Bush builds postwar support

WASHINGTON -- A day before kicking off another U.N. battle over Iraq, President Bush tried to build support Thursday for his postwar goals, filling the White House with leaders of countries allied behind the U.S.-led military campaign.\nThe message from Bush was that such loyalty pays off. He ate breakfast with the Danish prime minister, had lunch and an Oval Office appearance with the emir of Qatar and held an afternoon celebration in the East Room with a half dozen more members of his Iraq coalition.\n"You made some promises to America and you kept your promises," Bush told the emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, whose tiny nation hosted U.S. war headquarters. "We're honored to call you friend."\nThe White House also announced a rare state dinner for Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroya, a vocal supporter of the war in Iraq and on terrorism and a coveted visit to Bush's Texas ranch for Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at which the leaders will discuss Iraq's future.\nThe United States on Friday planned to present for U.N. approval a resolution that would immediately lift crippling economic sanctions on Iraq, diplomats said. The U.S. approach faces opposition from Russia and France. There are signs, however, of less Security Council friction than when Bush unsuccessfully tried to win backing for forcing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power -- an effort that created an international rift.\nThe joint U.S.-British-Spanish resolution also would phase out the United Nation's oil-for-food aid program and create an international board to ensure income from Iraq's oil industry benefits the country's people, said the diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity. The international arms embargo on Iraq would remain in place.\nThe White House's list of visitors Thursday was "a real numerical reminder of how the world agreed with the United States' on ousting Saddam, said the president's spokesman, Ari Fleischer. He claimed a "a much more hopeful" environment leading up to the new U.N. debate.\n"Some of these nations that opposed the United States have learned lessons and made mistakes, and they don't want to repeat those mistakes," he said. "Now that people of Iraq have been freed, now that the Saddam Hussein regime is gone, why would anybody have any opposition to lifting sanctions on the Iraqi people?"\nBush's breakfast with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen was a nod to Denmark's assent to sending troops to help stabilize Iraq even before any decision is made about the U.N.'s role in Iraq's reconstruction.\nLater, Bush paid special tribute to the Qatari emir, granting him an Oval Office meeting, a lunch and a joint appearance at which the Arab leader said his country is open to American business.\n"We welcome all American corporations who are willing and committed to come and invest in Qatar," he said in his brief statement.\nAt a later ceremony, Bush praised seven former communist countries for their shift into free-market democracies and for their support for the United States on Iraq. The event, attended by the nations' foreign ministers, followed the unanimous Senate vote endorsing the addition to NATO of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.\nAll but Slovenia were at least nominal partners in Bush's Iraq coalition; Slovenia has allowed overflight rights for humanitarian missions.\n"In the battle of Iraq, central and eastern European countries have stood with America in our coalition to end a grave threat to peace, and to rid Iraq of a brutal, brutal regime," Bush said.