Bush dedicates USS Ronald Reagan

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, MARCH 5. The President, Mr. George W. Bush. dedicated the USS Ronald Reagan, a Nimitz class aircraft carrier that will formally join the fleet in 2003. The $4 billion carrier in honour of the former President is expected to last for fifty years. The USS Ronald Reagan will be the next-to-last in the Nimitz class with the last to be dedicated in 2006.

Present for the occasion was the former First Lady, Mrs. Nancy Reagan, who was also celebrating her 49th wedding anniversary. The 90-year-old former President, Mr. Ronald Reagan, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease is recovering from a fall that broke his hip this January.

With the First Lady, Mrs. Laura Bush, by his side and hundreds of military personnel and their families for the dedication, the President talked of freedom saying that Mr. Reagan believed tyranny was temporary and the hope of freedom was universal and permanent. Mr. Bush also took a swipe at Sudan, Iraq and China.

``Our nation cherishes freedom, but we do not own it. While it is the birthright of every American, it is also the equal promise of the religious belief in Southern Sudan, or an Iraqi farmer in the Tigress Valley or of a child born in China today. We will help fulfill that promise not by lecturing the world, but by leading it,'' Mr. Bush said.

Mr. Bush referred to the fact that today's world was different from what Mr. Reagan had faced or changed. ``We are no longer divided into armed camps, locked in a careful balance of terror. Yet freedom still has its enemies. Our present dangers are less concentrated and more varied. They come from rogue nations, from terrorism, from missiles that threaten our forces, our friends, our allies and our homeland. Our times call for new thinking,'' the President remarked.

The President once again argued that America must be sensitive about expressing power and influence but at the same time display the modesty of true confidence and strength. ``We will pursue our goals; we will listen to others; we want strong friends to join us, not weak neighbours to dominate.'' He said it was the former President, Mr. Ronald Reagan, who had built the military of today which keeps the peace. ``But we cannot live forever on that legacy.''

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