President Bush, who celebrated his 62nd birthday Saturday on board Air Force One en route to Japan, made a wish Monday during the first day of the G-8 summit.
The president joined his fellow G-8 leaders in Toyako, Japan, in placing a handwritten note on a black bamboo Tanabata tree, which is a Japanese tradition performed to celebrate an annual star festival.
Mr. Bush’s handwritten note read: “I wish for a world free from tyranny: the tyrrany of hunger, disease and free from tyrannical governments. I wish for a world in which the universal desire for liberty is realized. I wish for the advance of new technologies that will improve the human condition and protect our environment. I wish God’s blessings on all. George W. Bush.”
Reginald Dale, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told reporters in advance of the trip that Mr. Bush would take part in this ceremony, and said, tongue-in-cheek, that he held high expectations for the event.
“I don’t know what the record of this working is, but let’s hope it does,” Mr. Dale said jokingly.
— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times
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