Bush, in E. Europe, Evokes Past Threats
Hussein Likened to Nazis, Communists

By
Karen DeYoung

BUCHAREST, Romania, Nov. 23 -- President Bush today compared the dual threat of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and global terrorism to the oppression of Nazism and communism, telling citizens in two East European countries that the newest dangers facing the world will meet the same fate as those of the past.

Romanians, who lived under Communist dictatorship for decades, "understand that aggressive dictators cannot be appeased or ignored, they must always be opposed," Bush said in this capital's Revolution Square to a crowd appearing to number in the tens of thousands.

"An aggressive dictator now rules in Iraq. The dictator of Iraq threatens the security of free nations, including the free nations of Europe," Bush said. "Every nation must confront danger. Every free nation has a responsibility to play its full and responsible role."

Standing in a cold rain, Bush held a steady smile as water poured down his face. As if ordered up by White House planners, a rainbow appeared overhead as he was introduced by the Romanian president, Ion Iliescu. Bush pointed it out and said, "God is smiling on us today."

Bush began the day in Lithuania, which, like Romania, was one of seven East European countries invited to join NATO at a summit Bush attended this week in Prague, the Czech capital. The president's whirlwind stops in the two capitals before heading home tonight were designed to welcome the two countries into NATO and to bask in the glow of populations that view the United States with more affection than some of its older allies in Western Europe.

Lithuania and Romania have supported the U.S. war on terrorism. Both contributed small contingents of troops to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Romania has been outspoken in backing U.S. policy on Iraq.

In Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, Bush warned that "our alliance of freedom is being tested again by new and terrible dangers. Like the Nazis and the Communists before them, the terrorists seek to end lives and control all life. And like the Nazis and the Communists before them, they will be opposed by free nations, and the terrorists will be defeated."

After a brief period of independence between the world wars, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940 and by Nazi Germany in 1941. Along with the two other Baltic states, Latvia and Estonia, Lithuania was reoccupied by the Russians from 1944 to 1990. All three were invited to join NATO, and Bush, the first U.S. president to visit here, met with the three presidents this morning in Vilnius.

Attendance at Bush's appearances in Vilnius and Bucharest was far less than expected by White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, who had predicted "the largest crowds of his presidency." The weather presumably affected the turnout.

Instead of the 25,000 to 50,000 the White House had anticipated, about 5,000 Lithuanians stood outside in temperatures hovering near freezing in City Hall Square in the graceful, baroque center of Vilnius. During Bush's speech, the Lithuanians in the audience were polite but subdued, in what one Vilnius resident described as "Nordic" fashion.

The liveliest moment occurred when the crowd briefly chanted "aciu," pronounced "ah-choo," when Bush welcomed them to NATO. Puzzled, he paused until President Valdas Adamkus whispered in his ear that the word meant "thank you." "You're welcome," Bush said.

Fleischer had anticipated that as many as 100,000 people would attend Bush's speech in Romania, and documents distributed to reporters traveling with the president estimated that the number would reach 250,000. Several Romanians described the crowd as a mixture of Bucharest residents, government employees, rural people brought in by local government officials and those who simply wanted to see an American president. "It doesn't really matter which American president it is," one Romanian said. "They just know that the Americans are the big force against Russia."

The memory of Communist rule is strong among the new NATO invitees, who also include Bulgaria, Slovakia and Slovenia. Despite their democratic governments, all seven still suffer from varying degrees of economic and political difficulties but have made enough progress for NATO to begin the two-year ratification process before they become full members.

Referring to the era of Soviet domination, Bush said in Lithuania that "the long night of fear, uncertainty and loneliness is over."

"You're joining the strong and growing family of NATO," he said. "Our alliance has made a solemn pledge of protection, and anyone who would choose Lithuania as an enemy has also made an enemy of the United States of America."

In Bucharest, Bush spoke across from the old Communist Party headquarters. It was from a balcony there that dictator Nicolae Ceausescu tried in December 1989 to calm revolting Romanians before he went to the roof and fled by helicopter, only to be apprehended and shot to death within days.

Although the crowd enthusiastically cheered at several points during Bush's speech, they remained silent when Bush said that Romanians could now "help our alliance to extend a hand of cooperation across the Black Sea" to Russia. Bush, who visited briefly with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg Friday, said "Russia has nothing to fear from the growth of NATO."