The Bush visit: a reporter's notebook

Kraków was in the thick of things the weekend of May 31.

Poland's richest football club, Wisła Kraków, won its third first-division title in five years, setting the streets alive with frantic fans Saturday evening. The government's pro-European Union campaign was getting in some of its last licks to a captive weekend audience.

And, well, the president of the world's only superpower was also stopping by to lay out his vision for a Europe united with America - his first foreign jaunt since Operation Iraqi Freedom, which injured ties with allies France, German and Russia, but strengthened them with Poland.

Unfortunately for some, that vision - and the personal "thank-yous" delivered by U.S. President George W. Bush - didn't include Kraków Mayor Jacek Majchrowski, who had been excluded from the welcoming ceremony because of his opposition to the Iraq war that his national government so ardently supported.

"It is strange that guests dictate where the host should or should not be," Majchrowski told a Polish radio station after hearing the news.

Strange indeed.

Air Force One touched down at 9:39 Friday evening, May 30, at Kraków's Balice Military Airport - the first stop on the president's crucial seven-day diplomatic mission to heal the damaged Atlantic alliance and gain a few inches on the Mideast road map. The White House was probably the least concerned about this visit to Kraków, as it was largely perceived as a diplomatic warm-up - though duly earned by the Poles - en route to main events in Russia, France and the Mideast.

Still, not much was left to chance.

The expectation of that most recognizable Boeing 747-200B landing on the heavily policed tarmac elicited a variety of scenes and emotions. Everything ran like clockwork near the runway. Military personnel combed the adjacent forests. Curious dogs led uniformed handlers to interesting odors. Stolid Secret Service men stood aside the runway. A staircase stood at attention for the esteemed arrival. The press stood penned in, cameras, microphones and notepads cued up - too far to pepper anyone with questions, close enough for snapshots.

The reactions to the fanfare ran the gamut.

A cameraman from U.S. TV network NBC, referring to a group of apparent VIPs sweeping the runway, was unimpressed.

"Everywhere you go swat teams all look the same," he grumbled to another seasoned colleague.

Very different was the apparent reaction of another member of the press who, as a Secret Service Agent described into his radio, had a "seizure," just as Air Force One came to a halt and the president was to emerge.

In lockstep with the pace of events, security had the infirm man swiftly spirited away in an ambulance, as the president and the first lady first poked their heads out into the night, descended the stairs, waved over the tops of their black limousine, and were quickly off in the cavalcade of Cadillacs and SUVs.

A taxi driver, evidently having sat in traffic much of the day, likened the Bush arrival to Pope John Paul II's visit last August when security was tight.

On Saturday the president and First Lady Laura Bush went on their much-publicized visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau - a trip Mr. Bush's father made as vice president and Gerald Ford made as president before them. This was the president's second visit to Poland in his 28 months in office.

In his speech later in the day, the president used the emotional visit, during which he was described as straight-faced and quiet, to hammer home his foreign policy doctrine.

"The death camps still bear witness," Bush said in his speech at Wawel Castle. "They remind us that evil is real and must be called by name and must be opposed."

During the roughly 90-minute stay, the president viewed the Extermination Building, spent gas cans, hair of the exterminated, Jewish prayer shawls and artificial limbs. He said such sights were "powerful," according to Ari Fleischer, White House spokesman, who lost relatives to the concentration camp. "History is a reminder of what's possible," the president also said after he toured the Execution Wall.

The press were generally kept at bay on this part of the visit, because "I think something like this, they really want to keep it pretty solemn, just in person, no fanfare, let the president and Mrs. Bush see it," Fleischer said.

The president and the first lady were then off to Wawel Castle, where they were welcomed by Poland's president and first lady. Presidents Bush and Aleksander Kwaśniewski held brief talks and then walked out to the Wawel Courtyard to give their speeches to the crowd.

Much of the crowd had been waiting in the sunny courtyard for hours.

Jerzy Hausner, minister of economy, labor and social policy, arrived early and mingled with guests. Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdziński walked around, trailed by military personnel. One of the first on the scene, Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, snapped some photos, teased some White House staff and killed some time reading in the shade. By the time Bush began to speak Ari Fleischer sat leaned up against a shady bannister.

Around the dais overlooking the gathering crowd and ivy walls, hung a few dozen Polish and American flags, a lone bugle player steadied himself and a group of musicians warmed up. Loudspeakers twice warned the crowd to turn off mobile phones and pagers.

The presidents entered at about 11:30 a.m.

President Kwaśniewski recognized that the "world is watching Kraków," as a city in a nation about to join the European Union, that is also a NATO member and Iraq war coalition member charged with leading a 7,000-strong peacekeeping force in Iraq's central southern zone - a reward of responsibility given by the Americans for support in Iraq.

"We deeply believe that America needs a united Europe," Kwaśniewski said. "We know well, and I say this here at Wawel Castle, that Europe needs a strong America."

President Bush's speech sought to paper over the divisions between Europe and America, thank Poland for its support in the war against terror and at the same time stress an American vision of the alliance.

"We have seen unity and common purpose," Bush said, referring to the Iraq question. "We have also seen debate, some of it healthy, some of it divisive."

In this he comforted Poland's at-times-confused situation as one of the world's most pro-American countries, which is also trying to join a Europe that is deeply divided over U.S. foreign policy.

"You also struggled to become a full member of the Atlantic alliance," he said. "Yet you have not come all this way, through occupations and tyranny and brave uprisings, only to be told that you must now choose between Europe and America. (Poland) is a good citizen of Europe, and Poland is a good friend of America, and there is no conflict between the two."

Both presidents then quickly greeted the crowd, Kwaśniewski hanging on longer to answer questions. Mrs. Bush and Jolanta Kwaśniewska talked to well-wishers for a few moments before departing.

Then, as quickly as they arrived, President Bush and his entourage vanished without a trace, off to St. Petersburg, Russia, to dine at the Peterhof Palace, watch ballet and celebrate St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And just as quickly as some Poles anticipated the presidential visit, others took to the Kraków streets Saturday evening to revel, honk and drink in celebration of Wisła Kraków's victory.

Kraków, however, still had time to wait before the issue of the EU referendum was resolved.