Reading?Passage?3
Bush?to?thank?Canberra?for?support
CANBERRA,?Australia?(CNN)?--?U.S.?President?George?W.?Bush?has?arrived?in?Australia’s?capital?on?the?last?leg?of?his?Asia?trip?to?thank?Prime?Minister?John?Howard?for?his?steadfast?allegiance?to?the?U.S.?and?support?for?the?war?on?terror.?
Bush?will?address?a?joint?sitting?of?the?national?Parliament,?visit?the?national?war?memorial?and?discuss?trade?and?the?terror?war?with?Howard?during?his?21-hour?stay.?
The?Australian?government?hopes?to?use?the?visit?to?advance?the?progress?of?discussions?which?could?lead?to?the?striking?of?a?free?trade?deal?between?the?two?nations.?
The?Australian?government?has?been?a?staunch?supporter?of?the?Bush?administration’s?war?on?terror,?contributing?troops?and?military?hardware?to?the?actions?in?Afghanistan?and?Iraq?and?backing?the?U.S.?position?in?international?forums?such?as?the?United?Nations.?
Bush?has?described?Howard?as?a?"good?friend"?and?a?"man?of?steel"?and?the?two?leaders?appear?to?have?established?a?genuine?rapport.?
But?Bush?also?created?a?diplomatic?hiccup?last?week?by?referring?to?Australia?as?a?"sheriff"?in?the?Asian?region,?a?description?which?does?not?sit?well?with?some?of?Australia’s?neighbors?who?consider?Canberra?to?be?too?closely?aligned?to?Washington.?
During?his?speech?to?the?parliament,?Bush?is?expected?to?thank?Howard’s?conservative?government?for?its?support,?and?justify?the?use?of?military?force?in?Iraq.?
Bush?is?the?fourth?U.S.?president?to?visit?Australia,?following?Bill?Clinton,?his?father?George?Bush?and?Lyndon?Johnson?in?making?the?trip?Down?Under.?
Police?are?expecting?around?5,000?demonstrators?to?attend?rallies?on?Thursday?with?most?voicing?their?anger?over?the?Iraq?war.?They?are?also?protesting?the?detention?of?Australian?citizens?at?Guantanamo?Bay?military?prison.?
But?security?will?attempt?to?prevent?protestors?from?getting?within?500?meters?of?the?president?and?have?banned?loudspeakers?being?directed?at?the?official?party.?
The?Canberra?visit?is?the?final?leg?of?a?six-nation?tour?by?President?Bush?which?included?attending?the?APEC?leaders?summit?in?Bangkok,?Thailand.?
The?trip?also?coincides?with?a?four-day?visit?from?Chinese?President?Hu?Jintao?to?Australia,?although?the?two?leaders’?paths?will?not?cross.?Hu?will?also?address?the?Australian?parliament.