New from the BBC:
MADRID, Spain - Spain celebrated its National Day on Tuesday with a military parade that added French troops and snubbed the United States by dropping the recent participation of U.S. Marines.
In previous years, a contingent of U.S. Marines had been invited by the former government of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, who forged a close relation with President Bush as a mark of solidarity after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
This year, the new Socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, which withdrew Spain's troops from Iraq immediately after taking power in April, ended what symbolized Aznar's close ties with Washington.
Defense Minister Jose Bono said last week he decided not to invite the Americans because "it is a national holiday, not a U.S holiday."
He added: "What does not continue is subordination and getting down on our knees for any foreign government, whichever it may be." [No "global test" for the Spanish, either.]
Bush on American unpopularity in the world.
From the Oct. 8 debate.)
I love our values. And I recognize I've made some decisions that have caused people to not understand the great values of our country. [No. They understand the values. They don't understand what the things you've done have to do with them.]
We'll continue to reach out. [See story above.]
Listen, there is 30 nations involved in Iraq, [See below] some 40 nations involved in Afghanistan.
People love America. Sometimes they don't like the decisions made by America, but I don't think you want a president who tries to become popular and does the wrong thing. [How about a popular president that does the right thing?]
The Coalition of the Willing: They're still with us right?
These are the countries that have bugged out so far.
Nicaragua (Feb. 2004); Spain (late-Apr. 2004); Dominican Republic (early-May 2004); Honduras (late-May 2004); Philippines (~Jul. 19, 2004); Thailand (late-Aug. 2004); and New Zealand (late Sep. 04).
But, according to globalsecurity.org:
The Kingdom of Tonga did, however, deploy 45 Royal Marines in early July to Iraq.
The president says "I know how these people think. I deal with them all the time. I sit down with the world leaders frequently and talk to them on the phone frequently."
That's good, so he already knows that most other countries are telling the administration quietly they won't be sending any help for the "elections" in January. Even Poland. Its too politcally sensitive in all the "coalition" countries. They hate our values!
Posted by bushmeister0
at 1:22 PM EDT
