NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS, Ireland, June 26 -- President Bush asserted Saturday that the bitterness over Iraq among European allies was "over" and that NATO had a responsibility to do more to help the fledgling government that will assume limited authority in Baghdad on Wednesday.
"I think the bitter differences of the war are over," Bush said at a news conference after a three-hour summit between the United States and the 25-member European Union. "Some people didn't agree with the decision that I made, and others made as well. But we all agree that a democratic Iraq, a peaceful Iraq . . . is in all our benefit."
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Antiwar protesters forced a 30-minute delay in Bush's news conference with Ahern and Prodi -- a symbolic victory over a president who prizes punctuality. Bush had to wait while the White House press corps was driven in circles on double-decker buses because thousands of opponents of the Iraq war had blocked miles of nearby roads.
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One of the tenser moments in the summit came when the European leaders condemned abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. "I told them both I was sick with what happened inside that prison," Bush said. "So were the American citizens. The action of those troops did not reflect what we think. And it did harm. It did harm, because there are people in Ireland and elsewhere that said this isn't the America we know."
First lady Laura Bush canceled an interview with Carol Coleman, a reporter for Radio and Television Ireland who told the president during an interview on the eve of his visit that the world "is more dangerous" because of the war in Iraq. Bush repeatedly scolded Coleman for interrupting him. Coleman said on Irish radio that the interview was canceled because the White House is not used to aggressive questioning. White House press secretary Scott McClellan confirmed the interview was canceled but did not say why.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7684-2004Jun26.html