Francoists, Israeli Right, and Casino Owner to Sponsor Bush in Prague Provocation Today

June 5, 2007 (LPAC)--President Bush "is expected to talk about difficulties of promoting democracy in countries such as Russia," according to the Voice of America, when he speaks today to a gathering of dissidents and "pro-democracy advocates" from Russia, China, Iran, Syria, Palestine and other countries. Bush will also meet with the Czech President and Prime Minister about installing radars in the Czech Republic, as part of the proposed antimissile system which Russian President Putin has condemned as a provocation.

U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman (D., Conn.) will speak alongside Bush at the "Prague conference on Democracy and Security." Lieberman just returned from Iraq, where he said he "saw progress."

The Prague meeting is sponsored by billionaire Las Vegas "Venetian" casino owner Sheldon Adelson, a funder of the extreme right in Israel, through the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. Israeli rightist and former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky, chairman of Adelson's Institute, will chair and speak at the conference.

Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar will speak in Prague as well. Aznar's People's Party, a continuation of Francisco Franco's fascist party, is co-sponsoring the conference.

Sharansky, widely portrayed as George W. Bush's favorite dissident, set the tone for the meeting. He criticized Europe's leaders for not acting strongly enough against the Russian government. Sharansky said that Vladimir Putin "shouldn't have been allowed to join the G8 only because of Germany's commercial interests," according to Jerusalem Post. He also mooted regime change in Iran: "The sooner the international community realizes that the dissidents from places like Iran are the real representatives of their country, and not the government in power, it will be better. That will allow us to also deal with the question of the Iranian nuclear program. A democratic Iran will have a different set of priorities."