EU Commission President Durao Barroso Hails Barack Obama

APPA NEWS, LONDON - UK - European Union Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso has been quick, in fact one of the very first to salute President elect of the United States of America, Barack Obama, on what is being estimated in political circles around the World, as a huge landslide victory!

According to British newswires, Mr Durão Barroso has sent messages of congratulations to the newly elected President of the United States saying that “Senator Obama will be taking office at a critical juncture. There are many pressing challenges facing the international community, including the global financial crisis and global warming.”

However politically correct, the move is nonetheless a surprising 360 degrees twist, as it is historically well known that Mr Barroso played host at the Azores Summit, which he proposed himself, to Toni Blair and President George W. Bush, days before America and

The Azores Summit, arranged by Mr Barroso, lead ultimately to War in Iraq

 the UK embarked on the War against Iraq.

Mr Durão Barroso, who was at the time the Portuguese Prime Minister, became the nominee of choice for the presidency of the European Commission, shortly after.

Popular memory may be short, but journalism must remain independent and recall the record of that day, 16 of March 2003, when José Manuel Durão Barroso, Toni Blair, José Maria Aznar and George W. Bush met to come up with a declarative statement on the issue of Iraq, which, we may agree, presented some Peace rhetoric, courtesy of Mr Barroso, together with enough jargon about weapons of mass destruction which never

Azores Summit Press Conference, hosted by Mr Durão Barroso 16 March 2003

existed, based upon intelligence, which was wrong, despite United Nations resolutions that condemned Iraq but did not convey a licence to invade or go to war and ultimately, against scores and scores in Public Opinion, strongly opposed to war in Iraq, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Doubtless, five years later, Mr Barroso is right about the new USA President elect taking office “at a critical juncture”.

We are wondering and keen to find out indeed, whose “juncture” ?… Barack Obama’s?… Or Mr Barroso’s himself?

For a full transcript of the Azores Summit, 16 March 2003, click here.