KRAKOW, POLAND -- The President will thank Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski for deploying combat troops to Operation Iraqi Freedom. The two will also discuss future operations. Poland, a NATO member since 1999, is taking the lead in assembling an international peacekeeping force of some 7,000 soldiers headed for Iraq, 2,200 of which will be Polish. It's the President second trip to Poland. Last time he visited Warsaw.
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA -- President Bush will celebrate the city's 300th anniversary and meet with its native son, Russian President Vladmir Putin. The Bush-Putin meetings will be the first since Russia blocked final U.N. support for the use of force in Iraq.
The White House hopes to strike a deal over missile defense cooperation. The administration plans to deploy ground-based interceptors in Alaska and sea-based interceptors on U.S. Navy ships in 2004 and 2005.
The big question is whether President Bush is ready to get tough over Russian technology sales to Iran. "Iran is vigorously pursuing programs to produce indigenous WMD - nuclear, chemical, and biological - and their delivery systems," warns a new CIA assessment.
"Russia's provision of expertise and manufacturing assistance has enabled Iran to develop its nuclear technology infrastructure" that could "benefit directly Tehran's nuclear weapons R&D program." Particularly troubling is that Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld says "there have been and are today senior al-Qaeda leaders in Iran, and they are busy" plotting new attacks.
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE -- President Bush then heads to the G-8 summit June 1-3. He'll meet with leaders from France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Russia and Canada to discuss the future of Iraq, his new Middle East economic initiative, and ways to revive the world economy.
A meeting with French President Jacques Chirac is on the Bush agenda despite recent tensions, White House officials say. The President is also expected to meet with China's new President Hu Jintao who took office in March.
But in the wake of recent terrorist attacks, the real story may involve meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. President Bush still says "Saudi Arabia is our friend," but adds there are "killers on the loose" inside the Kingdom.
The Bush administration is putting intense pressure on the Saudi government to crack down on al-Qaeda cells, even sending CIA Director George Tenet to Riyadh to underscore the message. "It's time to face reality head-on," admitted Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a nephew of King Fahd, in an interview with Reuters.
"We have to acknowledge we have a disease called terrorism. There's no doubt about that anymore." The problem is the admission comes twenty months after 19 Saudi nationals were involved in the 9/11 attacks against U.S. citizens.
MIDDLE EAST -- Washington is rife with speculation that President Bush may soon visit U.S. troops and key allies in the Middle East. Kuwait and Qatar are strong possibilities, but the White House isn't yet saying where or when.
One possible destination next month: a dramatic presidential trip either to Jerusalem or to the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheik on the Red Sea to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and new Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen.
Goal: to jump start stalled vehicles on the administration's controversial "Road Map" to peace. Sharon canceled his visit to Washington after a rash of five deadly homicide bombings in a single weekend. The President spoke with Sharon by phone instead. He also made his first phone call to Abu Mazen, urging him to take "concrete steps" to dismantle terrorist cells in the West Bank and Gaza.
The White House is putting tremendous pressure on Israel to accept the terms of the "Road Map," even as Palestinian violence is intensifying and Israeli force just captured a a boat smuggling arms to Gaza.
"This is a new attempt to smuggle weapons to be used for terror attacks and there is no doubt Arafat was involved as he was in previous cases," said Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. In January 2001, Israel seized a ship called the Karine A, bound for Gaza with tons of weapons from Iran.
Twenty-three Christian leaders sent a letter to President Bush May 20th, calling for a "fundamental reevaluation" of why the U.S. is "pushing for the creation of a Palestinian State when thugs are still in control of the Palestinian Authority."
Among the five principles the group urged the administration to follow: "Israel has a right to defend itself when attacked and should not be pressured by the United States, the United Nations or anyone else to be passive in the face of attacks on its citizens."
Signatories included Gary Bauer, Dr. D. James Kennedy, Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, and radio talk show hosts Marlin Maddoux and Janet Parschall.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, meanwhile, warned the White House not to play footsy with Yasser Arafat. "As long as Yasser Arafat plays a role in the Palestinian Authority, and groups beholden to him retain power, the violence will not stop," said DeLay.
"Arafat poisons the Road Map. Until he and his henchmen are isolated as terrorists and removed from the picture, peace will remain impossible."
ARI'S LAST ADVENTURE -- The President's world tour will be Ari Fleischer's last White House adventure. "I want to do something more relaxing, like dismantle live nuclear weapons," says the 42-year old Press Secretary, announcing his resignation effective in July.
Fleischer married last year. He and his wife are moving to Westchester, New York, where he may write a book.
"I've been doing this business very happily for 21 straight years, having done virtually nothing else other than government and politics. The last four wonderful years, almost four, with Governor Bush, now President Bush. And you just reach a point where you have to look into your heart that it' time to go."
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