Bush's new year sees packed policy agenda from N Korea to Iraq to economy
On the first anniversary of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush in the White House East Room reflects on the progress of the sweeping education reforms, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2003. Bush promised anew last Wednesday that the law's emphasis on school and student accountability will improve academic performance. AP WASHINGTON (AFP) - President George W. Bush has a packed policy agenda from preparing a possible war with Iraq, to handling the North Korean crisis and tough talks with Congress to push his controversial economic stimulus plan.
While Iraq for some time has been topping his priorities, North Korea has become an increasingly painful thorn the side of his administration.
Named a year ago by Bush as one of the countries he called an "axis of evil," Pyongyang has now threatened to renew nuclear military tests and has pulled out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
North Korea said it has no plans to build nuclear weapons and is ready to talk to Washington about monitoring its suspect atomic program, US go-between Bill Richardson said Saturday after three days of talks with Pyongyang envoys.
But the US State Department in Washington immediately countered by saying the North Korean diplomats had failed to address any of their concerns in the crisis over their nuclear programme during the informal talks in Santa Fe.
Washington has been scrambling to stress that a diplomatic solution is needed with North Korea, while rattling its sabres increasingly loudly in Iraq's case.
US forces in the Gulf region will be bolstered this month by around 35,000 more troops, bringing the total to 120,000. But unlike his father George Bush in 1990's Gulf war, this Bush has not yet been able to muster much of an international coalition to fight.
Bush promised this week that if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein does not give up weapons of mass destruction he says Baghdad has, the United States and others would disarm Iraq and "free the Iraqi people." Baghdad denies having such arms.
Turkey has been pressed to allow US forces access to its bases and the European Union said Friday it did not want a war in Iraq, noting that any warfare should be decided by the UN Security Council.
Russia believes the report by chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix Thursday confirms that a politial solution remains a possibility.
But Washington said the report, which did not offer proof that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, also did not prove it does not have them.
With Pyongyang, Washington has pulled out all the stops, from calling for dialogue with North Korea, and Bush's telephone call to Chinese President Jiang Zemin for consultations.
North Korea has continued to harden its stand, arguing that Washington is not sincere. It has sought to reopen diplomatic channels, such as the talks with Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations.
The potentially explosive situation in Venezuela -- a key US oil supplier -- has landed on a back burner. But the White house is worried, and Friday said it would support mediation efforts by OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria and an electoral solution as a general strike against President Hugo Chavez drags on.
On the domestic front Bush's economic stimulus package unveiled earlier this week has crashed into fierce opposition from Democrats and even some of Bush's fellow Republicans, with many arguing the tax cuts proposed heavily favor the wealthy and worsen the budget deficit.
Bush said Friday he was concerned by news that December's jobless rate had hit an eight-year high of six percent with the loss of 101,000 jobs.
His father lost the 1991 presidential election largely as Americans were underwhelmed by the state of the economy and less interested in his foreign policy achievements.