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Bush arrives for NATO summit
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (CNN) -- President Bush arrived in the Czech capital late Tuesday for a landmark NATO summit that will welcome seven former Eastern bloc nations into the alliance. A major subplot of the talks will be Iraq, with leaders closely monitoring the return of U.N. weapons inspectors and Saddam Hussein's reaction to them. The leaders of NATO and its partner countries will meet Thursday and Friday to deliberate on the alliance's future. The 19-member alliance was slated to issue invitations to Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. "We're going to have an historic day on Thursday when we vote to expand NATO," Bush said in a phone call with Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, as he was en route to Prague. Bush is a firm proponent of expanding the alliance, in part because many of the new members have been strong allies in the war on terrorism and voiced a willingness to offer bases and overflight rights if there is a U.S.-led military confrontation with Iraq. The NATO meeting comes as the world attention is focused Iraq, where U.N. weapons inspectors returned this week for the first time since December 1998. "The president will likely discuss Iraq with NATO leaders and we'll see what, if anything, comes out of the summit vis-à-vis Iraq," said White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. Asked if Bush would discuss Iraq's continued firing on U.S. and British planes patrolling the no-fly zones, Fleischer said, "I don't know at what level of detail they're going to talk about it." But he said, "That's always a serious incident, any time anybody fires on American planes. It's a material breach of the United Nations resolutions. It can endanger the lives of Americans and British who patrol to enforce the no-fly zone to protect people on the ground. So these are serious violations." Fleischer said there were no immediate plans to bring the issue before the U.N. Security Council, but "we always reserve the right." The president is counting on a strong NATO statement backing his position that Iraq must disarm or face military action, but there is a sense that he does not view NATO as a full player in his military planning. For example, NATO had little role in the war in Afghanistan, although it was quick to offer help after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Iraq poses a number of challenges for the alliance formed to contain the Soviet Union. The alliance now includes several former Soviet client states as well as a partnership with Russia, and some see war with Iraq as a perfect test of whether an alliance formed to win the Cold War can adapt to changing times. Germany is a key player in NATO, but Iraq is a sore spot in U.S.-German relations because Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has been adamant that Germany would not take part in any military showdown with Iraq. Bush has one-on-one meetings with several European leaders, but not with the German leader. U.S. officials, however, said they expect the two men would cross paths during the NATO meetings. While still angry at the anti-war tone of the chancellor's re-election campaign, U.S. officials say they understand the need for a solid working relationship with Germany. The president, keenly aware of European skepticism of his approach to Iraq, still believes he's in a position of strength, fresh off of his party's big win in the U.S. midterm elections and with the United Nations firmly behind him. "The people of Europe appreciate America. They appreciate our strength. And most importantly, they appreciate our compassion and our love for freedom," Bush said in his phone call with Lott. Some believe NATO could -- and should -- have a leading role if Iraq violates the new U.N. Security Council resolution and there is a military confrontation, similar to the 1999 NATO-led air war against then Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and his military forces in Kosovo. "We can even use a NATO-led force if necessary to attack Iraq through the mountains between Turkey and Iraq, and actually moving into northern Iraq, and I hope that we would be able to do that," said Gen. Wesley Clark, former NATO supreme commander, now a CNN military consultant. Pentagon war planning envisions more modest help from NATO allies. Britain would be most involved, offering troops, fighter-bombers and air bases. Turkey's air bases are critical because it neighbors Iraq. Romania and Bulgaria are among the new NATO members offering bases and use of their airspace and Czech forces have expertise in defending against biological and chemical attacks. CNN White House Correspondent John King contributed to this report.
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