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Georgians wave U.S. and Georgian flags as they welcome U.S. President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush, in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia, May 9, 2005. In the background is a monument to King Gorgasali, the founder of Tbilisi.
It was the first visit by a U.S. president to this impoverished former Soviet republic, and Georgians staged a phenomenal welcome. The motorcade route was filled with cheering Georgians, and buildings had been freshly painted and roads newly paved. A ceremony for Mr. Bush in Old Town Tbilisi was complete with hundreds of whirling dancers, acrobats and a fireworks display.
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President Bush, left, and first lady Laura Bush watch traditional Georgian dancers with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, right, and his wife, Sandra Roelofs, upon Mr. Bush's arrival in the Old City section of Tbilisi, Georgia, May 9, 2005.
AP
President Bush, center, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and his wife, Sandra Roelofs, second and third from left, and traditionally dressed Georgian dancers pose for a photo upon Mr. Bush's arrival in the Old Town of Tbilisi, Georgia, May 9, 2005.
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President Bush, far left, watches a folk dancer perform in the Old Town section of Tbilisi, Georgia, May 9, 2005.
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President Bush greets folk dancers following a performance in the Old Town section of Tbilisi, Georgia, May 9, 2005.
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President Bush watches folk dancer Jorge Gagnidze perform as he visits the Old Town section of Tbilisi, Georgia, May 9, 2005. With him are Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, left, and his wife, Sandra Roelofs, center. First lady Laura Bush is partially seen behind Saakashvili.
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Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, left, points out fireworks to President Bush during their tour of the Old Town section of Tbilisi, Georgia, May 9, 2005.
At first only planning a 20-minute stop, President Bush was caught up in the evening's revelry and remained for nearly two hours, including sitting down for a meal in a restaurant along the street. As he emerged in the doorway of the restaurant to leave, the dancing and singing resumed and a huge fireworks show sent him off.
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Fireworks explode over Metekhi church and a monument to King Gorgasali, the founder of the Georgian capital, in downtown Tbilisi, May 9, 2005.
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President Bush's motorcade arrives at a welcoming ceremony in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005.
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President Bush and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili hold a joint press conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005.
Saakashvili led Georgia's Rose Revolution in 2003 that overthrew a corrupt government and became a model for other uprisings that have shaken the Kremlin. "The Rose Revolution was a powerful moment in modern history," Mr. Bush said. "It not only inspired the people of Georgia, it inspired others around the world that want to live in a free society."
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President Bush, left, and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili attend a news conference in the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005.
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Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, right, embraces President Bush, left, after their joint press conference in the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005.
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Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, is filled with tens of thousands of people waiting to hear President Bush speak, May 10, 2005.
Surging crowds broke through police lines at the square so as to hear the president speak, toppling barricades. Estimates of the crowd size varied wildly, from less than 100,000 to more than 300,000. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said it was by far the largest gathering in the country since its independence, and it was certainly one of the largest President Bush has ever addressed.
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A woman uses a Georgian newspaper for shade as crowds gather in Freedom Square ahead of a speech by President Bush, May 10, 2005, in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Freedom Square, which was known as Lenin Square during Soviet rule, is where Soviet forces violently broke up large protests in 1989. It's also where demonstrators gathered in 1991 as the Soviet Union fell and again in 2003 for protests that ousted then-President Eduard Shevardnadze after fraud-infected elections.
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President Bush prepares to speak to supporters in Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005.
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First lady Laura Bush waves to the crowd as she walks with Sandra Roelofs, wife of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, prior to President Bush's speech in Freedom Square, in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005.
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President Bush delivers a speech to a large crowd in Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005.
"Your courage is inspiring democratic reformers and sending a message that echoes across the world: Freedom will be the future of every nation and every people on Earth," Mr. Bush told the crowd.
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American security personnel keep watch over Freedom Square during U.S. President George W. Bush's speech in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005.
Ongoing fights in violent separatist regions, military campaigns against terrorists in the Pankisi Gorge and the recent abductions of foreigners presented security challenges that required President Bush to deliver his open-air speech from a podium surrounded by a high wall of a clear bulletproof screen with sharpshooters on rooftops surrounding the square.
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President Bush waves as he delivers a speech in Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005.
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Georgian President Mikhael Saakashvili, right, and President Bush raise locked hands after Mr. Bush's speech in Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005.
