The final stop on President George W. Bush’s four-country trip to Asia was Mongolia, a landlocked country of two-and-a-half million people located between China and Russia. In visiting Mongolia, President Bush demonstrated the U.S. government’s strong support for Mongolia’s democracy and he celebrated the growing ties between the American and Mongolian peoples.
The U.S. has designated Mongolia as a country eligible for assistance under the Millennium Challenge account. This program was set up to assist countries that seek good governance, invest in their people, and promote economic freedom.
Fifteen years ago, Mongolia began to transform itself from a Communist country dominated by its neighbor, the Soviet Union, to a democracy governed by the rule of law. Mr. Bush said that Mongolia is "an example of success for the region and for the world."
Not only has it worked to bring democracy to its own people, Mongolia has also taken a responsible role in world affairs. Mongolia has participated in peacekeeping missions in Congo and Sudan and is training for a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. In December Mongolian soldiers will join peacekeepers in Sierra Leone. Mongolia is also part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
As President Bush noted in his address to the Mongolian people, “Americans and Mongolians have much in common. Both our nations were settled by pioneers on horseback who tamed the rugged plains. Both our nations shook the yoke of colonial rule, and built successful free societies. And," said Mr. Bush, both our nations know that our responsibilities in freedom's cause do not end at our borders, and that survival of liberty in our own lands increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands."
In a joint statement, President Bush and Mongolian president Nambaryn Enkhbayar "agreed that the establishment of a free, democratic Iraq is important to democracy, peace, and stability in the Middle East and the United Nations should play a leading role in the process." "
Today, Mongolia and the United States are standing together as brothers in the cause of freedom," said Mr. Bush. "And if free nations remain united, no force or terror will break us."
The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government.
