iran formally agreed to allow unrestricted access to its nuclear facilities, and former Secretary of State James A. Baker (search) came back from Europe with promises from Iraq war opponents France, Germany and Russia to help ease Iraq's $120 billion debt burden. There was more good news: The casualty rate for American soldiers in Iraq this month is less than half of what it was during November. Encouraging developments indeed, but no one in the administration is claiming victory. There is no assurance that Saddam's arrest foreshadows a permanent decline in anti-American violence in Iraq or that a democratic Iraq is a shoo-in. As for Iran, the administration says the country's acquiescence on international inspections is merely a good first step. U.S. mistrust for Tehran's mullahs (search), built up over 25 years, does not subside easily. In contrast to Iran, the administration seems far more impressed about disarmament gestures by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi (search), who has bedeviled U.S. administrations since he took control of his North African country in 1969. President Bush said Gadhafi's promise was of great importance, but some in the administration remain unsure that Gadhafi has changed his stripes. For all the seeming good news, the administration is aware that any display of triumphalism would be premature, especially with intelligence reports suggesting that Al Qaeda (search) may be planning catastrophic terror attacks against the United States in the near future. Under normal circumstances, Secretary of State Colin Powell would be seen before the cameras, broadcasting the progress of the past 10 days. But except for a telephone interview this week with The New York Times, he has kept a very low profile since Dec. 9. Powell underwent surgery for prostate cancer (search) on Dec. 15; he is said to be recovering nicely and expects to be back to work full time in January. Powell has been heard from, however, in an article in Foreign Affairs magazine that was written before Saddam's arrest. In it, Powell discussed Bush's policy of dealing with potential security threats through pre-emptive military force (search). The policy was designed, in part, to serve notice on leaders of rival countries that the cost of supporting terrorism or developing weapons of mass destruction has "gone way up," he wrote. The pre-emption policy certainly appears to have caught Gadhafi's attention. Apparently worried that Libya (search) might become a target, Gadhafi opened talks with the United States and Britain on what amounts to unilateral disarmament. The process began in March, just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and reached fruition with last Friday's announcements from Washington, London and Tripoli. Understandably, the Bush administration was delighted. With Libya, Iran and Iraq all looking more manageable after last week's extraordinary developments, North Korea remains potentially the most explosive security problem for the administration. The Korean Peninsula (search) has been perhaps the world's most dangerous corner for more than 50 years, a situation that has worsened with North Korea's abandonment 14 months ago of its stated policy of nuclear restraint. The administration had been hoping to resume negotiations with North Korea and four other regional countries last week in Beijing on the permanent dismantling of the North Korean weapons programs (search). But the parties were unable to agree on objectives for the talks. It was the one major security issue on which the administration was unable to claim progress last week.