Middle East tour diary,George W Bush has concluded a Middle East tour which included his first visit as US president to Israel and the Palestinian territories, as well as stops in the Gulf and Egypt. BBC correspondent Matthew Price, who travelled with him, wrote a diary on his progress.
16 JANUARY - 2230 GMT
I suppose the strangest thing about travelling on Air Force One is the knowledge that just a few metres in front of you on the same plane are some of the worlds most powerful people: Bush, Rice, Hadley. Sitting just up in front. Or in the case of Bush possibly lying in his bed, which is right up in the nose of the plane.
After our mad dash to the airport we rushed to the back of the plane where secret service men checked our passes off on a list and we went on board. Not where you walk on a commercial flight but much lower, similar to where the luggage goes. Up the stairs, probably 20 in all and then there's a landing with the media area, the staff area and the secret service too.
Inside - well, it's grey. Pretty nasty actually. And the media cabin is a bit like being in business seats with economy service. First timers like me get a goody bag. It used to have a box of cigarettes inside with the presidential seal on them, but Nancy Reagan, I'm told, objected, so now you get White House seal M&Ms.
There's no safety announcement. I guess if you're looking after the big man everyone else can fend for themselves. And we didn't have to turn off mobiles - although there's no signal at 33,000 feet! There are 14 seats in the journo area and a couple of TVs.
Bill Clinton used to come back and chat. The photographer next to me said it was bad. You'd be trying to sleep after a gruelling trip and he'd be trying to banter. No such problem with GW. He stays well away from us.
The most interesting thing was how this is the REAL bubble. The motorcade raced us to the tarmac then the plane then we taxied and flew and never once met a real person properly. I know that's modern politics, but I can't help thinking that George W Bush had hardly been abroad when he was elected president and then for the last seven years he has been in a presidential bubble - he's been subjected to this! And he lives in Washington, divorced as that place can be from real life too!
I just realised while writing that I woke up this morning in Riyadh, dropped in on Sharm el-Sheikh, and am now in Washington DC. And all day I think I've had only one chat with a person from any of the three countries.
We landed a little early, around half-seven, and trotted out into a cold Andrew's Air Force Base. To the right Marine One, the presidential helicopter. And there, the man himself walking towards it.
He cuts a lonely figure, slightly hunched. The chopper taxied then lifted off, at 7.48. Back to the White House, the end of a visit that has seemed to be more about keeping up good relations, than real achievements.
Me? I shared a taxi into town, to a funky little hotel. It's been an amazing trip. I think I'll sleep well tonight.
16 JANUARY - 1230 GMT
Now in the motorcade, but the old hands are nervous. We're too far back from the front of the motorcade.
Finally into Air Force One! And back to the US with the president. More to follow the other end.
16 JANUARY - 1145 GMT
Not sure if I've ever seen so many secret service people. Men in black glasses are everywhere here at the hotel where President Bush and President Mubarak hold their news conference in a few minutes.
The Egyptians are big on security. There have been several bomb attacks in Sinai in recent years so along our route here were dozens of plain clothes agents sitting out in the desert by the road side.
So now a moment of quiet while we wait for the two leaders.
I'm flying home on Air Force One, and the White House people are saying we have to run for the motorcade when it finishes. There's a frantic American woman who keeps telling us the president won't wait for us!
The photographers are telling us all to stay sitting so as not to obscure their view. Everyone's a little on edge. When they get here I'll be a couple of metres away from arguably the world's most powerful leader. Whatever your opinion of the man that's pretty exciting.
Or have I been in the bubble too long?
16 JANUARY - MORNING
One hour and twenty minutes of sleep. In a week of hardly any rest. The radio producer Yolande got no sleep. She was packing the equipment.
It's 0630. The sun is just about to come up. The sky is clear.
It is going to be one of those beautiful days you get so often in the Middle East when the light makes everything appear so sharp, so well defined.
The cars are swerving across the lane in front of our bus. But the traffic on the way to the airport is moving fast and we'll be there soon.
Off to Egypt for a few hours. Then back to the USA.
I always feel the same when leaving the Middle East. Slightly sad.
This is a special place, a place that has suffered so much, a place that is so misunderstood by so many people.
I wonder if George Bush now feels he understands it a little better?
15 JANUARY - AFTERNOON
I got out of "the bubble" today - for a whole 45 minutes.
I jumped in a taxi, and asked the driver to take me to a shopping street. The driver, from Bangladesh, laughed when I asked if he likes it here.
"It's not a good place," he said.
He's here, like all of the foreign workers, to earn money - in his case for family back home.
We pulled up and I got out. In a stationary shop a man in the red and white chequered headscarf favoured by Saudis said: "George Bush? Don't like."
In a cafe round the corner, BBC World TV was showing on the flat screen television, and at one table sat a man with a laptop watching YouTube on wireless internet.
I asked about Mr Bush's "Freedom Speech" in Abu Dhabi the other day.
"He always says this, this is his usual speech about freedom and democracy and things. Even in America they don't have this," he smiled.
"George Bush is not a peaceful man. He just, you know, starts a lot of wars."
We drove back to the hotel. I asked the Bangladeshi taxi driver about the cost of fuel here.
"No, not expensive," he said. Not sure that will make US consumers, nor George Bush, feel any better about the cost of a barrel of oil!
14 JANUARY - EVENING
What a day. Everyone covering this visit says today they hit a brick wall.
I think the White House press people did too. Everyone looks exhausted. The schedule is gruelling.
The story nose dived a bit so there was no adrenalin fuelling us all.
Journalists like a bit of meat on the bones of the story, but today all we really found out about the president was that he was shown what he said were "beautiful birds" of prey.
Then we got his dinner menu - artichoke soup, and apple pie with ice cream.
And you'll be glad to know no doubt that the Saudis held that dinner "relatively early for our early-to-bed president" according to his press secretary. Like I said, no news.
So the American journalists had to satisfy their networks with stories about how tomorrow we might witness the first snowfall in Riyadh in decades.
"At least they won't have to go far to find sand for the roads" one correspondent reported.
14 JANUARY - MIDDAY
"Welcome to the Middle Ages, baby!"
That's what someone in the travelling White House press corps said as we hit the ground in Saudi Arabia. Women on board discussed whether they have to wear headscarves. The gulf of understanding (or misunderstanding) is obvious.
On the bus to the hotel women were told that since we're on a high-level visit they can choose whether or not to wear a headscarf.
Since we're in a very conservative Muslim society where women are obliged to cover up, that seems strange official advice.
The Bush family is friendly with the Saudi royal family, so the president will know the limits of his so-called "freedom agenda" here.
A day after he called for countries across the Middle East to be more democratic and liberal, to introduce economic and social reforms, this is as good a place as you get to see that's not going to happen in any meaningful way during George W Bush's presidency.
He says each country must manage changes in its own way, but here to many it feels like he's trying to impose Western cultural values on the Arab world.
There's also a question over whether Mr Bush's strategy to isolate Iran because of its nuclear ambitions will work here. The short answer is "no it won't".
The Saudis have always played a very clever balancing act to maintain regional stability. They've been worried recently about Iran, but seem to have adopted an approach of trying to reach out to Tehran to diffuse tension.
President Bush will spend much of his two days in Saudi Arabia sightseeing rather than talking politics
There's an understanding among states in the region that Tehran doesn't react positively to aggression of either a political or military type.
In Saudi Arabia, and also the other states in this region, there's a sense that Iran's nuclear ambitions have changed the rules of the game.
When once the Saudis, like the Egyptians, called for a nuclear-free Middle East (remember Israel is believed to have dozens of nuclear warheads - although it never admits this) now they have shifted their position.
They say they want to develop their nuclear capability to diversify their energy resources, but the stated ambition is a clear response to Iran.
As usual the Saudis have to work hard to balance what's good for their close ally the United States, and what their regional neighbours, including Iran, need.
Perhaps that's why President Bush will spend much of his time here in the next two days sightseeing rather than talking politics.
14 JANUARY - MORNING
An early start today. Another early start!
We piled onto minibuses, with all our gear and drove the half hour or so to the airport.
Air Force One is a stunning sight on the tarmac to my left. The sun rising behind it and lots of reporters getting their photos taken in front.
On board, we get offered a mimosa - one last drink before arriving in Saudi Arabia.
We've just been reminded there's no alcohol in Saudi. And the women travelling on the trip have been told to dress appropriately.
Prepare for take off. Better go!
13 JANUARY - EVENING
It's not just the Bush White House I'm learning about on this trip. It's also the American media machine.
The people who work alongside me in the radio reporting operation are all seasoned correspondents. One is a household name in the US after years of service and renowned journalism.
And yet they all spend most of the day filing the shortest of radio pieces. So short indeed that they call them "spots"!
Sometimes they get to do longer analysis, and their work is professional and of a high standard. But it seems their stations no longer want more than a few seconds of coverage.
One of them, I'll not say for which network, the other day lamented the stories being covered on the station's website. Entertainment and wacky tales dominated.
Then today, I was doing a recording to camera with an American TV crew. I spoke for about a minute and a half to try to explain some of the background to the president's speech. That's almost a book, the cameraman said when I finished. He said in the US it's just a lot shorter.
There is good journalism in the States, of course. Newspapers have quality stories and TV and radio deal with some weighty issues. And I'm travelling in the main with some excellent journalists who take their jobs seriously.
This isn't a criticism of them, but overall the coverage most of their companies provide is dominated by quick, catchy stories. And it seems even their own president doesn't get much of a look in.
Some would argue the British media have already started down that path. If that's the case, the future doesn't look to be a terribly well informed one.
Enough! To sleep, briefly. Tomorrow we're off early to Saudi Arabia on the next leg of the trip. Day six. Country five.
13 JANUARY - MORNING
They call it the bubble, and when we touched down in Bahrain it felt like we were stuck right inside it.
The bus drove us out of the airport, it had parked next to the aeroplane and we simply walked onto it. For some reason our convoy had a police escort, and we passed junctions where the local traffic had to wait for us as we drove through red lights. We drove along the causeway towards the skyscrapers of Manama.
Other journalists took their cameras out, asking questions about what we were seeing. Excited tourists. Then we got to the hotel and were whisked in.
The reason they call it the bubble, is because this whole process means that from touchdown to media centre you literally look out of the bubble at the real world around you. In Kuwait I don't think I met a single Kuwaiti. Though to be fair most hotel staff there are from Asia or elsewhere.
It's basically like being embedded with the president - with all the issues that raises for journalists. Not that the White House in any way tries to affect our reporting.
They have never approached me about a story I've been filing. I've got total freedom, but because of the tight schedules don't get to meet the people of the country we're passing through. That's okay. The job is to report on the president's visit, but it does mean you need other sources of information about where you are.
One other quick thing. Mr Bush while here in Bahrain welcomed a new Iraqi law that allows thousands of former junior supporters of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to take up government jobs. It's worth remembering that it was Mr Bush's administration that supported the removal of Baath party officials from office in the first place, soon after the occupation of Iraq in 2003.
The feeling in the region? Among many I suspect "Why didn't he follow the new line on former Baath party officials in the first place?"
Right, got to pack. We're now off to Abu Dhabi.
12 JANUARY - 1200 GMT
You can't miss George Bush in a crowd. That hand held high waving. That swagger and grin. I was quite surprised though when he walked through the Arifjan military camp in Kuwait at the reaction from the US soldiers and other personnel there.
They cheered of course, but I'd thought they would have cheered for longer. Perhaps his unpopularity back home is rubbing off here?
As he told the troops that the US would be victorious in Iraq, Condoleezza Rice stood at the back, nodding in agreement behind her large black designer sunglasses.
Mr Bush has seemed more nuanced in his statements on this trip than he perhaps has in the past. He also seems to have a firm grip of the issues as he sees them, and there's a confidence about him.
It doesn't mean he's going to be successful of course.
Many here argue his presidency has done too much damage in the Middle East even to contemplate a bright future any time soon. But as one American official told me, maybe, with US domestic attention focused on Mr Bush's successor, perhaps he feels less constrained by US politics.
Perhaps, as this official speculated, he's enjoying simply the most powerful man in the world.
So. Now to Bahrain. We just boarded, after a mad rush of filing our stories. The plane's taxiing past Air Force One now. Another day, another country.
12 JANUARY - 0430 GMT
Early morning wake-up call again!
We're all in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kuwait with a load of our kit laid out on the floor and us security agents going through it. We're off to Camp Arifjan, the biggest US military base here.
The president's going to speak to the troops and to his top general in Iraq. He'll meet the US ambassador to Iraq too. Today the agenda's certainly less about Israel and the Palestinians.
11 JANUARY - EVENING
Amazing. I just did something I never thought I would. I got on a plane and flew from Tel Aviv to Kuwait. It took about two hours. Easy.
When I lived in Jerusalem and travelled to Iraq I would go through Kuwait. But the journey would take over seven hours - because there are no direct flights between the two countries. Until you're travelling with the US president.
The reason there are no direct flights is because Kuwait like many Arab countries doesn't have normal relations with Israel.
That's something Mr Bush wants to address here. He's hoping to encourage allies of his, like Kuwait, to have some contact at least with Israel. Even before we'd stepped off the plane Condoleezza Rice had said we shouldn't expect any developments on that, but she says there is progress.
And most Arab states like Kuwait will always find it an unreasonable demand to form any sort of tie with Israel, as long as Israel occupies Palestinian land.
You can see how it's all interlinked. That's why George Bush's strategy is - while not new - probably the only sensible way to proceed. He's worked out the issues that he thinks need addressing, and he's trying to address all of them at the same time hoping progress on one will aid progress in others. A virtuous circle if you like.
If it works maybe one day everyone will be able to fly from Tel Aviv to Kuwait in two hours.
11 JANUARY - AFTERNOON
The travelling press pack is now off to Kuwait, following hot on the heels of the president.
We are going to have to play catch-up on this leg as he will have done his official duties by the time we arrive.
The ride out from Jerusalem was beautiful. It is a bright sunny day and now, travelling out of Ben Gurion airport is proving so easy.
I spent four years getting all sorts of lengthy personal security questions coming in and out of this airport.
This time, after a very brief delay our bus simply drove into the airport and right up to the plane. We will be airborne within half an hour so.
The logistics that go into a trip like this are phenomenal.
It cost a huge amount of money - the White House is reluctant to say how much, but it is in the millions of dollars.
George Bush clearly thinks it is worth it. He left this troubled land still talking of his confidence.
Now he has to get some of his Arab allies on side to enlist their help in persuading the Palestinians and the Israelis to move forward.
10 JANUARY - EVENING
The great thing about being involved in a trip like this is that you get a special press pass that so far seems to open all sorts of doors.
When the rest of the city is shut down, I just whip out my "White House Middle East" card and sail through.
"The trip of the president to the Middle East" it says on it. Note, not any old president, just THE president!
And there is a confidence about the president and his people to be honest.
George Bush admitted today in an aside that he can sometimes be criticised for not speaking English so well. But on this trip so far he's appeared literate, on top of the issues and actually rather believable about the whole prospect of Middle East peace.
If I hadn't worked here for almost four years before covering the US, I might even be a little less sceptical about his chances of success.
His National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley came and spoke to us today. He said that the meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, had gone well, and that both sides had exchanged "reminiscences" during a working lunch.
He made it all sound very cordial.
And I spoke to another US official, who said he'd been in a private meeting of the president and US staff working here in Jerusalem.
The president - as he spoke about the chances of peace - had "welled up" he said. Visiting the Holy Land - as a religious man - has clearly affected George Bush deeply.
9 JANUARY - EVENING
Poor old George Bush. He certainly picked a good day to be travelling to the Middle East. All eyes in America were on who might be the next US president, rather than him.
Clinton and Obama were names you heard far more frequently on the US networks on the first day of his trip here than you did the name Bush.
A friend of mine who works here for a big US network says they were seventh story in the running order and possibly not getting onto the main evening news. And he was working with the White House correspondent!
What I thought was most interesting today was what felt like an ever so slightly more critical approach towards the Israelis from the Bush administration.
They are still the closest of allies of course.
However, in the last 24 hours I think every White House briefing we've had has mentioned how Israel has to stop settlement expansion, just as the Palestinians have to stop attacks against Israelis.
For years you rarely heard more than a cursory mention of Israel's settlement growth (remember one of Israel's commitments is to stop building Jewish towns and villages on occupied Palestinian land).
It'll be surprising if it makes a huge difference on the ground - but as President Bush said with a smile to Prime Minister Olmert today, "if you need a little nudge then you know I will give a nudge." He sounded like he meant it too.
9 JANUARY - MORNING
The streets are quieter than I ever remember them, apart from when this country closes down on Yom Kippur.
People have stayed away from the city today, because the streets around the president's hotel are closed. There are police everywhere. When the president's convoy moves from venue to venue they simply shut down the route he takes to other traffic.
I walked up to the hotel, which is surrounded by Israeli and US security people. People hang around to take a quick photo and are told not to use their cameras.
There's a strange feeling in the air. I left a United States in the grip of early election fever where George W Bush feels somewhat irrelevant. Here he's greeted by all as the most powerful man on Earth.
He hopes that will help encourage the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to focus on what he wants them to do - launch a proper negotiating process.
The thing that's so noticeable is the difference between what you hear from Bush's aides, and what you hear from people on the streets here.
His aides tell us they're still confident that there can be a negotiated peace deal by the end of the year. And why not? After all most people understand the broad layout of what such a deal would look like. In theory and on paper it is possible.
But then you talk to the people here, like my taxi driver this morning, who told me with that weary sigh everyone here has when talking about such visits: "It won't achieve anything."
8 JANUARY
Midnight on a mild January night. Far warmer than the freezing conditions I left behind in Iowa after reporting on the first stage of the process to chose the next president of the world's most powerful nation.
The United States - caught up in the excitement of Clinton v Obama - almost seems to have almost forgotten that its current president has exactly a year left in office.
I wheel my case across the tarmac, towards the charter plane that's taking reporters to the Middle East on President Bush's eight-day trip, and chat to a colleague who covers the White House for another network.
"He's got to go abroad," we joke. "No one here's interested in him anymore!"
But if George W Bush - America's least popular president in years (both at home and abroad) - gets it right, there will be more than just interest in him.
In pre-trip interviews he's said he genuinely believes there can be a "comprehensive peace treaty [between Israel and the Palestinians] signed by the end of this year".
Having left Jerusalem last August, after almost four years reporting from there, that strikes me as pretty unlikely.
As we taxi for take-off the steward makes a mistake during the safety announcement.
"In the event of a water execution..." he trails off.
"Do you mean water-boarding?" shouts a journalist. Much laughter.
Everyone here's covered President Bush's refusal to say whether he considers - as many do - the interrogation technique to be torture.
We settle back for the ride. In the next eight days we'll visit six countries, one occupied territory, and a host of world leaders.
It's going to be tiring, but fascinating.
Journal intime d'excursion de Moyen-Orient.
Automatically translated into French thanks to WorldLingo
Le journal intime d'excursion de Moyen-Orient, George W Bush a conclu une excursion de Moyen-Orient qui a inclus sa première visite comme président des USA en Israel et les territoires palestiniens, aussi bien que des arrêts le Golfe et en Egypte. Le prix correspondant de BBC Matthew, qui a voyagé avec lui, a écrit un journal intime sur son progrès.
16 janvier - GMT 2230 que
je suppose que la chose la plus étrange au sujet du déplacement sur l'Armée de l'Air une est la connaissance que juste quelques mètres devant toi sur le même avion sont certains des mondes la plupart des personnes puissantes : Bush, riz, Hadley. Se reposer juste vers le haut dans l'avant. Ou dans le cas de Bush se situant probablement dans son lit, qui est exact vers le haut dans le nez de l'avion.
Après notre tiret fou à l'aéroport nous nous sommes précipités au dos de l'avion où les hommes secrets de service ont vérifié nos passages au loin sur une liste et nous sommes allés à bord. Pas où vous marchez sur un vol commercial mais beaucoup inférieur, semblable à où le bagage disparaît. Vers le haut des escaliers, probablement 20 en tout et il y a alors un atterrissage avec le secteur de médias, le secteur de personnel et le service secret aussi.
À l'intérieur de - bien, il est gris. Joli méchant réellement. Et la carlingue de médias est un peu comme être dans des sièges d'affaires avec le service d'économie. Les premiers chronométreurs comme moi obtiennent un sac de sucrerie. Il avait une boîte de cigarettes à l'intérieur avec le joint présidentiel sur elles, mais Nancy Reagan, je suis dit, objecté, tellement maintenant vous obtiens le joint M&Ms de la Maison Blanche.
Il n'y a aucune annonce de sûreté. Je devine si vous vous occupez du grand homme que chacun autrement peut défendre pour eux-mêmes. Et nous n'avons pas dû arrêter des mobiles - bien qu'il n'y a aucun signal à 33.000 pieds ! Il y a 14 sièges dans le secteur de journo et des couples des TV.
Bill Clinton pour revenir et causer. Le photographe à côté de moi a dit que c'était mauvais. Vous essayeriez de dormir après un voyage d'exténuant et il essayerait de plaisanter. Aucun un tel problème avec le gw. Il reste bon loin de nous.
La chose la plus intéressante était comment c'est la VRAIE bulle. Le cortège de voitures nous a emballés au macadam puis l'avion alors que nous avons roulé au sol et a volé et jamais par le passé a rencontré une vraie personne correctement. Je sais qui est la politique moderne, mais je ne peux m'empêcher de penser que George W Bush à l'étranger quand il a été élu président et puis avait à peine été pendant les sept dernières années qu'il a étées dans une bulle présidentielle - il a été soumis à ceci ! Et il habite à Washington, divorcé comme cet endroit peut être de réel aussi !
J'ai juste réalisé tout en écrivant que j'ai réveillé ce matin dans Riyadh, me suis laissé tomber dedans sur le Sharm el-Sheikh, et l'AM maintenant dans DC de Washington. Et toute la journée je pense que j'ai eu seulement une causerie avec une personne des trois pays l'uns des.
Nous avons débarqué peu un tôt, autour de la moitié-sept, et avons trotté dehors dans la base aérienne d'un Andrew froid. À la marine droite une, l'hélicoptère présidentiel. Et là, l'homme lui-même marchant vers lui.
Il coupe une figure isolée, légèrement voûtée. Le découpeur a roulé au sol alors enlevé, à 7.48. De nouveau à la Maison Blanche, la fin d'une visite qui a semblé être plus au sujet de maintenir de bonnes relations, que de vrais accomplissements.
Je ? J'ai partagé un taxi dans la ville, à un petit hôtel génial. C'a été un voyage étonnant. Je pense que je dormirai bien ce soir.
16 janvier - GMT 1230
maintenant dans le cortège de voitures, mais les experts sont nerveux. Nous sommes loin trop de l'avant du cortège de voitures.
Enfin dans l'Armée de l'Air une ! Et de nouveau aux USA avec le président. Plus pour suivre l'autre extrémité.
16 janvier - GMT 1145
non sûr si j'ai jamais vu tant de personnes secrètes de service. Les hommes en verres noirs sont partout ici à l'hôtel où le Président Bush et le Président Mubarak tiennent leur conférence de nouvelles en quelques minutes.
Les Egyptiens sont grands sur la sécurité. Il y a eu plusieurs des attaques de bombe dans Sinai ces dernières années ainsi le long de notre itinéraire ici étaient les douzaines d'agents plats de vêtements se reposant dehors dans le désert par le côté de route.
Tellement maintenant un moment de tranquillité tandis que nous attendons les deux chefs.
Je suis vol à la maison sur l'Armée de l'Air une, et les personnes de la Maison Blanche sont disant nous doivent courir pour le cortège de voitures quand elle finit. Il y a une femme américaine effrénée qui continue à nous dire que le président ne nous attendra pas !
Les photographes nous disent tous de rester se reposants pour pour ne pas obscurcir leur vue. Chacun. A. peu sur le bord. Quand ils obtiennent ici je serai un couple des mètres partis discutablement du chef le plus puissant du monde. Quoi que votre avis de l'homme qui est assez passionnant.
Ou est-ce que j'ai été dans la bulle trop longue ?
16 janvier - MATIN
une heure et vingt minutes de sommeil. En semaine de à peine tout repos. Le producteur par radio Yolande n'a obtenu aucun sommeil. Elle emballait l'équipement.
Il est 0630. Le soleil est sur le point juste de monter. Le ciel est clair.
Il va être l'un de ces beaux jours où vous obtenez tellement souvent dans le Moyen-Orient quand les marques légères tout apparaissent ainsi dièse, si bien défini.
Les voitures font un écart à travers la ruelle devant notre autobus. Mais le trafic sur le chemin à l'aéroport se déplace rapidement et nous serons là bientôt.
Outre de à l'Egypte pendant quelques heures. Alors de nouveau aux Etats-Unis.
Je sens toujours la même chose en quittant le Moyen-Orient. Légèrement triste.
C'est un endroit spécial, un endroit qui a souffert tellement, un endroit qui est ainsi mal compris par tant de personnes.
Je me demande si George Bush juge maintenant qu'il le comprend peu un meilleur ?
15 janvier - APRÈS-MIDI
je suis sorti « de la bulle » aujourd'hui - pour une totalité 45 minutes.
J'ai sauté dans un taxi, et ai demandé au conducteur de me porter à une rue d'achats. Le conducteur, du Bangladesh, a ri quand j'ai demandé s'il l'aime ici.
« Ce n'est pas un bon endroit, » il a dit.
Il est ici, comme tous les ouvriers étrangers, pour gagner l'argent - dans sa caisse pour la maison de dos de famille.
Nous avons tiré vers le haut et je suis sorti. Dans un magasin stationnaire un homme dans le headscarf quadrillé rouge et blanc favorisé par Saoudien a dit : « George Bush ? N'aimez pas. «
Dans un café autour du coin, le monde TV de BBC montrait à la télévision d'écran plat, et à une table a reposé un homme avec un ordinateur portable observant YouTube sur l'Internet sans fil.
Je me suis enquis du « discours de liberté » de M. Bush en Abu Dhabi l'autre jour.
« Il dit toujours ceci, c'est son discours habituel concernant la liberté et la démocratie et les choses. Même en Amérique qu'ils n'ont pas ceci, « il a souri.
« George Bush n'est pas un homme paisible. Il juste, vous savent, beaucoup de débuts de guerres. «
Nous avons conduit de nouveau à l'hôtel. J'ai demandé le conducteur bangladais de taxi sur le coût de carburant ici.
« Non, non cher, » il a dit. Non sûr que fera des consommateurs des USA, ni George Bush, sentez mieux au sujet du coût d'un baril d'huile !
14 janvier - MÊME
quel jour. Chacun qui couvre cette visite indique qu'aujourd'hui ils frappent un mur de brique.
Je pense que les personnes de pression de la Maison Blanche aussi. Chacun semble épuisé. Le programme est exténuant.
Le nez d'histoire a plongé un peu tellement là n'était aucune adrénaline nous remplissant de combustible tous.
Les journalistes aiment un peu de viande sur les os de l'histoire, mais aujourd'hui tout que nous avons vraiment trouvé dehors au sujet du président était qu'il a été montré que ce qu'il a dit étaient les « beaux oiseaux » de la proie.
Alors nous avons obtenu son menu de dîner - potage d'artichaut, et pâté en croûte de pomme avec la crême glacée.
Et vous serez heureux de ne savoir aucun doute que les Saoudiens ont jugé ce dîner « relativement tôt pour notre président de tôt-à-lit » selon son secrétaire de pression. Comme je disais, aucunes nouvelles.
Ainsi les journalistes américains ont dû satisfaire leurs réseaux avec des histoires au sujet de la façon dont demain nous pourrions être témoin des premières chutes de neige dans Riyadh en quelques décennies.
« Au moins ils ne devront pas aller loin trouver le sable pour les routes » un correspondant rapporté.
14 janvier - bienvenue
de MIDI « aux âges moyens, bébé ! »
Est qui ce que quelqu'un dans les corps de pression de déplacement de la Maison Blanche a indiqué pendant que nous frappions la terre en Arabie Saoudite. Les femmes ont discuté à bord si elles doivent porter des headscarves. Le golfe de l'arrangement (ou du malentendu) est évident.
Sur l'autobus à l'hôtel les femmes ont été dites que puisque nous sommes sur une visite à niveau élevé elles peuvent choisir si de porter un headscarf.
Puisque nous sommes dans une société musulmane très conservatrice où des femmes sont obligées de dissimuler, cela semble conseil officiel étrange.
La famille de Bush est amicale avec la famille royale saoudienne, ainsi le président saura les limites de son prétendu « ordre du jour de liberté » ici.
Un jour après qu'il ait réclamé des pays à travers le Moyen-Orient pour être plus démocratique et libéral, pour présenter des réformes économiques et sociales, ceci est aussi bon un endroit que vous obtenez de voir qui ne va pas ne se produire d'aucune manière signicative pendant la présidence de George W Bush.
Il dit que chaque pays doit contrôler des changements de sa propre manière, mais ici à beaucoup il se sent comme il essaye d'imposer des valeurs culturelles occidentales au monde arabe.
Il y a également un excédent de question si la stratégie de M. Bush isoler l'Iran en raison de ses ambitions nucléaires fonctionnera ici. La réponse courte est « aucune il pas ».
Les Saoudiens ont toujours joué un acte de équilibrage très intelligent pour maintenir la stabilité régionale. Ils ont été inquiétés récemment de l'Iran, mais semblent avoir adopté une approche de l'essai d'atteindre dehors à Téhéran à la tension diffuse.
Le Président Bush passera beaucoup de ses deux jours en Arabie Saoudite visitant le pays plutôt que de la politique parler
il y a un arrangement parmi des états dans la région que Téhéran ne réagit pas franchement à l'agression d'un type politique ou militaire.
En Arabie Saoudite, et également les autres états dans cette région, il y a un sens que les ambitions nucléaires de l'Iran ont changé les règles du jeu.
Quand une fois que les Saoudiens, comme les Egyptiens, réclamés un Moyen-Orient libre nucléaire (rappelez-vous que l'Israel est censé avoir des douzaines d'ogives nucléaires - bien qu'il n'admet jamais ceci) maintenant elles ont décalé leur position.
Ils disent qu'ils veulent développer leurs possibilités nucléaires pour diversifier leurs ressources énergétiques, mais l'ambition indiquée est une réponse claire vers l'Iran.
Comme d'habitude les Saoudiens doivent travailler dur pour équilibrer de ce qui est bon pour leur allié étroit les Etats-Unis, et de ce qui leurs voisins régionaux, y compris l'Iran, ont besoin.
Peut-être qui est pourquoi le Président Bush passera beaucoup de son temps ici en deux jours suivants visitant le pays plutôt que de la politique parler.
14 janvier - MATIN
un début tôt aujourd'hui. Des autres tôt commencent !
Nous avons empilé sur des minibus, avec toute notre vitesse et avons conduit la demi-heure ou ainsi à l'aéroport.
L'Armée de l'Air une est une vue renversante sur le macadam vers ma gauche. Le soleil se levant derrière lui et un bon nombre de journalistes obtenant leurs photos prises dans l'avant.
À bord de, nous obtenons avons offert une mimosa - une dernière boisson avant l'arrivée en Arabie Saoudite.
Nous juste avons été rappelés là n'est aucun alcool dans le Saoudien. Et les femmes voyageant en voyage ont été dites pour s'habiller convenablement.
Préparez-vous à décollent. Meilleur allez !
13 janvier - SOIRÉE
il n'est pas simplement la Maison Blanche de Bush que j'apprends environ en ce voyage. C'est également la machine américaine de médias.
Le peuple qui travaillent à côté de moi dans l'opération de reportage par radio est toute les correspondantes assaisonnées. On est un nom de ménage aux USA après des années de service et de journalisme renommé.
Mais ils tous dépensent la majeure partie du jour classant le plus court des morceaux par radio. Court-circuitez ainsi en effet qu'ils les appellent des « taches » !
Parfois ils obtiennent de faire une plus longue analyse, et leur travail est professionnel et d'un niveau élevé. Mais il semble que leurs stations ne veulent plus plus que quelques secondes d'assurance.
L'un d'entre eux, je ne dirai pas pour quel réseau, l'autre jour a déploré les histoires étant couvertes sur le site Web de la station. Les contes de divertissement et de farfelu ont dominé.
Puis aujourd'hui, je faisais un enregistrement à l'appareil-photo avec une TV américaine sers d'équipier. J'ai parlé pour qu'environ une minute et une moitié essaye d'expliquer une partie du fond au discours du président. C'est presque un livre, le cameraman dit quand j'ai fini. Il a dit aux USA qu'il est beaucoup plus court simplement.
Il y a de bon journalisme dans les états, naturellement. Les journaux ont des histoires de qualité et l'affaire de TV et de radio avec quelques questions importantes. Et je voyage principalement avec quelques excellents journalistes qui prennent leurs travaux sérieusement.
Ce n'est pas une critique de eux, mais global l'assurance la plupart de leurs compagnies fournissent est près dominées des histoires rapides et entraînantes. Et il semble que même leur propre président n'obtient pas beaucoup d'un regard po.
Certains discuteraient les médias britanniques ont déjà commencé en bas de ce chemin. Si c'est le cas, le futur ne regarde pas pour être terriblement bien informé.
Assez ! Pour dormir, brièvement. Demain nous ne sommes pas en ligne en avance en Arabie Saoudite sur la prochaine jambe du voyage. Jour six. Pays cinq.
Le 13 janvier - MATIN où
ils l'appellent la bulle, et quand nous avons atterri au Bahrain il s'est senti comme nous étions coincés bien à l'intérieur de lui.
L'autobus nous a conduits hors de l'aéroport, il s'était garé à côté de l'avion et nous avons simplement marché sur lui. Pour quelque raison notre convoi a eu une escorte de police, et nous avons passé des jonctions où le trafic local a dû nous attendre pendant que nous conduisions par les lumières rouges. Nous avons conduit le long de la chaussée vers les gratte-ciel de Manama.
D'autres journalistes ont enlevé leurs appareils-photo, posant des questions sur ce que nous voyions. Touristes passionnants. Alors nous sommes arrivés à l'hôtel et avons été battus po.
La raison ils l'appellent la bulle, est parce que ce processus entier signifie que de l'atterrissage aux médias centrez-toi regardent littéralement hors de la bulle le réel autour de toi. Au Kowéit je ne pense pas que j'ai rencontré un Koweitien simple. Pour être cependant juste la plupart de personnel d'hôtel il y a l'Asie ou ailleurs.
Il est fondamentalement comme être enfoncé avec le président - avec toutes questions qui augmente pour des journalistes. Pas que la Maison Blanche essaye de quelque façon d'affecter notre reportage.
Ils ne m'ont jamais approché au sujet d'une histoire que j'avais classée. J'ai la liberté totale, mais en raison des programmes serrés n'obtenez pas de rencontrer les personnes du pays que nous traversons. C'est correct. Le travail est de rendre compte de la visite du président, mais il vous signifie le besoin d'autres sources d'informations sur où vous êtes.
Une autre chose rapide. M. Bush tandis qu'ici au Bahrain a fait bon accueil à une nouvelle loi irakienne qui permet à des milliers d'anciens défenseurs juniors de partie de Baath de Saddam Hussein de prendre les travaux de gouvernement. It's worth remembering that it was Mr Bush's administration that supported the removal of Baath party officials from office in the first place, soon after the occupation of Iraq in 2003.
The feeling in the region? Among many I suspect "Why didn't he follow the new line on former Baath party officials in the first place?"
Right, got to pack. We're now off to Abu Dhabi.
12 JANUARY - 1200 GMT
You can't miss George Bush in a crowd. That hand held high waving. That swagger and grin. I was quite surprised though when he walked through the Arifjan military camp in Kuwait at the reaction from the US soldiers and other personnel there.
They cheered of course, but I'd thought they would have cheered for longer. Perhaps his unpopularity back home is rubbing off here?
As he told the troops that the US would be victorious in Iraq, Condoleezza Rice stood at the back, nodding in agreement behind her large black designer sunglasses.
Mr Bush has seemed more nuanced in his statements on this trip than he perhaps has in the past. He also seems to have a firm grip of the issues as he sees them, and there's a confidence about him.
It doesn't mean he's going to be successful of course.
Many here argue his presidency has done too much damage in the Middle East even to contemplate a bright future any time soon. But as one American official told me, maybe, with US domestic attention focused on Mr Bush's successor, perhaps he feels less constrained by US politics.
Perhaps, as this official speculated, he's enjoying simply the most powerful man in the world.
So. Now to Bahrain. We just boarded, after a mad rush of filing our stories. The plane's taxiing past Air Force One now. Another day, another country.
12 JANUARY - 0430 GMT
Early morning wake-up call again!
We're all in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kuwait with a load of our kit laid out on the floor and us security agents going through it. We're off to Camp Arifjan, the biggest US military base here.
The president's going to speak to the troops and to his top general in Iraq. He'll meet the US ambassador to Iraq too. Today the agenda's certainly less about Israel and the Palestinians.
11 JANUARY - EVENING
Amazing. I just did something I never thought I would. I got on a plane and flew from Tel Aviv to Kuwait. It took about two hours. Easy.
When I lived in Jerusalem and travelled to Iraq I would go through Kuwait. But the journey would take over seven hours - because there are no direct flights between the two countries. Until you're travelling with the US president.
The reason there are no direct flights is because Kuwait like many Arab countries doesn't have normal relations with Israel.
That's something Mr Bush wants to address here. He's hoping to encourage allies of his, like Kuwait, to have some contact at least with Israel. Even before we'd stepped off the plane Condoleezza Rice had said we shouldn't expect any developments on that, but she says there is progress.
And most Arab states like Kuwait will always find it an unreasonable demand to form any sort of tie with Israel, as long as Israel occupies Palestinian land.
You can see how it's all interlinked. That's why George Bush's strategy is - while not new - probably the only sensible way to proceed. He's worked out the issues that he thinks need addressing, and he's trying to address all of them at the same time hoping progress on one will aid progress in others. A virtuous circle if you like.
If it works maybe one day everyone will be able to fly from Tel Aviv to Kuwait in two hours.
11 JANUARY - AFTERNOON
The travelling press pack is now off to Kuwait, following hot on the heels of the president.
We are going to have to play catch-up on this leg as he will have done his official duties by the time we arrive.
The ride out from Jerusalem was beautiful. It is a bright sunny day and now, travelling out of Ben Gurion airport is proving so easy.
I spent four years getting all sorts of lengthy personal security questions coming in and out of this airport.
This time, after a very brief delay our bus simply drove into the airport and right up to the plane. We will be airborne within half an hour so.
The logistics that go into a trip like this are phenomenal.
It cost a huge amount of money - the White House is reluctant to say how much, but it is in the millions of dollars.
George Bush clearly thinks it is worth it. He left this troubled land still talking of his confidence.
Now he has to get some of his Arab allies on side to enlist their help in persuading the Palestinians and the Israelis to move forward.
10 JANUARY - EVENING
The great thing about being involved in a trip like this is that you get a special press pass that so far seems to open all sorts of doors.
When the rest of the city is shut down, I just whip out my "White House Middle East" card and sail through.
"The trip of the president to the Middle East" it says on it. Note, not any old president, just THE president!
And there is a confidence about the president and his people to be honest.
George Bush admitted today in an aside that he can sometimes be criticised for not speaking English so well. But on this trip so far he's appeared literate, on top of the issues and actually rather believable about the whole prospect of Middle East peace.
If I hadn't worked here for almost four years before covering the US, I might even be a little less sceptical about his chances of success.
His National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley came and spoke to us today. He said that the meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, had gone well, and that both sides had exchanged "reminiscences" during a working lunch.
He made it all sound very cordial.
And I spoke to another US official, who said he'd been in a private meeting of the president and US staff working here in Jerusalem.
The president - as he spoke about the chances of peace - had "welled up" he said. Visiting the Holy Land - as a religious man - has clearly affected George Bush deeply.
9 JANUARY - EVENING
Poor old George Bush. He certainly picked a good day to be travelling to the Middle East. All eyes in America were on who might be the next US president, rather than him.
Clinton and Obama were names you heard far more frequently on the US networks on the first day of his trip here than you did the name Bush.
A friend of mine who works here for a big US network says they were seventh story in the running order and possibly not getting onto the main evening news. And he was working with the White House correspondent!
What I thought was most interesting today was what felt like an ever so slightly more critical approach towards the Israelis from the Bush administration.
They are still the closest of allies of course.
However, in the last 24 hours I think every White House briefing we've had has mentioned how Israel has to stop settlement expansion, just as the Palestinians have to stop attacks against Israelis.
For years you rarely heard more than a cursory mention of Israel's settlement growth (remember one of Israel's commitments is to stop building Jewish towns and villages on occupied Palestinian land).
It'll be surprising if it makes a huge difference on the ground - but as President Bush said with a smile to Prime Minister Olmert today, "if you need a little nudge then you know I will give a nudge." He sounded like he meant it too.
9 JANUARY - MORNING
The streets are quieter than I ever remember them, apart from when this country closes down on Yom Kippur.
People have stayed away from the city today, because the streets around the president's hotel are closed. There are police everywhere. When the president's convoy moves from venue to venue they simply shut down the route he takes to other traffic.
I walked up to the hotel, which is surrounded by Israeli and US security people. People hang around to take a quick photo and are told not to use their cameras.
There's a strange feeling in the air. I left a United States in the grip of early election fever where George W Bush feels somewhat irrelevant. Here he's greeted by all as the most powerful man on Earth.
He hopes that will help encourage the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to focus on what he wants them to do - launch a proper negotiating process.
The thing that's so noticeable is the difference between what you hear from Bush's aides, and what you hear from people on the streets here.
His aides tell us they're still confident that there can be a negotiated peace deal by the end of the year. And why not? After all most people understand the broad layout of what such a deal would look like. In theory and on paper it is possible.
But then you talk to the people here, like my taxi driver this morning, who told me with that weary sigh everyone here has when talking about such visits: "It won't achieve anything."
8 JANUARY
Midnight on a mild January night. Far warmer than the freezing conditions I left behind in Iowa after reporting on the first stage of the process to chose the next president of the world's most powerful nation.
The United States - caught up in the excitement of Clinton v Obama - almost seems to have almost forgotten that its current president has exactly a year left in office.
I wheel my case across the tarmac, towards the charter plane that's taking reporters to the Middle East on President Bush's eight-day trip, and chat to a colleague who covers the White House for another network.
"He's got to go abroad," we joke. "No one here's interested in him anymore!"
But if George W Bush - America's least popular president in years (both at home and abroad) - gets it right, there will be more than just interest in him.
In pre-trip interviews he's said he genuinely believes there can be a "comprehensive peace treaty [between Israel and the Palestinians] signed by the end of this year".
Having left Jerusalem last August, after almost four years reporting from there, that strikes me as pretty unlikely.
As we taxi for take-off the steward makes a mistake during the safety announcement.
"In the event of a water execution..." he trails off.
"Do you mean water-boarding?" shouts a journalist. Much laughter.
Everyone here's covered President Bush's refusal to say whether he considers - as many do - the interrogation technique to be torture.
We settle back for the ride. In the next eight days we'll visit six countries, one occupied territory, and a host of world leaders.
It's going to be tiring, but fascinating.
Diario del viaje de Medio Oriente.
Automatically translated into Spanish thanks to WorldLingo
El diario del viaje de Medio Oriente, George W Bush ha concluido un viaje de Medio Oriente que incluyó su primera visita como presidente de los E.E.U.U. a Israel y a los territorios palestinos, así como paradas en el golfo y el Egipto. El precio correspondiente de BBC Matthew, que viajó con él, escribió un diario en su progreso.
16 de enero - GMT 2230 que
supongo que la cosa más extraña sobre viajar en la fuerza aérea una es el conocimiento que apenas algunos metros delante de usted en el mismo plano son algunos de los mundos la mayoría de la gente de gran alcance: Bush, arroz, Hadley. El sentarse apenas para arriba en frente. O en el caso de Bush que miente posiblemente en su cama, que correcta para arriba en la nariz del plano.
Después de nuestra rociada enojada al aeropuerto acometimos a la parte posteriora del plano donde los hombres secretos del servicio comprobaron nuestros pasos apagado en una lista y fuimos a bordo. No donde usted camina en un vuelo comercial pero mucho más bajo, similar a donde va el equipaje. Encima de las escaleras, probablemente 20 en todos y entonces allí es un aterrizaje con el área de los medios, el área del personal y el servicio secreto también.
Dentro de - bien, es gris. Repugnante bonito realmente. Y la cabina de los medios es un pedacito como estar en asientos del negocio con servicio de la economía. Los primeros contadores de tiempo como mí consiguen un bolso del goody. Tenía una caja de cigarrillos adentro con el sello presidencial en ellos, pero Nancy Reagan, me dicen, opuesto, tan ahora usted consigo el sello blanco M&Ms de la casa.
No hay aviso de seguridad. Conjeturo si usted se está ocupando del hombre grande que cada uno puede apartar para sí mismos. ¡Y no tuvimos que dar vuelta apagado a móviles - aunque no hay señal en 33.000 pies! Hay 14 asientos en el área del journo y pares de las TV.
Bill Clinton volverse y charlaba. El fotógrafo al lado de mí dijo que era malo. Usted estaría intentando dormir después de un viaje gruelling y él estaría intentando bromear. Ningún tal problema con el GW. Él permanece bien lejos de nosotros.
La cosa más interesante era cómo ésta es la burbuja VERDADERA. El motorcade nos compitió con a la pista de despeque entonces el plano entonces que carreteamos y voló y satisfizo nunca una vez a persona verdadera correctamente. ¡Sé que es políticas modernas, pero no puedo dejar de pensar que George W Bush al exterior cuando lo eligieron presidente y después había sido apenas por los siete años pasados que él ha estado en una burbuja presidencial - lo han sujetado a esto! ¡Y él vive en Washington, divorciado como ese lugar puede ser de de la vida real también!
Acabo de realizar mientras que escribía que desperté esta mañana en Riyadh, caí adentro en el EL-Jeque de Sharm, y la est ahora en la C.C. de Washington. Y pienso todo el dia que he tenido solamente una charla con una persona de tres países uces de los.
Aterrizamos un poco temprano, alrededor de mitad-siete, y trotamos hacia fuera en la base de fuerza aérea de un Andrew frío. Al infante de marina adecuado uno, el helicóptero presidencial. Y allí, el hombre mismo que camina hacia él.
Él corta una figura sola, hunched levemente. El interruptor carreteó entonces quitado, en 7.48. De nuevo a la casa blanca, el final de una visita que se ha parecido ser más sobre continuar buenas relaciones, que logros verdaderos.
¿Yo? Compartí un taxi en ciudad, a un pequeño hotel cobarde. Ha sido un viaje asombroso. Pienso que dormiré bien esta noche.
16 de enero - el GMT 1230
ahora en el motorcade, pero las viejas manos es nerviosos. Somos parte posteriora demasiado lejana del frente del motorcade.
¡Finalmente en la fuerza aérea una! Y de nuevo a los E.E.U.U. con el presidente. Más para seguir el otro extremo.
16 de enero - GMT 1145
no seguro si he visto siempre a tan mucha gente secreta del servicio. Los hombres en cristales negros son por todas partes aquí en el hotel en donde presidente Bush y presidente Mubarak llevan a cabo su conferencia de las noticias en algunos minutos.
Los egipcios son grandes en seguridad. Ha habido varios los ataques de la bomba en Sinaí estos últimos años así que a lo largo de nuestra ruta aquí estaban las docenas de agentes llanos de las ropas que se sentaban hacia fuera en el desierto por el lado del camino.
Tan ahora un momento de la tranquilidad mientras que esperamos a dos líderes.
Soy vuelo casero en la fuerza aérea una, y la gente blanca de la casa es diciendo nosotros tiene que funcionar para el motorcade cuando acaba. ¡Hay una mujer americana frenética que guarda el decir nos que el presidente no nos espere!
Los fotógrafos nos están diciendo todos permanecer que se sientan para no obscurecer su opinión. Cada uno. A. poco en el borde. Cuando consiguen aquí seré un par de metros lejos discutible del líder más de gran alcance del mundo. Lo que su opinión del hombre que es bastante emocionante.
¿O he estado en la burbuja demasiado larga?
16 de enero - MAÑANA
una hora y veinte minutos de sueño. En una semana de apenas cualquier resto. El productor de radio Yolande no consiguió ningún sueño. Ella embalaba el equipo.
Es 0630. El sol es justo alrededor subir. El cielo está claro.
Va a ser uno de esos días hermosos que usted consigue tan a menudo en el Oriente Medio cuando aparecen las marcas ligeras todo tan sostenido, tan bien definido.
Los coches están desviando a través del carril delante de nuestro autobús. Pero el tráfico en la manera al aeropuerto se está moviendo rápidamente y estaremos allí pronto.
A Egipto por algunas horas. Entonces de nuevo a los E.E.U.U.
Siento siempre igual al salir de el Oriente Medio. Levemente triste.
Esto es un lugar especial, un lugar que ha sufrido tanto, un lugar que sea así que entendido mal por tan mucha gente.
¿Me pregunto si George Bush ahora se siente que él lo entiende un poco mejor?
15 de enero - TARDE
salí “de la burbuja” hoy - para un conjunto 45 minutos.
Salté en un taxi, y pedí que el conductor me llevara a una calle de las compras. El conductor, de Bangladesh, rió cuando pregunté si él tiene gusto de él aquí.
“No es un buen lugar,” él dijo.
Él es aquí, como todos los trabajadores extranjeros, ganar el dinero - en su caja para el hogar de la parte posteriora de la familia.
Nos levantamos y salí. En una tienda inmóvil un hombre en el rojo y el blanco chequered el headscarf favorecido por Saudis dicho: ¿“George Bush? No tenga gusto. “
En un café alrededor de la esquina, mundo TV de BBC demostraba en la televisión de la pantalla plana, y en una tabla sentó a hombre con una computadora portátil que miraba YouTube en Internet sin hilos.
Pregunté por “discurso de la libertad” de Sr. Bush en Abu Dhabi el otro día.
“Él dice siempre esto, éste es su discurso generalmente acerca de la libertad y democracia y las cosas. Incluso en América que no tienen esto, “él sonrió.
“George Bush no es un hombre pacífico. Él apenas, usted sabe, los muchos del comienzo de guerras. “
Condujimos de nuevo al hotel. Pedí el conductor del taxi de Bangladeshi acerca del coste de combustible aquí.
“No, no costoso,” él dijo. ¡No seguro que hará consumidores de los E.E.U.U., ni George Bush, siéntase mejor sobre el coste de un barril de aceite!
14 de enero - IGUALAR
un qué día. Cada uno que cubre esta visita dice que golpean hoy una pared del ladrillo.
Pienso que lo hizo la gente blanca de la prensa de la casa también. Cada uno parece agotado. El horario gruelling.
La nariz de la historia se zambulló un pedacito tan allí no era ninguna adrenalina que nos aprovisionaba de combustible todos.
Los periodistas tienen gusto de un poco carne en los huesos de la historia, pero hoy todos lo que realmente encontramos hacia fuera sobre el presidente eran que le demostraron que lo que él dijo eran los “pájaros hermosos” de la presa.
Entonces conseguimos su menú de la cena - sopa de la alcachofa, y empanada de manzana con helado.
Y usted estará alegre no saber ninguna duda que los Saudis llevaron a cabo esa cena “relativamente temprano para nuestro presidente de la temprano-a-cama” según su secretaria de prensa. Como dije, ningunas noticias.
Los periodistas americanos tuvieron que satisfacer tan sus redes con historias sobre cómo puede ser que atestigüemos mañana las primeras nevadas en Riyadh en décadas.
“Por lo menos no tendrán que ir lejos a encontrar la arena para los caminos” un correspondiente divulgada.
¡14 de enero - recepción
a las edades medias, bebé del MEDIODÍA “! ”
Que es lo que dijo alguien en el cuerpo de prensa blanco de la casa que viajaba mientras que golpeamos la tierra en la Arabia Saudita. Las mujeres a bordo discutieron si tienen que usar headscarves. El golfo de entender (o de entender mal) es obvio.
En el autobús al hotel dijeron las mujeres que puesto que estamos en una visita de alto nivel pueden elegir si o no usar un headscarf.
Puesto que somos en una sociedad musulmana muy conservadora donde obligan a las mujeres a cubrir para arriba, ése se parece consejo oficial extraño.
La familia de Bush es amistosa con la familia real Saudi, así que el presidente sabrá los límites de su “agenda supuesta de la libertad” aquí.
Un día después de que él llamara para los países a través de el Oriente Medio para ser más democrático y liberal, introducir las reformas económicas y sociales, ésta es tan bueno un lugar como usted consigue ver que no va a suceder de ninguna manera significativa durante la presidencia de George W Bush.
Él dice que cada país debe manejar cambios en su propia manera, pero aquí a muchos se siente como él está intentando imponer valores culturales occidentales ante el mundo árabe.
Hay también un excedente de la pregunta si la estrategia de Sr. Bush aislar Irán debido a sus ambiciones nucleares trabajará aquí. La respuesta corta es “ninguna él no”.
Los Saudis han jugado siempre un acto que balanceaba muy listo para mantener estabilidad regional. Se han preocupado recientemente de Irán, pero se parecen haber adoptado un acercamiento de intentar alcanzar hacia fuera a Tehran a la tensión difusa.
Presidente Bush pasará mucho de sus dos días en la Arabia Saudita que visita puntos de interés más bien que la política que habla
allí es una comprensión entre estados en la región que Tehran no reacciona positivamente a la agresión de un tipo político o militar.
En la Arabia Saudita, y también los otros estados en esta región, hay un sentido que las ambiciones nucleares de Irán han cambiado las reglas del juego.
Cuando una vez que los Saudis, como los egipcios, ahora llamados para un Medio Oriente libre nuclear (recuerde que Israel está creído tener docenas de cabezas nucleares nucleares - aunque nunca admite esto) han cambiado de puesto su posición.
Dicen que desean desarrollar su capacidad nuclear para diversificar sus recursos energéticos, pero la ambición indicada es una respuesta clara a Irán.
Como de costumbre los Saudis tienen que trabajar difícilmente para balancear cuál es bueno para su aliado cercano los Estados Unidos, y qué necesitan sus vecinos regionales, incluyendo Irán.
Quizás que es porqué presidente Bush pasará mucho de su tiempo aquí en los dos días próximos que visita puntos de interés más bien que política que habla.
14 de enero - MAÑANA
un comienzo temprano hoy. ¡Otros temprano comienzan!
Llenamos sobre los microbús, con todo nuestro engranaje y condujimos la media-hora o tan al aeropuerto.
La fuerza aérea una es una vista imponente en la pista de despeque a mi izquierda. El sol que se levanta detrás de él y de porciones de reporteros que consiguen sus fotos tomadas en frente.
A bordo de, conseguimos ofrecimos un mimosa - una bebida pasada antes de llegar en la Arabia Saudita.
Acabamos de recordarse allí no somos ningún alcohol en Saudi. Y han dicho las mujeres que viajaban en el viaje para vestir apropiadamente.
Prepárese para sacan. ¡Mejor vaya!
13 de enero - TARDE
no es justo la casa blanca de Bush que estoy aprendiendo alrededor en este viaje. Es también la máquina americana de los medios.
La gente que trabaja junto a mí en la operación de divulgación de radio es toda correspondientes sazonados. Uno es un nombre de la casa en los E.E.U.U. después de años del servicio y del periodismo renombrado.
Pero todos pasan la mayor parte de el día que archiva el más corto de los pedazos de radio. ¡Ponga en cortocircuito tan de hecho que los llaman los “puntos”!
Consiguen a veces hacer un análisis más largo, y su trabajo es profesional y de una mayor nivel. Pero se parece que sus estaciones desean no más más que algunos segundos de la cobertura.
Uno de ellos, no diré para qué red, el otro día lamentó de las historias que eran cubiertas en el Web site de la estación. La hospitalidad y los cuentos wacky dominaron.
Entonces hoy, hacía una grabación a la cámara fotográfica con un equipo americano de la TV. Hablé para que alrededor de un minuto y una mitad intenten explicar algo del fondo al discurso del presidente. Eso casi es un libro, el cameraman dicho cuando acabé. Él dijo en los E.E.U.U. que es mucho más corto justo.
Hay buen periodismo en los estados, por supuesto. Los periódicos tienen historias de la calidad y reparto de la TV y de la radio con algunas ediciones pesadas. Y estoy viajando en la cañería con algunos periodistas excelentes que tomen sus trabajos seriamente.
Ésta no es una crítica de ellos, pero total la cobertura la mayor parte de que sus compañías proporcionan es cerca dominadas historias rápidas, pegadizas. Y se parece que incluso su propio presidente no consigue mucha de una mirada pulg.
Algunos discutirían los medios británicos han comenzado ya abajo de esa trayectoria. Si ése es el caso, el futuro no mira para ser terrible bien informado.
¡Bastantes! Para dormir, brevemente. Somos mañana apagado tempranos a la Arabia Saudita en la pierna siguiente del viaje. Día seises. País cinco.
El 13 de enero - MAÑANA que
lo llaman la burbuja, y cuando aterrizamos en Bahrein él se sentía como a la derecha nos pegaron dentro de él.
El autobús nos condujo del aeropuerto, había parqueado al lado del avión y caminamos simplemente sobre él. Por alguna razón nuestro convoy tenía un acompañamiento del policía, y pasamos las ensambladuras donde el tráfico local tuvo que esperarnos mientras que condujimos a través de luces rojas. Condujimos a lo largo de la calzada hacia los rascacielos de Manama.
Otros periodistas tomaron sus cámaras fotográficas hacia fuera, haciendo preguntas acerca de lo que veíamos. Turistas excitados. Después conseguimos al hotel y fuimos batidos pulg.
La razón la llaman la burbuja, son porque este proceso entero significa que de momento del aterrizaje a los medios céntrele miran literalmente fuera de la burbuja el del mundo real alrededor de usted. En Kuwait no pienso que satisfice a solo Kuwaiti. Sin embargo para ser justo la mayoría del personal del hotel hay de Asia o a otra parte.
Es básicamente como ser encajado con el presidente - con todas las ediciones que levanta para los periodistas. No que la casa blanca de cualquier manera intenta afectar nuestra divulgación.
Nunca me han acercado sobre una historia que he estado archivando. Tengo la libertad total, pero debido a los horario apretados no consiga satisfacer a la gente del país que estamos pasando a través. Eso es aceptable. El trabajo es divulgar sobre la visita del presidente, pero le significa necesidad otras fuentes de la información sobre donde usted está.
Una otra cosa rápida. Sr. Bush mientras que aquí en Bahrein dio la bienvenida a una nueva ley iraquí que permite que los millares de partidarios menores anteriores del partido de Baath de Saddam Hussein tomen trabajos del gobierno. It's worth remembering that it was Mr Bush's administration that supported the removal of Baath party officials from office in the first place, soon after the occupation of Iraq in 2003.
The feeling in the region? Among many I suspect "Why didn't he follow the new line on former Baath party officials in the first place?"
Right, got to pack. We're now off to Abu Dhabi.
12 JANUARY - 1200 GMT
You can't miss George Bush in a crowd. That hand held high waving. That swagger and grin. I was quite surprised though when he walked through the Arifjan military camp in Kuwait at the reaction from the US soldiers and other personnel there.
They cheered of course, but I'd thought they would have cheered for longer. Perhaps his unpopularity back home is rubbing off here?
As he told the troops that the US would be victorious in Iraq, Condoleezza Rice stood at the back, nodding in agreement behind her large black designer sunglasses.
Mr Bush has seemed more nuanced in his statements on this trip than he perhaps has in the past. He also seems to have a firm grip of the issues as he sees them, and there's a confidence about him.
It doesn't mean he's going to be successful of course.
Many here argue his presidency has done too much damage in the Middle East even to contemplate a bright future any time soon. But as one American official told me, maybe, with US domestic attention focused on Mr Bush's successor, perhaps he feels less constrained by US politics.
Perhaps, as this official speculated, he's enjoying simply the most powerful man in the world.
So. Now to Bahrain. We just boarded, after a mad rush of filing our stories. The plane's taxiing past Air Force One now. Another day, another country.
12 JANUARY - 0430 GMT
Early morning wake-up call again!
We're all in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kuwait with a load of our kit laid out on the floor and us security agents going through it. We're off to Camp Arifjan, the biggest US military base here.
The president's going to speak to the troops and to his top general in Iraq. He'll meet the US ambassador to Iraq too. Today the agenda's certainly less about Israel and the Palestinians.
11 JANUARY - EVENING
Amazing. I just did something I never thought I would. I got on a plane and flew from Tel Aviv to Kuwait. It took about two hours. Easy.
When I lived in Jerusalem and travelled to Iraq I would go through Kuwait. But the journey would take over seven hours - because there are no direct flights between the two countries. Until you're travelling with the US president.
The reason there are no direct flights is because Kuwait like many Arab countries doesn't have normal relations with Israel.
That's something Mr Bush wants to address here. He's hoping to encourage allies of his, like Kuwait, to have some contact at least with Israel. Even before we'd stepped off the plane Condoleezza Rice had said we shouldn't expect any developments on that, but she says there is progress.
And most Arab states like Kuwait will always find it an unreasonable demand to form any sort of tie with Israel, as long as Israel occupies Palestinian land.
You can see how it's all interlinked. That's why George Bush's strategy is - while not new - probably the only sensible way to proceed. He's worked out the issues that he thinks need addressing, and he's trying to address all of them at the same time hoping progress on one will aid progress in others. A virtuous circle if you like.
If it works maybe one day everyone will be able to fly from Tel Aviv to Kuwait in two hours.
11 JANUARY - AFTERNOON
The travelling press pack is now off to Kuwait, following hot on the heels of the president.
We are going to have to play catch-up on this leg as he will have done his official duties by the time we arrive.
The ride out from Jerusalem was beautiful. It is a bright sunny day and now, travelling out of Ben Gurion airport is proving so easy.
I spent four years getting all sorts of lengthy personal security questions coming in and out of this airport.
This time, after a very brief delay our bus simply drove into the airport and right up to the plane. We will be airborne within half an hour so.
The logistics that go into a trip like this are phenomenal.
It cost a huge amount of money - the White House is reluctant to say how much, but it is in the millions of dollars.
George Bush clearly thinks it is worth it. He left this troubled land still talking of his confidence.
Now he has to get some of his Arab allies on side to enlist their help in persuading the Palestinians and the Israelis to move forward.
10 JANUARY - EVENING
The great thing about being involved in a trip like this is that you get a special press pass that so far seems to open all sorts of doors.
When the rest of the city is shut down, I just whip out my "White House Middle East" card and sail through.
"The trip of the president to the Middle East" it says on it. Note, not any old president, just THE president!
And there is a confidence about the president and his people to be honest.
George Bush admitted today in an aside that he can sometimes be criticised for not speaking English so well. But on this trip so far he's appeared literate, on top of the issues and actually rather believable about the whole prospect of Middle East peace.
If I hadn't worked here for almost four years before covering the US, I might even be a little less sceptical about his chances of success.
His National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley came and spoke to us today. He said that the meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, had gone well, and that both sides had exchanged "reminiscences" during a working lunch.
He made it all sound very cordial.
And I spoke to another US official, who said he'd been in a private meeting of the president and US staff working here in Jerusalem.
The president - as he spoke about the chances of peace - had "welled up" he said. Visiting the Holy Land - as a religious man - has clearly affected George Bush deeply.
9 JANUARY - EVENING
Poor old George Bush. He certainly picked a good day to be travelling to the Middle East. All eyes in America were on who might be the next US president, rather than him.
Clinton and Obama were names you heard far more frequently on the US networks on the first day of his trip here than you did the name Bush.
A friend of mine who works here for a big US network says they were seventh story in the running order and possibly not getting onto the main evening news. And he was working with the White House correspondent!
What I thought was most interesting today was what felt like an ever so slightly more critical approach towards the Israelis from the Bush administration.
They are still the closest of allies of course.
However, in the last 24 hours I think every White House briefing we've had has mentioned how Israel has to stop settlement expansion, just as the Palestinians have to stop attacks against Israelis.
For years you rarely heard more than a cursory mention of Israel's settlement growth (remember one of Israel's commitments is to stop building Jewish towns and villages on occupied Palestinian land).
It'll be surprising if it makes a huge difference on the ground - but as President Bush said with a smile to Prime Minister Olmert today, "if you need a little nudge then you know I will give a nudge." He sounded like he meant it too.
9 JANUARY - MORNING
The streets are quieter than I ever remember them, apart from when this country closes down on Yom Kippur.
People have stayed away from the city today, because the streets around the president's hotel are closed. There are police everywhere. When the president's convoy moves from venue to venue they simply shut down the route he takes to other traffic.
I walked up to the hotel, which is surrounded by Israeli and US security people. People hang around to take a quick photo and are told not to use their cameras.
There's a strange feeling in the air. I left a United States in the grip of early election fever where George W Bush feels somewhat irrelevant. Here he's greeted by all as the most powerful man on Earth.
He hopes that will help encourage the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to focus on what he wants them to do - launch a proper negotiating process.
The thing that's so noticeable is the difference between what you hear from Bush's aides, and what you hear from people on the streets here.
His aides tell us they're still confident that there can be a negotiated peace deal by the end of the year. And why not? After all most people understand the broad layout of what such a deal would look like. In theory and on paper it is possible.
But then you talk to the people here, like my taxi driver this morning, who told me with that weary sigh everyone here has when talking about such visits: "It won't achieve anything."
8 JANUARY
Midnight on a mild January night. Far warmer than the freezing conditions I left behind in Iowa after reporting on the first stage of the process to chose the next president of the world's most powerful nation.
The United States - caught up in the excitement of Clinton v Obama - almost seems to have almost forgotten that its current president has exactly a year left in office.
I wheel my case across the tarmac, towards the charter plane that's taking reporters to the Middle East on President Bush's eight-day trip, and chat to a colleague who covers the White House for another network.
"He's got to go abroad," we joke. "No one here's interested in him anymore!"
But if George W Bush - America's least popular president in years (both at home and abroad) - gets it right, there will be more than just interest in him.
In pre-trip interviews he's said he genuinely believes there can be a "comprehensive peace treaty [between Israel and the Palestinians] signed by the end of this year".
Having left Jerusalem last August, after almost four years reporting from there, that strikes me as pretty unlikely.
As we taxi for take-off the steward makes a mistake during the safety announcement.
"In the event of a water execution..." he trails off.
"Do you mean water-boarding?" shouts a journalist. Much laughter.
Everyone here's covered President Bush's refusal to say whether he considers - as many do - the interrogation technique to be torture.
We settle back for the ride. In the next eight days we'll visit six countries, one occupied territory, and a host of world leaders.
It's going to be tiring, but fascinating.
Diario di giro di Medio Oriente.
Automatically translated into Italian thanks to WorldLingo
Il diario di giro di Medio Oriente, George il W Bush ha concluso un giro di Medio Oriente che ha incluso la sua prima chiamata come presidente degli Stati Uniti nell'Israele ed i territori palestinesi, così come gli arresti il golfo e nell'Egitto. Il prezzo corrispondente di BBC Matthew, che ha viaggiato con lui, ha scritto un diario sul suo progresso.
16 gennaio - GMT 2230
suppongo che la cosa più sconosciuta circa viaggiare sull'aeronautica una è la conoscenza che appena alcuni tester davanti voi sullo stesso aereo sono alcuni dei mondi la maggior parte della gente potente: Bush, riso, Hadley. Sedendosi appena in su nella parte anteriore. O nel caso di Bush possibilmente che si trova nella sua base, che è di destra in su nel naso dell'aereo.
Dopo il nostro precipitare pazzo all'aeroporto abbiamo scorso veloce alla parte posteriore dell'aereo in cui gli uomini segreti di servizio hanno controllato i nostri passaggi fuori su una lista e siamo andato a bordo. Non dove camminate su un volo commerciale ma molto più basso, simile a dove il bagaglio va. Sulle scale, probabilmente 20 in tutto ed allora là sono un atterraggio con la zona di mezzi, la zona del personale ed il servizio segreto anche.
All'interno di - bene, è grigio. Nasty grazioso realmente. E la baracca di mezzi è una punta come essere nelle sedi di affari con servizio di economia. I primi temporizzatori come me ottengono un sacchetto del goody. Ha usato avere una scatola di sigarette all'interno con la guarnizione presidenziale su loro, ma Nancy Reagan, mi dico a, obiettato, così ora voi ottengo la guarnizione M&Ms della Casa Bianca.
Non ci è annuncio di sicurezza. Indovino sesiete occupando iete occupando dell'uomo che grande tutto altrimenti può arrangiarsi se stesso. E non abbiamo dovuto spegnere i mobiles - anche se non ci è segnale a 33.000 piedi! Ci sono 14 sedi nella zona di journo e lle coppie delle TV.
Bill Clinton ha usato ritornare e chiacchierare. Il photographer vicino me ha detto che era difettoso. Stavate provando a dormire dopo un viaggio gruelling e stava provando a banter. Nessun tale problema con il GW. Rimane buono via da noi.
La cosa più interessante era come questa è la bolla REALE. Il motorcade li ha corsi al tarmac allora l'aereo allora che abbiamo rullato ed ha volato e mai una volta ha venuto a contatto di una persona reale correttamente. So che è politiche moderne, ma non posso contribuire a pensare che George il W Bush appena all'estero quando è stato scelto presidente ed allora sia stato per i sette anni che ultimi è stato in una bolla presidenziale - è stato sottoposto a questo! E vive a Washington, divorziata come quel posto può provenire da in vivo anche!
Ho realizzato appena mentre scrivevo che ho svegliato questa mattina in Riyadh, sono caduto dentro sullo EL-Sceicco di Sharm e sull'ora in DC di Washington. E penso tutto il giorno che abbia avuto soltanto una chiacchierata con una persona da c'è ne dei tre paesi.
Abbiamo atterrato poco un in anticipo, intorno alla metà-sett'ed abbiamo trottato fuori nella base di aeronautica del Andrew freddo. Al fante di marina di destra uno, l'elicottero presidenziale. E là, l'uomo egli stesso che cammina verso esso.
Taglia una figura sola, hunched un po'. Il selettore rotante rullato allora tolto, a 7.48. Di nuovo alla Casa Bianca, la conclusione di una chiamata che ha sembrato essere più circa continuare i buoni rapporti, che i successi reali.
Me? Ho ripartito un tassì nella città, ad un hotel piccolo funky. È stato un viaggio stupefacente. Penso che dorma bene stasera.
16 gennaio - il GMT 1230
ora nel motorcade, ma gli esperti è nervosi. Siamo parte posteriore troppo lontana dalla parte anteriore del motorcade.
Infine nell'aeronautica una! E di nuovo agli Stati Uniti con il presidente. Più per seguire l'altra estremità.
16 gennaio - GMT 1145
non sicuro se ho visto mai tanta gente segreta di servizio. Gli uomini in vetri neri sono dappertutto qui all'hotel in cui il presidente Bush ed il presidente Mubarak tengono il loro congresso di notizie in alcuni minuti.
Gli Egiziani sono grandi su sicurezza. Ci sono stati vari attacchi della bomba nel Sinai negli ultimi anni in modo da lungo il nostro itinerario qui erano le dozzine degli agenti normali dei vestiti che si siedono fuori nel deserto dal lato della strada.
Così ora un momento del quiet mentre aspettiamo i due capi.
Sono volo domestico sull'aeronautica una e la gente della Casa Bianca è dicendo noi deve funzionare per il motorcade quando rifinisce. Ci è una donna americana frantic che continua a dirci che il presidente non li aspetti!
I photographers stanno dicendoci tutti di rimanere sedentesi per non oscurare il loro punto di vista. Tutto. A. piccolo sul bordo. Quando ottengono qui sarò discutibilmente una coppia dei tester assenti dal capo più potente del mondo. Qualunque il vostro parere dell'uomo che è abbastanza emozionante.
O sono stato nella bolla troppo lunga?
16 gennaio - MATTINA
un'ora e venti minuti di sonno. In una settimana di appena qualsiasi riposo. Il produttore radiofonico Yolande non ha ottenuto sonno. Stava imballando l'apparecchiatura.
È 0630. Il sole è giusto circa venire in su. Il cielo è chiaro.
Sta andando essere uno di quei giorni che bei ottenete così spesso nel Medio Oriente quando le marche chiare tutto compaiono così sharp, così ben definito.
Gli automobili swerving attraverso il vicolo davanti il nostro bus. Ma il traffico sul senso all'aeroporto sta muovendosi velocemente e saremo là presto.
Fuori all'Egitto per alcune ore. Allora di nuovo agli S.U.A.
Ritengo sempre lo stesso quando lascia il Medio Oriente. Un po'triste.
Ciò è un posto speciale, un posto che ha sofferto così tanto, un posto che è in modo da compreso male da tanta gente.
Mi domando se George Bush ora ritiene che lo capisce poco un migliore?
15 gennaio - POMERIGGIO
ho uscito oggi “della bolla„ - per un tutto 45 minuti.
Ho saltato in un tassì ed ho chiesto al driver di prenderlo ad una via di shopping. Il driver, dalla Bangladesh, ha riso quando ho chiesto se la gradisce qui.
“Non è un buon posto,„ ha detto.
È qui, come tutti gli operai stranieri, guadagnare i soldi - nella sua cassa per la sede della parte posteriore della famiglia.
Abbiamo tirato su ed ho uscito. In un negozio stazionario un uomo nel rosso e nel bianco chequered il headscarf favorito da Saudis detto: “George Bush? Non gradisca. “
In un caffè intorno al angolo, il mondo TV di BBC stava mostrando sulla televisione dello schermo piano e ad una tabella ha seduto un uomo con un laptop che guarda YouTube sul Internet senza fili.
Ho chiesto notizie “su discorso di libertà„ del sig. Bush nell'Abu Dhabi l'altro giorno.
“Dice sempre questo, questo è il suo discorso usuale sulla libertà e democrazia e cose. Anche in America che non hanno questo, “lui ha sorriso.
“George Bush non è un uomo pacifico. Appena, voi sa, guerre molto di inizio. “
Abbiamo guidato di nuovo all'hotel. Ho interrogato il driver del tassì di Bangladeshi riguardo al costo di combustibile qui.
“No, non costoso,„ ha detto. Non sicuro che farà i consumatori degli Stati Uniti, né George Bush, ritenga affatto più meglio circa il costo di un barilotto di olio!
14 gennaio - ANCHE
ché giorno. Tutto che riguarda questa chiamata dice che oggi colpiscono una parete del mattone.
Penso che la gente della pressa della Casa Bianca anche. Tutto sembra esaurito. Il programma gruelling.
Il naso di storia si è tuffato una punta così là era adrenalina che li rifornisce di combustibile tutti.
I giornalisti gradiscono un po'di carne sulle ossa della storia, ma oggi tutto realmente trovassimo fuori circa il presidente era che è stato indicato che che cosa ha detto erano “gli uccelli bei„ della preda.
Allora abbiamo ottenuto il suo menu del pranzo - minestra del carciofo e torta di mela con il gelato.
E sarete felici di non conoscere dubbio che i Saudis giudichino quel pranzo “relativamente presto per il nostro presidente della presto--base„ secondo la sua segretaria di pressa. Come ho detto, nessun notizie.
Così i giornalisti americani hanno dovuto soddisfare le loro reti con le storia circa quanto domani potremmo testimoniare i primi snowfall in Riyadh nelle decadi.
“Almeno non dovranno andare lontano trovare la sabbia per le strade„ un corrispondente segnalata.
14 gennaio - benvenuto
a Medio Evo, bambino di MEZZOGIORNO “! „
Che è che cosa qualcuno nel corpo mobile della pressa della Casa Bianca ha detto mentre abbiamo colpito la terra in Arabia Saudita. A bordo delle donne discusso se devono portare i headscarves. Il golfo di capire (o di equivoco) è evidente.
Sul bus all'hotel le donne si sono dette a che poiché siamo su una chiamata ad alto livello potessero scegliere se o non portare un headscarf.
Poiché siamo in una società musulmana molto conservatrice in cui le donne sono obbligate a dissimulare, quello sembra consiglio ufficiale sconosciuto.
La famiglia di Bush è amichevole con la famiglia reale saudita, in modo da il presidente conoscerà i limiti del suo cosiddetto “ordine del giorno di libertà„ qui.
Un giorno dopo che abbia richiesto i paesi attraverso il Medio Oriente per essere più democratico e liberale, introdurre le riforme economiche e sociali, questa è buono un posto come ottenete vedere che non stanno andando accadere in alcun senso espressivo durante la presidenza del George il W Bush.
Dice che ogni paese deve controllare i cambiamenti nel relativo proprio senso, ma qui a molti ritiene come sta provando ad imporre i valori culturali occidentali al mondo arabo.
Ci è inoltre un'eccedenza di domanda se la strategia del sig. Bush isolare l'Iran a causa delle relative ambizioni nucleari funzionerà qui. La risposta corta è “nessuna esso non„.
I Saudis hanno giocato sempre un atto d'equilibratura molto intelligente per effettuare la stabilità regionale. Sono stati preoccupati recentemente per l'Iran, ma sembrano adottare un metodo di provare a raggiungere fuori a Tehran a tensionamento diffuso.
Il presidente Bush spenderà molto dei suoi due giorni in Arabia Saudita che sightseeing piuttosto che la politica di comunicazione
là è una comprensione fra dichiara nella regione che Tehran non reagisce positivamente ad aggressione di un tipo politico o militare.
In Arabia Saudita ed inoltre l'altro dichiara in questa regione, ci è un senso che le ambizioni nucleari dell'Iran hanno cambiato le regole del gioco.
Quando una volta che i Saudis, come gli Egiziani, richiedessero Medio Oriente libero nucleare (ricordi di l'Israele si crede avere dozzine dei warheads nucleari - anche se non ammette mai che questo) ora hanno spostato la loro posizione.
Dicono che desiderano sviluppare la loro possibilità nucleare per differenziare le loro risorse energetiche, ma l'ambizione dichiarata è una risposta libera nell'Iran.
Come di consueto i Saudis devono lavorare duro per equilibrare di che cosa è buono per il loro alleato vicino gli Stati Uniti e di che cosa i loro vicini regionali, compreso l'Iran, hanno bisogno.
Forse ecco perché il presidente Bush spenderà molto del suo tempo qui nei due giorni prossimi che sightseeing piuttosto che la politica di comunicazione.
14 gennaio - MATTINA
un inizio iniziale oggi. Un altro presto cominciano!
Abbiamo accatastato sui minibuses, con tutto l'nostro ingranaggio ed abbiamo guidato la mezza ora o così all'aeroporto.
L'aeronautica una è una vista sbalorditiva sul tarmac a mia parte di sinistra. Il sole che aumenta dietro esso ed i lotti dei reporter che ottengono le loro foto prese nella parte anteriore.
A bordo, otteniamo abbiamo offerto un mimosa - una ultima bevanda prima di arrivare in Arabia Saudita.
Siamo stati ricordati a appena là siamo alcool in saudito. E le donne che viaggiano sul viaggio si sono dette a per vestirsi giustamente.
Prepari per tolgono. Migliore vada!
13 gennaio - SERA
non è giusto la Casa Bianca che di Bush sto imparando circa su questo viaggio. È inoltre la macchina americana di mezzi.
La gente che lavora accanto me nel funzionamento di segnalazione radiofonico è tutto corrispondenti conditi. Uno è un nome della famiglia negli Stati Uniti dopo gli anni di servizio e di giornalismo renowned.
Ma tutti spendono la maggior parte del giorno che archivia il più corto delle parti radiofoniche. Così metta effettivamente che li denominano “punti„!
A volte ottengono fare l'analisi più lunga ed il loro lavoro è professionale e di alto livello. Ma sembra che le loro stazioni più non desiderano più di alcuni secondi di riempimento.
Uno di loro, non dirò per quale rete, l'altro giorno ha deplorato le storia che sono coperte sul Web site della stazione. Intrattenimento e racconti wacky dominati.
Allora oggi, stavo facendo una registrazione alla macchina fotografica con una squadra americana della TV. Ho parlato affinchè circa un minuto e una metà provi a spiegare alcuni dei precedenti al discorso del presidente. Quello è quasi un libro, il cineoperatore detto quando ho rifinito. Ha detto negli Stati Uniti che è mólto più corto solo.
Ci è buon giornalismo in dichiara, naturalmente. I giornali hanno le storia di qualità ed affare della radio e della TV con alcune edizioni pesanti. E sto viaggiando principalmente con alcuni giornalisti eccellenti che prendono seriamente i loro lavori.
Ciò non è una critica di loro, ma generale il riempimento più delle loro aziende fornisce è storia rapide e catchy vicino dominate. E sembra che neppure il loro proprio presidente non ottiene molto di uno sguardo poll.
Alcuni discuterebbero i mezzi britannici già hanno cominciato giù quel percorso. Se quello è il caso, il futuro non osserva per essere terribile bene informato.
Abbastanza! Per dormire, brevemente. Domani siamo fuori presto in Arabia Saudita sul piedino seguente del viaggio. Giorno sei. Paese cinque.
Il 13 gennaio - MATTINA che
lo denominano la bolla e quando abbiamo atterrato in Bahrain esso ha ritenuto come siamo stati attaccati a destra all'interno di esso.
Il bus li ha guidati dall'aeroporto, aveva parcheggiato vicino all'aeroplano ed abbiamo camminato semplicemente su esso. Per qualche motivo il nostro convoglio ha avuto un escort della polizia ed abbiamo passato le giunzioni in cui il traffico locale ha dovuto aspettarlo mentre abbiamo guidato attraverso le luci rosse. Abbiamo guidato lungo il causeway verso i grattacieli di Manama.
Altri giornalisti hanno eliminato le loro macchine fotografiche, facendo le domande riguardo a che cosa stavamo vedendo. Turisti eccitati. Allora abbiamo ottenuto all'hotel e siamo stati sbattuti poll.
Il motivo lo denominano la bolla, sono perché questo processo intero significa che dal touchdown ai mezzi seli concentri letteralmente osservano dalla bolla il nell'ambiente intorno voi. Nel Kuwait non penso che abbia venuto a contatto di singolo kuwaitiano. Comunque per essere giusto la maggior parte del personale dell'hotel ci proviene dall'Asia o altrove.
È basicamente come l'incastonatura con il presidente - con tutte le edizioni che si alza per i giornalisti. Non che la Casa Bianca in tutto il senso prova ad interessare la nostra segnalazione.
Non si sono avvicinato mai circa una storia che sto archiviando. Ho ottenuto la libertà totale, ma a causa dei programmi stretti non ottenga venire a contatto della gente del paese che stiamo attraversando. Quello è giusto. Il lavoro è di segnalare sulla chiamata del presidente, ma li significa bisogno altre fonti delle informazioni su dove siete.
Altra una cosa rapida. Il sig. Bush mentre qui in Bahrain ha accolto favorevolmente una nuova legge irachena che permette che le migliaia dei sostenitori minori precedenti del partito di Baath del Saddam Hussein prendano i lavori di governo. It's worth remembering that it was Mr Bush's administration that supported the removal of Baath party officials from office in the first place, soon after the occupation of Iraq in 2003.
The feeling in the region? Among many I suspect "Why didn't he follow the new line on former Baath party officials in the first place?"
Right, got to pack. We're now off to Abu Dhabi.
12 JANUARY - 1200 GMT
You can't miss George Bush in a crowd. That hand held high waving. That swagger and grin. I was quite surprised though when he walked through the Arifjan military camp in Kuwait at the reaction from the US soldiers and other personnel there.
They cheered of course, but I'd thought they would have cheered for longer. Perhaps his unpopularity back home is rubbing off here?
As he told the troops that the US would be victorious in Iraq, Condoleezza Rice stood at the back, nodding in agreement behind her large black designer sunglasses.
Mr Bush has seemed more nuanced in his statements on this trip than he perhaps has in the past. He also seems to have a firm grip of the issues as he sees them, and there's a confidence about him.
It doesn't mean he's going to be successful of course.
Many here argue his presidency has done too much damage in the Middle East even to contemplate a bright future any time soon. But as one American official told me, maybe, with US domestic attention focused on Mr Bush's successor, perhaps he feels less constrained by US politics.
Perhaps, as this official speculated, he's enjoying simply the most powerful man in the world.
So. Now to Bahrain. We just boarded, after a mad rush of filing our stories. The plane's taxiing past Air Force One now. Another day, another country.
12 JANUARY - 0430 GMT
Early morning wake-up call again!
We're all in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kuwait with a load of our kit laid out on the floor and us security agents going through it. We're off to Camp Arifjan, the biggest US military base here.
The president's going to speak to the troops and to his top general in Iraq. He'll meet the US ambassador to Iraq too. Today the agenda's certainly less about Israel and the Palestinians.
11 JANUARY - EVENING
Amazing. I just did something I never thought I would. I got on a plane and flew from Tel Aviv to Kuwait. It took about two hours. Easy.
When I lived in Jerusalem and travelled to Iraq I would go through Kuwait. But the journey would take over seven hours - because there are no direct flights between the two countries. Until you're travelling with the US president.
The reason there are no direct flights is because Kuwait like many Arab countries doesn't have normal relations with Israel.
That's something Mr Bush wants to address here. He's hoping to encourage allies of his, like Kuwait, to have some contact at least with Israel. Even before we'd stepped off the plane Condoleezza Rice had said we shouldn't expect any developments on that, but she says there is progress.
And most Arab states like Kuwait will always find it an unreasonable demand to form any sort of tie with Israel, as long as Israel occupies Palestinian land.
You can see how it's all interlinked. That's why George Bush's strategy is - while not new - probably the only sensible way to proceed. He's worked out the issues that he thinks need addressing, and he's trying to address all of them at the same time hoping progress on one will aid progress in others. A virtuous circle if you like.
If it works maybe one day everyone will be able to fly from Tel Aviv to Kuwait in two hours.
11 JANUARY - AFTERNOON
The travelling press pack is now off to Kuwait, following hot on the heels of the president.
We are going to have to play catch-up on this leg as he will have done his official duties by the time we arrive.
The ride out from Jerusalem was beautiful. It is a bright sunny day and now, travelling out of Ben Gurion airport is proving so easy.
I spent four years getting all sorts of lengthy personal security questions coming in and out of this airport.
This time, after a very brief delay our bus simply drove into the airport and right up to the plane. We will be airborne within half an hour so.
The logistics that go into a trip like this are phenomenal.
It cost a huge amount of money - the White House is reluctant to say how much, but it is in the millions of dollars.
George Bush clearly thinks it is worth it. He left this troubled land still talking of his confidence.
Now he has to get some of his Arab allies on side to enlist their help in persuading the Palestinians and the Israelis to move forward.
10 JANUARY - EVENING
The great thing about being involved in a trip like this is that you get a special press pass that so far seems to open all sorts of doors.
When the rest of the city is shut down, I just whip out my "White House Middle East" card and sail through.
"The trip of the president to the Middle East" it says on it. Note, not any old president, just THE president!
And there is a confidence about the president and his people to be honest.
George Bush admitted today in an aside that he can sometimes be criticised for not speaking English so well. But on this trip so far he's appeared literate, on top of the issues and actually rather believable about the whole prospect of Middle East peace.
If I hadn't worked here for almost four years before covering the US, I might even be a little less sceptical about his chances of success.
His National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley came and spoke to us today. He said that the meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, had gone well, and that both sides had exchanged "reminiscences" during a working lunch.
He made it all sound very cordial.
And I spoke to another US official, who said he'd been in a private meeting of the president and US staff working here in Jerusalem.
The president - as he spoke about the chances of peace - had "welled up" he said. Visiting the Holy Land - as a religious man - has clearly affected George Bush deeply.
9 JANUARY - EVENING
Poor old George Bush. He certainly picked a good day to be travelling to the Middle East. All eyes in America were on who might be the next US president, rather than him.
Clinton and Obama were names you heard far more frequently on the US networks on the first day of his trip here than you did the name Bush.
A friend of mine who works here for a big US network says they were seventh story in the running order and possibly not getting onto the main evening news. And he was working with the White House correspondent!
What I thought was most interesting today was what felt like an ever so slightly more critical approach towards the Israelis from the Bush administration.
They are still the closest of allies of course.
However, in the last 24 hours I think every White House briefing we've had has mentioned how Israel has to stop settlement expansion, just as the Palestinians have to stop attacks against Israelis.
For years you rarely heard more than a cursory mention of Israel's settlement growth (remember one of Israel's commitments is to stop building Jewish towns and villages on occupied Palestinian land).
It'll be surprising if it makes a huge difference on the ground - but as President Bush said with a smile to Prime Minister Olmert today, "if you need a little nudge then you know I will give a nudge." He sounded like he meant it too.
9 JANUARY - MORNING
The streets are quieter than I ever remember them, apart from when this country closes down on Yom Kippur.
People have stayed away from the city today, because the streets around the president's hotel are closed. There are police everywhere. When the president's convoy moves from venue to venue they simply shut down the route he takes to other traffic.
I walked up to the hotel, which is surrounded by Israeli and US security people. People hang around to take a quick photo and are told not to use their cameras.
There's a strange feeling in the air. I left a United States in the grip of early election fever where George W Bush feels somewhat irrelevant. Here he's greeted by all as the most powerful man on Earth.
He hopes that will help encourage the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to focus on what he wants them to do - launch a proper negotiating process.
The thing that's so noticeable is the difference between what you hear from Bush's aides, and what you hear from people on the streets here.
His aides tell us they're still confident that there can be a negotiated peace deal by the end of the year. And why not? After all most people understand the broad layout of what such a deal would look like. In theory and on paper it is possible.
But then you talk to the people here, like my taxi driver this morning, who told me with that weary sigh everyone here has when talking about such visits: "It won't achieve anything."
8 JANUARY
Midnight on a mild January night. Far warmer than the freezing conditions I left behind in Iowa after reporting on the first stage of the process to chose the next president of the world's most powerful nation.
The United States - caught up in the excitement of Clinton v Obama - almost seems to have almost forgotten that its current president has exactly a year left in office.
I wheel my case across the tarmac, towards the charter plane that's taking reporters to the Middle East on President Bush's eight-day trip, and chat to a colleague who covers the White House for another network.
"He's got to go abroad," we joke. "No one here's interested in him anymore!"
But if George W Bush - America's least popular president in years (both at home and abroad) - gets it right, there will be more than just interest in him.
In pre-trip interviews he's said he genuinely believes there can be a "comprehensive peace treaty [between Israel and the Palestinians] signed by the end of this year".
Having left Jerusalem last August, after almost four years reporting from there, that strikes me as pretty unlikely.
As we taxi for take-off the steward makes a mistake during the safety announcement.
"In the event of a water execution..." he trails off.
"Do you mean water-boarding?" shouts a journalist. Much laughter.
Everyone here's covered President Bush's refusal to say whether he considers - as many do - the interrogation technique to be torture.
We settle back for the ride. In the next eight days we'll visit six countries, one occupied territory, and a host of world leaders.
It's going to be tiring, but fascinating.
Mittlere Ostentourtagebuch.
Automatically translated into German thanks to WorldLingo
Mittlere Ostentourtagebuch, George W Bush hat eine Mittlere Ostentour gefolgert, die seinen ersten Besuch als US Präsident zu Israel und zu den palästinensischen Gegenden, sowie Anschläge im Golf und im Ägypten einschloß. BBC entsprechender Matthew Preis, der mit ihm reiste, schrieb ein Tagebuch auf seinen Fortschritt.
16. Januar - GMT 2230, das
ich annehme, daß die merkwürdigste Sache über das Reisen auf Luftwaffe man das Wissen ist, daß gerade einige Meßinstrumente vor Ihnen auf der gleichen Fläche einige der Welten die meisten leistungsfähigen Leute sind: Bush, Reis, Hadley. Sitzen gerade oben in der Frontseite. Oder im Falle Bushs, der vielleicht in seinem Bett liegt, das oben in der Nase der Fläche recht ist.
Nach unserem wütenden Schlag zum Flughafen hetzten wir zur Rückseite der Fläche, in der geheime Service-Männer unsere Durchläufe weg auf einer Liste überprüften und wir an Bord gingen. Nicht wo Sie auf einen kommerziellen Flug aber viel niedriger gehen, ähnlich zu, wo das Gepäck geht. Herauf die Treppe vermutlich ist 20 in allen und dann dort eine Landung mit dem Mittelbereich, dem Personalbereich und dem geheimen Service auch.
Innerhalb - gut ist es grau. Hübsches böses wirklich. Und die Mittelkabine ist eine Spitze wie Sein in den Geschäft Sitzen mit Wirtschaftservice. Erste Timer wie ich erhalten einen Sachebeutel. Es verwendete, einen Kasten Zigaretten nach innen mit der Präsidentendichtung auf ihnen zu haben, aber Nancy Reagan, werde ich erklärt, eingewendet, so jetzt Sie erhalte Hausdichtung M&Ms.
Es gibt keine Sicherheit Ansage. Ich schätze, wenn Sie um den grossen Mann sich kümmern, den jeder für selbst sonst abwehren kann. Und wir mußten nicht Mobiles abstellen - obgleich es kein Signal bei 33.000 Fuß gibt! Es gibt 14 Sitze im Journobereich und Paare von Fernsehapparaten.
Bill Clinton verwendete zurückzukommen und zu plaudern. Der Photograph nahe bei mir sagte, daß es schlecht war. Sie würden versuchen, nach einer gruelling Reise zu schlafen und er würde versuchen zu necken. Kein solches Problem mit GW. Er bleibt weg von uns wohl.
Die interessanteste Sache war, wie dieses die REALE Luftblase ist. Das motorcade lief uns zum Tarmac dann die Fläche dann, das wir mit einem Taxi fuhren und flog und traf nie einmal eine wirkliche Person richtig. Ich weiß, der moderne Politiken ist, aber ich kann nicht zu denken, helfen, daß George W Bush kaum im Ausland, als er Präsidenten gewählt wurde und dann für die letzten sieben Jahre gewesen war, die er in einer Präsidentenluftblase gewesen ist - er ist diesem unterworfen worden! Und er wohnt in Washington, geschieden, wie dieser Platz vom realen Leben auch sein kann!
Ich verwirklichte gerade beim Schreiben, daß ich heute morgen in Riyadh aufwachte, fiel innen auf Sharm ELScheich und morgens jetzt in Washington DC. Und aller Tag denke ich, daß ich nur ein Schwätzchen mit einer Person aus irgendwelchen der drei Länder gehabt habe.
Wir landeten ein wenig frühes, um Hälfte-sieben und trotteten heraus in Luftwaffenstützpunkt eines kalten Andrews. Zur rechten Marine eine, der Präsidentenhubschrauber. Und dort, der Mann selbst, der in Richtung zu es geht.
Er schneidet eine einsame Abbildung, etwas gebuckelt. Der Zerhacker fuhr dann weggehoben, bei 7.48 mit einem Taxi. Zurück zu dem Weißen Haus das Ende eines Besuchs, der geschienen hat, mehr über das Aufrechterhalten der guten Relationen zu sein, als reale Ausführungen.
Ich? Ich teilte ein Taxi in Stadt, zu einem funky kleinen Hotel. Es ist eine erstaunliche Reise gewesen. Ich denke, daß ich gut heute abend schlafe.
16. Januar - GMT 1230
jetzt im motorcade, aber die alten Hände sind nervös. Wir sind zu weite Rückseite von der Frontseite des motorcade.
Schließlich in Luftwaffe eine! Und zurück zu den US mit dem Präsidenten. Mehr, zum des anderen Endes zu folgen.
16. Januar - GMT 1145
nicht sicher, wenn ich überhaupt so viele geheime Service-Leute gesehen habe. Männer in den schwarzen Gläsern sind überall hier im Hotel, in dem Präsident Bush und Präsident Mubarak ihre Nachrichten Konferenz in einigen Minuten halten.
Die ägypter sind auf Sicherheit groß. Es hat mehrere Bombe Angriffe in Sinai in den letzten Jahren gegeben, also entlang unserem Weg hier waren Dutzende der normalen Kleidungmittel, die heraus in der Wüste durch die Straße Seite sitzen.
So jetzt ein Moment der Ruhe, während wir die zwei Führer warten.
Ich bin das Fliegen, das auf Luftwaffe eine Haupt ist, und die Hausleute sind sagend wir müssen für das motorcade laufen, wenn sie beendet. Es gibt eine wild amerikanische Frau, die hält, zu erklären uns, daß der Präsident uns nicht wartet!
Die Photographen bitten uns alle, sitzend zu bleiben damit, ihre Ansicht nicht undeutlich zu machen. Jeder. A. wenig auf Rand. Wenn sie hier erhalten, bin ich ein Paar der Meßinstrumente, die diskutierbar vom leistungsfähigsten Führer der Welt weg sind. Was auch immer Ihre Meinung des Mannes,
available in: