Bush seeks wider NATO role in Iraq

NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS, Ireland -- Five days before the transfer of power in Baghdad, President Bush opened a European trip Friday with growing confidence that NATO would take a bigger role in Iraq despite reservations from France and Germany.

The administration expects NATO, at a summit in Turkey, will pledge military training and equipment, answering an urgent plea from Iyad Allawi, prime minister of Iraq's interim government, for NATO assistance "to defeat the terrorist threat and reduce reliance on foreign forces."

Bush and his wife, Laura, made no public appearances on their arrival from Washington, settling in for the night at Dromoland Castle, a 16th century Renaissance castle transformed into a hotel and golf resort in the west of Ireland.

Thousands of demonstrators marched through Dublin to protest Bush's summit today with European Union chiefs. The crowd of about 10,000 waved placards and banners denouncing Bush as a warmonger and urging that facilities for American military flights be withdrawn from Shannon Airport, a strategic refueling point used by thousands of U.S. troops each month.

About 4,000 police and 2,000 soldiers -- more than a third of the security forces in the Irish Republic -- were deployed to protect Bush. Protests are expected in several European cities this weekend.

Iraq is a major headache for Bush, with violence rising and casualties climbing. He has slumped in the polls at home, and the latest surveys show that a majority of Americans believe it was a mistake to invade Iraq.

Across Europe, Bush and his Iraq policy are widely opposed. The U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad will turn over political power to a caretaker Iraqi government on Wednesday, although 135,000 American troops will remain to provide security.

While the administration had once hoped that other countries would send troops to Iraq, the expected agreement for training help would give Bush a modest election-year victory.

European Union external affairs commissioner Chris Patten said persistent violence could cause Iraq to unravel.

"All of us in the international community are worried that the violence directed against moderate leadership in each of the communities and directed against attempts at long-term, sustainable reconstruction ... could lead to Iraq flying apart in the next few months," Patten said. He said the EU is "absolutely determined" to help reconstruct Iraq and ensure that elections are held but that violence could derail those goals.

From Ireland, Bush goes to Turkey where security officials are nervous about the potential for attacks against the 26-country NATO summit in Istanbul on Monday and Tuesday. More than 23,000 police are expected to be deployed. Fears were heightened by two small bombs in Ankara and Istanbul on Thursday that killed four people.

The United States expects NATO to make a broad commitment to training Iraqi forces -- inside and outside Iraq -- and to determine how to meet specific needs after consulting with Baghdad.

In an interview aired Friday with Ireland's RTE television, Bush defended his decision to invade Iraq and insisted that most of Europe backed the move.

"What was it like Sept. 11, 2001?" he said. "I wouldn't have made the decisions I did if I didn't believe the world would be better. Why would I put people in harm's way if I didn't believe the world would be better?"

"History will judge what I'm about," the president said.

He said, "Most of Europe supported the decision in Iraq. Really what you're talking about is France, isn't it? And they didn't agree with my decision. They did vote for the U.N. Security Council resolution. ... We just had a difference of opinion about whether, when you say something, you mean it."

In a separate interview with Turkey's private NTV television, Bush said it was unlikely that NATO countries would contribute additional troops to Iraq but he was hopeful some would help train Iraqi forces.