Only friends in hall for Bush speech

[rodeodance]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/21/news/brussels.html

Only friends in hall for Bush speech



By Graham Bowley International Herald Tribune

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

BRUSSELS Outside were security helicopters. Inside were chandeliers, gilded decorations and Beethoven's Sixth Symphony, the "Pastoral."
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Bush chose to address Europe on Monday in an 19th-century salle built for the Brussels bourgeois, in a quarter of Brussels famed for its elegant townhouses until they were flattened to make way for the European institutions. The hall survives, a high domed ceiling, pale green walls, blood red draperies, and two paintings of old Belgium royalty gazing down at the guests as they gathered for the president's speech.
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It was a perfect schmoozing opportunity. La tout Bruxelles was there. Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, moved smoothly through the crowd. In the front row sat the Belgian finance and defense ministers, the latter a man who last year caused a stir when he said he would vote for John Kerry if he could.
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There were many in the hall who had criticized the war in Iraq. But among them was an occasional U.S. four-star general.....

[Richard Steele]

1. Self-delete, nevermind!

[Mizmoon]

2. I'm glad you changed your mind

;-)