Bush balancing agenda with
storm response
By NEDRA PICKLER
WASHINGTON - President Bush is balancing a
harried schedule of diplomatic duties _ from Iraq to
China and the United Nations _ while working to stay
on top of hurricane recovery efforts that most
Americans say should be his No. 1 priority.
"I can do more than one thing at one time," the
president assured Monday on the first of two planned
visits this week to the Gulf Coast. He's fitting
those in between meetings with world leaders who
came to the United States for a gathering of the
United Nations in New York, where he planned to
publicly thank world leaders for their contributions
to storm relief.
Before leaving Tuesday afternoon for the United
Nations, Bush was hosting Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani for a closed-door meeting in the Oval
Office, followed by a joint news conference in the
East Room. |
U.S. President George W. Bush
Photo: White House |
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The meeting comes as the Bush administration's top
envoy in Iraq is warning that the U.S. is running
out of patience with Syrian interference across the
border and refusing to rule out military strikes or
punishment from the United Nations in retaliation.
But Americans seem to have shifted their focus away
from Iraq and terrorist threats to problems at home.
For the first time since the terrorist attacks on
the U.S. four years ago, a majority of Americans
responding to a poll by the Pew Research Center last
week said it is more important for the president to
focus on domestic policy than the war on terrorism.
Another poll by Time magazine found six in 10
Americans think the U.S. should cut back spending on
Iraq to help pay for the storm response, while about
the same number favor a partial withdrawal of troops
from Iraq to help with storm damage.
The president sharply disputed suggestions on Monday
that the military is stretched too thin to help Iraq
and the Gulf Coast rebuild.
"We've got plenty of troops to do both," Bush said
after his first on-the-ground tour of cleanup
efforts in the streets of New Orleans. "It is
preposterous to claim that the engagement in Iraq
meant there wasn't enough troops here, just pure and
simple."
Bush planned to return to the Gulf Coast on
Thursday, and his aides were discussing plans for an
address to the nation from the area.
He was to return to the White House for more foreign
affairs Friday, with Russian President Vladimir
Putin scheduled to visit.
The president said he'll be in "constant touch" with
hurricane recovery teams during his two-day trip to
the United Nations. Bush's busy schedule there
includes one-on-one meetings with the leaders of
China, Israel, Britain and U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan in addition to General Assembly sessions.
Aides arranged to keep him informed of hurricane
response efforts at his regular morning briefings.
"By the time I'm finished (being) president, I hope
you'll realize that the government can do more than
one thing at one time and individuals in the
government can," Bush told reporters Monday as he
wrapped up a tour of New Orleans and Gulfport, Miss.
"If I'm focusing on the hurricane, I've got the
capacity to focus on foreign policy and vice versa."
At the United Nations, the Bush administration is
working to increase pressure on Syria, which the
U.S. accuses of turning a blind eye to terror
training camps on its soil.
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad,
refused Monday to rule out either a military strike
against Syria or punishment through the United
Nations.
"Our patience is running out, the patience of Iraqis
are running out. The time for decision ... has
arrived for Damascus," Khalilzad said in a news
conference in Washington, where he was accompanying
Talabani.
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