Protests Mark Bush Visit To Indonesia

(CBS/AP)  President George W. Bush withheld judgment Monday on rival calls to beef up or scale down U.S. troops in Iraq, and said angry protests in Indonesia against his Mideast policy were a healthy sign of democracy in the heavily Muslim nation.

Facing growing disapproval at home for the Iraq war, Mr. Bush, visiting Indonesia, encountered no criticism or demands for troop cuts from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The Indonesian leader said the "global community must be also responsible in solving the problems in Iraq," along with the United States.

"I haven't made any decisions about troop increases or troop decreases, and won't until I hear from a variety of sources," Mr. Bush replied, standing alongside Yudhoyono at a news conference in the presidential palace.

Asked specifically whether there were any risks in enlarging the U.S. troop presence, Mr. Bush said, "There's no need to comment on something that may not happen. But if it were to happen, I will tell you the upsides and downside."

Indonesia was the last foreign stop on Mr. Bush's eight-day, post-election journey that also took him to Singapore and then Vietnam.

Mr. Bush spent three days in Vietnam for an economic summit of 21 Pacific Rim nations, and while the White House said it was pleased with what it accomplished, the president did not get all he had hoped for from his Asian partners, reports CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante.

For example, South Korea gave only partial support to sanctions against North Korea and Asian leaders downplayed pressure on the North to return to disarmament talks. Mr. Bush also pushed Russia and China to get a resolution condemning Iran's nuclear program with little, visible progress.

There were heightened concerns for Mr. Bush's safety in Indonesia after police warned of an increased risk of attack by al Qaeda-linked militants. Mr. Bush is widely disliked in the country because of strong U.S. support for Israel and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Several thousand people marched to the main mosque in the capital, Jakarta, early Monday, some carrying posters showing victims of violence in the Iraq and Palestinian territories as others unfurled a banner calling Bush a terrorist and war criminal. On Sunday, about 13,000 protesters turned out in Jakarta.

"People protest, that's a good sign," Mr. Bush said. "It's a sign of a healthy society."

Countering arguments about his goal to advance freedom in the Middle East, he said that "to say spreading democracy is anti-religious — it's the opposite of that. Democracy means you can worship any way you choose, freely.'

Yudhoyono said any long-term solution in Iraq should involve a national reconciliation, the strengthening of Iraq's government and the involvement of other countries. "We have to involve all those three solutions before the United States can determine what the possible policies" should be for withdrawal from Iraq, he said.

Mr. Bush's visit was limited to about six hours in the hill town of Bogor, about 45 miles south of Jakarta. Thousands of police and rifle-toting soldiers patrolled the streets near the presidential palace.

Before an elegant dinner, Mr. Bush and his wife, Laura, stopped by a mock classroom in a tent on the palace grounds to showcase U.S. aid for education programs in Indonesia. Chatting with youngsters, Mr. Bush was asked about his favorite hobby as a kid.

"Baseball. I liked baseball. That was my hobby — sports," he said, before reaching for a more inspirational answer. "The best thing I did was to learn how to read."

The president returns home to a growing debate about the war, now in its fourth year with a U.S. death toll of more than 2,860. McCain on Sunday called for sending in 20,000 more U.S. troops to curb rising sectarian violence. Mr. Bush noted that Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was at work on a thorough review of options for Iraq.

The two leaders said that in addition to Iraq and the broader Middle East, they discussed nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, alternative energy sources, avian flu, and educational issues.

"You lead a large and diverse nation with a very bright future," Mr. Bush told Yudhoyono.

Indonesia has been hit by a string of terrorist attacks targeting Western interests since 2002, including nightclub and restaurant bombings on the resort island of Bali and blasts at the Australian Embassy and the J.W. Marriott Hotel in the capital.

More than 240 people were killed, many of them foreign tourists. The attacks were blamed on the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah. While the group has been crippled by hundreds of arrests in recent years, one of its alleged leaders and most deadly operatives, Noordin Top, remains at large.

The president arrived in Bogor by helicopter in a slashing rain. Rather than spend the night in Indonesia, Mr. Bush left Monday night for Hawaii, where he was set to have breakfast with U.S. troops on Tuesday, and to drop by the U.S. Pacific Command.

He will be back in Washington on Wednesday.

[bushrocks1]

Would I send my son to this war? You might ask would I send him to WW II? Or Vietnam? Maybe you would distinguish those conflicts and whether you would send your son to fight in them. But that question is misdirected in a very important way: I can't command my son to go to war. He has to make that choice. So the better question would be: would I volunteer to fight in Iraq, WW II, Vietnam? Would I volunteer to fight in any war? Respond if drafted? I don%u2019t know. I'm not equivocating, only addressing that it is a hypothetical. As a hypothetical, I can say, sure I'd fight. But I have nightmares of battle (from my past life as a Jacobite). So how do I feel toward those who do volunteer? Impressed but maturely knowing that many things go into their decision. But I do strongly believe that a country who can't find those men is doomed. The fact that we can find them is one reason why I say there is no failure in Iraq. Objectively, I also believe it for other reasons. An attempt to establish democracy in the Middle East is a bold, brilliant, noble effort, facing a high chance of failure. That's why I greatly respect and admire those who have made the attempt--the Bush administration. They have been resolute, something I have not seen in my lifetime. They may not succeed, for reasons outside their control or fault: traitors on the home front, being a big one. But now those traitors have apparently occupied the high ground. Yet... we're still in Iraq. Why?... I'm waiting.

[frankly6]

Would I send my son to this war? You might ask would I send him to WW II? Or Vietnam? Hell no that's for poor kids to do. I do love the blood and destruction though. As long as it's someone elses son or daughter. So how do I feel toward those who do volunteer? Impressed, they either have much bigger balls than me or they are desperately poor and trying to make a better life for themselves. Either way, who cares? An attempt to establish democracy in the Middle East has proven to be very profitable for a handfull of connected individuals and companies. That's why I greatly respect and admire those who have made the attempt--the Bush administration. They have been resolute, something I have not seen in my lifetime. They may not succeed, mostly for the reasons that they are criminaly incompetent and arrogant. But also we have traitors on the home front calling for some kind of acountability from the administration. The nerve of these peasants speaking truth to power. These traitors have apparently occupied the high ground for now. But not for long..we'll find a way to blame the failures in Iraq on them.

[shingles1]

"Would I send my son to this war? You might ask would I send him to WW II? Or Vietnam?"

No, I would ask why you keep posting the same thing over and over again.

[bushrocks1]

Would I send my son to this war? You might ask would I send him to WW II? Or Vietnam? Maybe you would distinguish those conflicts and whether you would send your son to fight in them. But that question is misdirected in a very important way: I can't command my son to go to war. He has to make that choice. So the better question would be: would I volunteer to fight in Iraq, WW II, Vietnam? Would I volunteer to fight in any war? Respond if drafted? I don%u2019t know. I'm not equivocating, only addressing that it is a hypothetical. As a hypothetical, I can say, sure I'd fight. But I have nightmares of battle (from my past life as a Jacobite). So how do I feel toward those who do volunteer? Impressed but maturely knowing that many things go into their decision. But I do strongly believe that a country who can't find those men is doomed. The fact that we can find them is one reason why I say there is no failure in Iraq. Objectively, I also believe it for other reasons. An attempt to establish democracy in the Middle East is a bold, brilliant, noble effort, facing a high chance of failure. That's why I greatly respect and admire those who have made the attempt--the Bush administration. They have been resolute, something I have not seen in my lifetime. They may not succeed, for reasons outside their control or fault: traitors on the home front, being a big one. But now those traitors have apparently occupied the high ground. Yet... we're still in Iraq. Why?... I'm waiting.

[patriotic9]

Nobody has ever helped RADICAL MUSLIMS then the RADICAL CHRISTIANS.One of the examples is RONALD REAGAN helps to OSAMA BIN LADEN and the latest example is BUSH removing a SECULAR SADDAM from power and bringing a RADICAL ISLAMIST named MALIKI into power on the name of DEMOCRACY who is taking our TAX MONEY on the name of REBUILDING IRAQ to establish a RADICAL ISLAMIC STATE from IRAN in the EAST to LEBANON in the WEST ruled under those AYATOLLAHs who call us GREATEST SATAN.After the missing weapons story in IRAQ, it is so evident and clear that how come HIZBOLLAH was so WELL-ARMED in the fight this year

[patriotic9]

Sunshine_2
All those countries you listed above,their people were attacked after they helped us in the war we started in AFGHANISTAN.As you yourself mentioned that mulsim countries like SAUDI ARABIA and JORDAN have been attacked just like a NON-MUSLIM country UNITED STATES because of ALLIANCE of those countries with UNITED STATES and UNITED STATES was attacked because of our support and protection to those EUROPEANS who were brought into Palestine after WWII to occupy the land of PALESTINIAN PEOPLE by force based on a THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD,RADICAL,RACIST,UNJUST and NON-SENSE IDEOLOGY according to which human beings have not been created EQUALLY,all the human beings living in this world are GOD-NEGLECTED people because of being born in a RACE or FAMILY NOT CHOSEN BY GOD and that's why have not been promised a single penny from GOD,whereas EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALESTINE are GOD-CHOSEN PEOPLE because of being born in a RACE or FAMILY CHOSEN BY GOD so they have been promised a land in the MIDDLE EAST.
If EUROPEANS from different EUROPEAN COUNTRIES would not have been brought into PALESTINE after WWII because BIBLE says so,ISLAMIC RADICALS'd not get enough recruits to blow themselves up because KORAN says so.Main source of all the problems is the RACISM and INJUSTICE taught by BIBLE.

[sunshine_2]

patriotic9:

About Terrorist attacking other countries in Europe. What news have you been reading or watching? France, Spain, England, Germany, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and others have sufferd many attacks before and During the Iraq war.
Did you forget the 3 Jordain Hotels that were attacked, and then the terrorist said it was an accident?

[sunshine_2]

May I just try to get one thing straight? Muslims and Muslim countries are not actually America's threat or problem, just some Radical Groups and Sect of Muslims. Some people seem to have accepted Bush's Thinking in "Racial and Religious Biases".
As Mr. bush contuinues to talk of Triad's of Evil ... and Name Calling or Sterio Typing Groups, Cultures and Countries in the World (as he does here in America) Hate for Bush, His lack of Diplomacy and America only grows stronger.

[sunshine_2]

Posted by ANGRYliberal at 09:34 AM : Nov 20, 2006

...."I am 22 and I cant stand Charlie Rangel (Who can?), but I would serve my country either way."....

If you are of Age...and Can Serve... Dont just Flap Liberal Lips.... Go Sign Up. Funny how those Not Serving ..Say they would ...From the Comfort of their easy boy chair in their warm safe house In America. That is the Most Two Faced Comment I have read lately. You call someone else a "Service Dodger", and then Claim A Willingess to Serve, while you remain at home.

[hollen10]

The one Protestor's sign does say it all.."They don't hate Americans, only Bush"..that is so true in the rest of our World as well. Hope nothing happens to him over there, because then we will have Cheney, "who shoots his own friend in the face", to take over..give me a break..hope these last two years fly by...