I can’t find Presient Bush’s speech, but I’m pretty sure the 60,000 who turned out to hear him in Tbilisi’s Freedom Square appreciated his tribute to the Georgian people and their Rose Revolution:
Your courage is inspiring democratic reformers and sending a message that echoes across the world: Freedom will be the future of every nation and every people on Earth.
You gathered here armed with nothing but roses and the power of your convictions and you claimed your liberty. and because you acted, Georgia is today both sovereign and free and a beacon of liberty for this region and the world.
The London Telegraph reports:
Mikhail Saakashvili, the Georgian president who led the Rose Revolution in 2003 that overthrew a corrupt government, praised Mr Bush as “a leader who has contributed as much to the cause of freedom as any man of our time…We welcome a freedom fighter.”
“Eighteen months ago the Georgian people stood for liberty in this very place,” Mr Saakashvili said. “Today America is true to its word. You stood with us during our revolution and you stand with us today. On behalf of my nation I would like to say, ‘Thank you.'”
Here let us pause for a word from Jay Nordlinger in his Impromptus column of yesterday:
Can you believe what President Bush said in the Baltics? Can you believe he went to the Baltics, before visiting Russia for the 60th anniversary? Oh, yes, you can, if you know President Bush.
I have said it before, friends, and will remind you again: There will never be another like him. Enjoy it while you can. The clock is ticking till January
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.