Kazakhstan
News Bulletin
Released weekly by the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan
www.kazakhembus.com
March 19, 2004                                      Vol. 1, No. 12
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Special Edition

President Bush Vows Continued Fight Against Terrorism,
Praises Kazakhstan’s Help In Iraq

President Bush, speaking from the East Room in the White House,
marked the first anniversary of the U.S.-led liberation of Iraq. To his
audience of members of Congress and the Administration, the
diplomatic corps and the press, he cited the cooperation of a
number of nations banded together in the antiterrorist coalition.

Kazakhstan, among the first Muslim majority nations to
participate in the rebuilding of Iraq, was cited for the work of its
military engineers.

“Military engineers from Kazakhstan have cleared more than
a half a million explosive devices from Iraq,” President Bush said,
citing the assistance from the nations with troops in that country.
“All of these nations, and many others, are meeting their
responsibilities to the people of Iraq,” he noted.

Kazakhstan’s first contingent of engineers was recently honored in Astana with a visit from the U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Updating the current activities of Kazakhstan’s
military engineers, a second contingent rotated
into Iraq in February 2004. They are based at
El-Kut in the central region Iraq, which is
under the Polish command. 

"The war on terror is not a figure of speech. It is
an inescapable calling of our generation. The
terrorists are offended not merely by our
policies -- they are offended by our existence
as free nations,” President Bush said.

“No concession will appease their hatred. No
accommodation will satisfy their endless
demands. Their ultimate ambitions are to
control the peoples of the Middle East, and to
blackmail the rest of the world with weapons
of mass terror. There can be no separate
peace with the terrorist enemy. Any sign of weakness or retreat simply validates terrorist violence, and invites more violence for all nations. The only certain way to protect our people is by early, united, and decisive action.”

President Bush declared: “In this contest of will and purpose, not every nation joins every mission, or participates in the same way. Yet, every nation makes a vital contribution, and America is proud to stand with all of you as we pursue a broad strategy in the war against terror.”
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For back issues, more news and information visit us at www.kazakhembus.com
News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada
(Compiled from own sources and agency reports)
Contact person: Roman Vassilenko
1401 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036
Tel.: (202) 232- 5488 ext. 104, Fax: (202) 232- 5845




A SAFER PLACE
President Bush, marking the first anniversary of the U.S.-led liberation of Iraq at the White House, praised Kazakhstan for its army engineers’ clearing of “a half million explosive devices in Iraq”.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (L) thanks Kazakhstan’s army engineers on a recent visit to Astana, recently rotated out of Iraq, for their work in destroying mines and restoring drinking. Photo from Kazakhstan News Bulletin of February 25, 2004.