Friday,
June 13, 2008
Bush Meets with Berlusconi
The
ANNOTICO Report
While
all of Europe are enthusiastically rooting for Barack
Obama, Berlusconi cleverly, and perhaps
diplomatically in front of Bush when asked which US presidential candidate he
prefers, he said McCain....because that would save Berlusconi from being
the oldest member at the upcoming G-8 Meeting. (McCain is a month older ).
Bush Meets with Berlusconi
...The president,
meeting with allies in a farewell tour of
"I suppose I
could express my own personal preference for one of the candidates, the
Republican candidate," Berlusconi said. "And this is for a very
selfish reason, and that is that I would no longer be the oldest person at the
upcoming G-8 (meeting) because McCain is a month older than me." McCain is
71.
On soaring oil
prices, the president made clear that the
The Saudis are
concerned that sustained high oil prices will eventually slacken the world's
appetite for oil, affecting them in the long run.
"The prices
of gas are high and the American people don't like it and I can understand why
they don't like it," Bush said.
"I said it's
an interesting idea, I need to get home and study it," Bush said of the
oil summit. "We'll send someone high-level here."
Bush's trip,
which stretches from Slovenia to Northern Ireland, has largely been dominated
by the threat of a nuclear-armed
But he made a
point to show those watching and listening in the
In an opening
statement at the news conference, Bush said, "My thoughts and prayers are
with the victims of the terrible tornadoes and flooding, especially those
who've lost loved ones. We've been inspired by the stories of heroism,
neighbors helping neighbors and communities coming together. It's a really
tough time for the people in the midwestern part of
the
Bush praised
Italy for committing troops to trouble spots around the world, including more
than 2,000 Italian troops toward the NATO-led mission in
Berlusconi said
during the news conference that he and Bush had discussed his government's
willingness to lift some restrictions, and in fact his government is taking
steps to give Italian forces more flexibility that could mean temporary
deployments in more volatile areas. Based on assurances from the Italians, Bush
stated flatly that he was pleased to learn that "the caveats that have
restricted your forces in
Unlike other
European leaders,
such as former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and former French President
Jacques Chirac, Berlusconi supported Bush on
Those troops came
home, and Berlusconi, recently elected to his third stint in power since
1994, has pledged not to send any back.
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