What to expect from the summits

[CShine]

The next five days for President George W. Bush are all about summitry, reports the Associated Press. He arrived Friday for the US-European Union summit in Ireland at a 16th century estate near Shannon. Then, on Saturday, he'll be in Ankara, Turkey, for meetings with Turkish leaders before continuing on to Istanbul for a summit with the 26 NATO leaders on Monday. The NATO meetings are critical for the president to demonstrate that the US and the European community are "coming back together," reports the Boston Globe.

Bush's trip caps a month of heavy international travel and intense diplomacy ahead of Iraq's power transfer. Earlier this month Bush visited Italy and France, where he attempted to smooth over differences with President Jacques Chirac of France, an outspoken opponent of the war. With the sovereignty transfer just days away, the stakes for the summits in Ireland and Turkey are higher than they were for the Group of Eight summit on Sea Island, Ga., two weeks ago.

But obtaining further NATO support is a "mission fraught with difficulties," reports the Miami Herald. Domestic pressure against the Iraq war acts as a brake on European leaders getting too close to Bush, the paper reports.

Two of the most prominent war critics, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac, have other domestic political problems that may tempt them to play to anti-American sentiment.

France and Germany have ruled out sending troops to Iraq, the idea pushed by the US, and backed by Poland. Warsaw wants, eventually, to scale down its military presence in Iraq. If need be, the Pentagon is fine-tuning plans to send more troops to boost the 140,000-strong US force in Iraq if the security situation continues to worsen, reports the Herald.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0625/dailyUpdate.html

[NMDemDist2]

1. they keep saying they "may" send more troops

my question is from where? we are spread too thin as it is IMO