George W Bush visits his bosses in the Mid East.

[Botany]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hvG66S84VL6GFlKdfFOWpl_rXqHwD8U56DPO0

Food, Falcons: a Desert Delight for Bush
By ANNE GEARAN – 7 hours ago
AL ASAYL EQUESTRIAN CAMP, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Bush followed up a mild lecture about expanding democracy among the Mideast's comfortable dynasties with an opulent picnic at the desert playground of one of the region's wealthy leaders.

Bush traded his suit for a casual jacket and took a helicopter as close as he could get to this remote encampment where Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Sheik Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, raises horses and prize falcons. His motorcade bumped over sand dunes for the last few miles, ending up at a tent pitched high on a wind-swept crest.

(You remember the UAE? They handled the banking and money transfers for the 9/11 hijackers.)

snip

At his host's urging, Bush hoisted one of the birds, using a protective mitt, and held it as the news cameras whirred. When the bird shifted suddenly, a startled Bush jumped slightly, then recovered.

snip

Bush has avoided any direct criticism of human rights or political freedoms in the governments hosting him in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in the Arab world, although U.S. allies surely knew who he meant when he decried the treatment of opposition political candidates and dissidents in the region.

[JDPriestly]

1. Bush's groveling is disgusting!!!

Where's all the "freedom" talk now that he is among his buddies.