Bush Keeps Reins Even on APEC TripUS President George W Bush effectively moves the headquarters of the war on terrorism to Shanghai this week, heading to an Asia-Pacific summit where advisors insist he will remain the campaign's commander in chief.An army of aides and state-of-the-art telecommunications equipment mean that "the White House" travels with the president, who is as plugged into events as he would be at the presidential mansion in Washington. Aides say Bush will stay in close touch with top aides at his home base here as he pursues a key mission: building support among Asian nations -- such as Muslim-majority Malaysia and Indonesia -- for the fight against terrorism. "He feels it's very important to go ahead and make this trip," his national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, told reporters Monday. Rice was to accompany the president when he leaves for Shanghai on Wednesday. "He believes that one of his most important tasks as president is to work on strengthening our alliances, as I said, to work on the global economic issues here, to continue to build the coalition against terrorism," she said. Rice said Bush would be "in constant touch" with aides in Washington during the October 20-21 summit. Other aides said he was expected to have frequent contact with Vice President Dick Cheney and US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. US Secretary of State Colin Powell was to meet up with Bush in Shanghai. Several aides pointed to the advantage of traveling aboard the presidential "Air Force One" airplane -- a specially designed Boeing 747 dubbed "the flying White House" -- armed with powerful tools for keeping the president connected. Much of the storied aircraft's abilities are top secret, but Boeing's Internet site says it boasts a conference room and expansive telecommunications capabilities including scores of telephones and multi-frequency radios for air-to-air, air-to-ground and satellite communications. |
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