Showing posts with label usa president. Show all posts
Showing posts with label usa president. Show all posts
Ronald Reagan Statue Unveiled in London
Monday, 4 July 2011
A 10-foot bronze statue of former President Ronald Reagan to commemorate 100 years since his birth has been unveiled in London, the Independent newspaper reports.
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined British Foreign Secretary William Hague in paying tribute to Reagan Monday at the U.S. Embassy in London.
"It is a great honor for me personally to take part in a ceremony for a man who changed the political landscape at the time I first became involved in it," Hague said.
"Statues bring us to face to face with our heroes long after they are gone.”
Rice represented the late president's widow Nancy Reagan at the ceremony, which coincided with America’s Independence Day celebrations.
Hague added that Reagan's great political ally, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, could not attend the ceremony, the paper reported.
Hague said: "She has asked me to say these words to you: Ronald Reagan was a great president and a great man -- a true leader for our times. He held clear principles and acted upon them with purpose.
"Through his strength and his conviction he brought millions of people to freedom as the Iron Curtain finally came down.
"It was a pleasure to be his colleague and his friend, and I hope that this statue will be a reminder to future generations of the debt we owe him."
According to the paper, the statue of Reagan was commissioned as part of a year of celebrations to mark what would have been the 100th birthday of the former U.S. president.
It will stand alongside existing statues of other illustrious American presidents such as Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin D Roosevelt.
General Dempsey may become top US military officer
Thursday, 26 May 2011
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama may pick Army Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey as the U.S. military's top officer, filling a crucial post that in recent years has served as the main point of contact with Pakistan's military, sources said on Wednesday.
Dempsey is a leading candidate for the high-profile job of chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Dempsey, who commanded troops during the Iraq war and has broad support in Congress, would replace Admiral Mike Mullen in the post. Mullen is a holdover from the Bush administration who has been in the role of top U.S. military officer since 2007 and is due to step down on Oct. 1.
As Army chief of staff, Dempsey is the top officer in the largest branch of the U.S. military. He has served in the post only since last month.
The nomination of Dempsey would be the last major change expected in Obama's national security team following the president's April announcement of new picks to lead the Defense Department and the CIA.
If confirmed, Dempsey would work with Leon Panetta, now the head of the CIA and Obama's choice to replace the departing Robert Gates as defense secretary. Obama picked Army General David Petraeus, commander of the Afghanistan war effort, to replace Panetta at the spy agency.
Dempsey's selection would alter the chemistry of a team that will help set strategy in Afghanistan, the Middle East and for looming defense budget battles in Washington. He also would be involved in plans to withdraw U.S. forces entirely from Iraq by the end of this year.
Mullen has worked to improve ties with Pakistan and served as the main interlocutor with Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Kayani.
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