Bush Presses Point on Iraq Plans

Braving a steady rain, tens of thousands of Romanians gave President Bush a thunderous welcome Saturday as he paid tribute to their triumph over a brutal dictatorship -- and warned of the continuing threat from “fanatics who seek to impose their will through fear and murder.”

Continuing his drumbeat against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Bush said, “The people of Romania understand that aggressive dictators cannot be appeased or ignored; they must be opposed.”

Speaking to a sea of umbrellas that filled Revolution Square, where the 1989 uprising against dictator Nicolae Ceausescu began in the Romanian capital, he welcomed this nation into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“Should any danger threaten Romania, the United States of America and NATO will be by your side,” Bush said. “No one will be able to take away the freedom of your country,” he said.

But as in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, earlier in the day, the president made use of the bully pulpit to press his case against Iraq, telling his listeners that NATO membership also brings with it an obligation to fight terrorism -- namely, Iraq’s “aggressive dictator,” Hussein.

“Every free nation has a responsibility to play its full and responsible role. And together we will preserve our freedoms,” Bush said in an address before the crowd, which, though gigantic, was smaller than the White House had expected.

Just before he began to speak, the rain let up briefly and a rainbow arched across the plaza, prompting Bush to declare: “God is smiling on us today.”

His two public speeches Saturday capped a weeklong visit to Europe, his fourth as president. Bush returned to the White House late Saturday night.

Earlier in the week, Bush attended a NATO summit in Prague, the Czech capital, where the alliance voted to admit seven states once part of the formerly communist East: Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

From Prague, Bush flew to St. Petersburg to meet with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, who served up the week’s only discordant note when he publicly warned Bush not to lose sight of the war on terrorism as a showdown with Iraq looms.

Bush plans to spend only a portion of this week in Washington. On Wednesday, he is scheduled to head out for a long Thanksgiving weekend at his ranch near Crawford, Texas.

In Vilnius, Bush met with the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia -- the three Baltic states that once were under the yoke of the Soviet Union.

“I love freedom. That’s why I’m so happy to be here,” Bush told them, according to White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer.

On a chilly gray morning, several thousand Lithuanians showed up to hear Bush in City Hall Square, a picturesque plaza at the convergence of a labyrinth of narrow, twisting streets, ancient churches and pastel-colored bell towers.

At one point, the president invoked the memories of Hitler and Stalin.

“We knew that this continent would not remain divided. We knew that arbitrary lines drawn by dictators would be erased, and those lines are now gone,” Bush said. “The long night of fear, uncertainty and loneliness is over.”

He added: “In the face of aggression, the brave people of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will never again stand alone.”

At that, the crowd broke into a chant that meant “thank you.”

Here in Bucharest, Bush referred to Ceausescu, whose execution on Christmas Day 1989 ended two decades of a bloody tyranny. Speaking in the rain without head cover, the president recalled the dramatic events in Revolution Square that led to Ceausescu’s death.

On Dec. 21 of that year, about 80,000 Romanians jammed the square for what was thought to be a rally to support Ceausescu, after riots broke out in the city of Timisoara over the arrest of an outspoken anti-government priest.

But as Ceausescu appeared on the balcony of the Communist Central Committee Building, the crowd began chanting “Ti-mi-soa-ra” to protest the government’s actions.

Within 24 hours, the demonstrators stormed the building, and Ceausescu and his wife fled. Soon after, they were captured and then shot to death.

In his remarks, Bush pointed to the building and said:

“From that balcony, the dictator heard your voices and faltered -- and fled. Two generations of bitter tyranny ended, and all the world witnessed the courage of Romania, the courage that set you free.”

As he segued into his standard anti-Hussein rhetoric, Bush said, “The world has suffered enough from fanatics who seek to impose their will through fear and murder.”

In his weekly Saturday radio address, the president said that a new Department of Homeland Security, approved by Congress last week, along with NATO’s expansion will bolster the U.S.-declared war on terrorism at home and abroad. Bush plans to sign the legislation Monday.