Bush ushers in New Year with visit to injured troops

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – President George W Bush marked the start of 2006 by visiting injured US troops in his homestate of Texas on Sunday, as he ushers in the New Year with a less ambitious political agenda following a bruising year.

After spending New Year’s Eve at his Texas ranch with First Lady Laura Bush, the president arrived Sunday at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he met with 51 wounded troops and awarded nine Purple Heart medals. “I’m just overwhelmed by the great strength of character of not only those who have been wounded, but of their loved ones, as well,” Bush told reporters after the visit.The president is ringing in 2006 with a less ambitious political agenda, ahead of key congressional elections in which his Republican Party hopes to retain its grip over Congress.In his final weekly radio address of 2005, Bush underlined his priorities as establishing a free and independent Iraq, and maintaining US economic growth while trimming the country’s budget deficits.”I’ve been thinking long and hard about 2006,” the US leader said after visiting the wounded soldiers on Sunday.”My hopes, of course, are for peace around the world.I’ll continue to work as hard as I can to lay that foundation for peace,” he said.Sobered by a bruising 2005, including ongoing unrest in Iraq, the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, a probe into whether his White House outed a CIA agent and sliding poll ratings, the president is likely to play it safe in the year ahead, according to one analyst.- Nampa-AFP”I’m just overwhelmed by the great strength of character of not only those who have been wounded, but of their loved ones, as well,” Bush told reporters after the visit.The president is ringing in 2006 with a less ambitious political agenda, ahead of key congressional elections in which his Republican Party hopes to retain its grip over Congress.In his final weekly radio address of 2005, Bush underlined his priorities as establishing a free and independent Iraq, and maintaining US economic growth while trimming the country’s budget deficits.”I’ve been thinking long and hard about 2006,” the US leader said after visiting the wounded soldiers on Sunday.”My hopes, of course, are for peace around the world.I’ll continue to work as hard as I can to lay that foundation for peace,” he said.Sobered by a bruising 2005, including ongoing unrest in Iraq, the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, a probe into whether his White House outed a CIA agent and sliding poll ratings, the president is likely to play it safe in the year ahead, according to one analyst.- Nampa-AFP