LONDON – President Bush today dismissed criticisms from the Senate’s Democratic leader that his foreign policy promotes U.S. isolationism. He vowed to stand firm in his opposition to a global warming treaty supported by European allies.
Speaking to reporters after reading to children at the British Museum, Bush defended his positions on climate change and missile defense systems, issues that Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said are driving a wedge between the United States and its allies.
“The world leaders have found I am a person who speaks plainly and openly about key issues,” Bush said. “We’re willing to listen and I will continue to stand for what I think is right for America.”
The president and first lady Laura Bush stopped by Buckingham Palace for lunch with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. The queen and Mrs. Bush stood chatting on the palace’s red-carpeted steps while Bush and the prince reviewed troops in a light rain.
The foursome briefly posed for photos before going into the palace for lunch of salmon, roast lamb and vegetables. “We really appreciate your hospitality,” Bush told the queen.
In the face of European opposition, Bush reiterated his belief that building a missile defense system is essential to keeping the world at peace. He also repeated his opposition to the Kyoto protocols, saying “I refuse to accept a treaty that will harm our country’s economy.”
Daschle told USA Today in an interview published today that Bush is moving the United States into an isolationist stance by pulling back pursuit of peace agreements in the Middle East and other parts of the world, and is straining relations with Russia and China by developing an anti-missile shield.
“I think we are isolating ourselves, and in so isolating ourselves, I think we’re minimizing ourselves. I don’t think we are taken as seriously today as we were a few years ago,” Daschle said. He said Bush’s policies could create “a global vacuum,” adding, “The extent to which we fail to fill that vacuum, it will be filled by others.”
Bush aides were stunned by Daschle’s remarks but the president, who declined in large part to criticize President Clinton’s foreign policy moves, replied: “One of the things America has prided itself on is a bipartisan foreign policy. I would hope that … tradition continues. It’s a very important tradition.”
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer accused the majority leader of violating long-standing policy of bipartisanship on foreign policy while a U.S. president is overseas.
“It’s unseemly, unwise and inaccurate,” Fleischer said.
Bush noted comments made Wednesday by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in an interview with reporters muted his opposition to missile defense and said Russia and China were not inclined to join forces against Bush’s plan. He said Putin was “the first leader to indicate that perhaps we had to think differently about the new threats of the 21st century.”
Bush sought to ease into his first Group of Eight meeting without shying from the policy differences that separate him from U.S. allies, saying he intended to “just tell people what I think” during the summit, which begins Friday in Italy.
Before Bush sits down in Genoa to talk through missile defense, global warming, global economic woes and other thorny issues, he and his family took in some London tourist sights.
Bush, whose last visit to London was for a business networking conference in 1990, arrived late Wednesday with wife Laura and 19-year-old daughter Barbara to bunk at the U.S. ambassador’s gated residence in Regent’s Park, once a hunting ground for King Henry VIII. The Bushes’ other twin daughter, Jenna, skipped this trip in order to stay home for a summer job.
On Thursday, the first family visited the British Museum, whose treasures include the Rosetta Stone, the discovery that led to the translation of Egyptian hieroglyphics. There, Mrs. Bush read to local children “The Legend of Bluebonnet,” about a Comanche Indian girl, and the president encouraged kids to read on their own.
Bush also received a VIP tour of the once-secret underground Cabinet War Rooms, where Winston Churchill plotted World War II strategy. Bush sat in Churchill’s chair and said he admired the famed prime minister because he stood on principle and “brought humor to the process.”
White House strategists wanted the smiling images of these largely social calls to counteract the inevitable media focus on sensitive policy disputes between Bush and his overseas counterparts.
The harder business comes later Thursday, when Bush meets Tony Blair at Chequers, the British prime minister’s country estate outside London, and takes questions at a news conference.
Bush said before leaving Washington he expected Blair to serve as close partner in persuading other leaders at the summit Mediterranean port of Genoa to help developing nations with grants and free trade.
Blair, for his part, told reporters before Bush’s arrival that he sees himself as the one to “build bridges of understanding” between the Bush administration and Europe.
