Bush gets taste of nomadic life

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U.S. President George W. Bush inspects a Mongolian military honour guard at an arrival ceremony at Government House in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, November 21, 2005. (REUTERS/Jason Reed)
By Steve Holland and Caren Bohan  |  November 21, 2005
ULAN BATOR (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush heard multi-toned Mongolian "throat singing" and drank mare's milk on Monday as he ended an Asian tour inside a nomadic hut that is a symbol of the country that produced Genghis Khan
Bush, the first U.S. president to visit Mongolia, said he felt very much at home in the vast, windblown nation on the steppes of central Asia locked between Russia and China.
"This is a beautiful land, with huge skies and vast horizons -- kind of like Texas," he said in a speech.
Wrapping up a four-nation Asia tour, Bush came to thank Mongolia for supporting the Iraq war and to hail its progress from former Soviet satellite to fledgling democracy.
And it gave him another opportunity to declare his reasons for pursuing the Iraq war amid turmoil in Washington over his policy and American doubts about whether the conflict has been worth the cost.
Bush compared Islamic radicals trying to throw America out of Iraq to communism.
"Like the ideology of communism, the ideology of Islamic radicalism is destined to fail, because the will to power is no match for the universal desire to live in freedom," he said.
Mongolia was ruled as a one-party Soviet satellite for much of the last century.
Business aside, Bush and his wife, Laura, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice soaked in some of the life of the nomad, courtesy of President Nambariin Enkhbayar, who took them outside of the capital Ulan Bator along a frozen river to an arid valley where Enkhbayar lives.
They saw camels and yaks and Mongol warriors in armor and helmets, hoisting colorful battle flags and armed with swords, mounted on short, stout horses.
Dancers performed in elaborate dresses and massive masks on their heads performed. Others in yellow and blue robes banged a gong and played horns.
It was biting cold and the entourage went inside two round wooden structures covered by thick felt known as "gers" and used by nomadic herders because they are easily packed up and moved.
Bush and the rest of the U.S. party were served a variety of traditional foods and drinks. Bush had a taste of fermented mare's milk and nibbled on some cheese curd that one participant said tasted like sour cream.
Three older women in brightly colored gowns performed traditional throat singing, a form of singing developed centuries ago in which one person can sing in up to four different voices.
Shortly after the ceremony, it was back to Air Force One and Bush departed on the long flight back to Washington.
Mongolia has about 120 troops in Iraq. In February 2004, two Mongolian security troops guarding a Polish base in Hilla in south-central Iraq spotted a suspicious vehicle driving toward the camp and shot the driver dead, stopping what turned out to be a would-be suicide bomber.
Two Mongolian soldiers involved in that operation were present for Bush's speech.
"The Mongolian Armed Forces are serving the cause of freedom and U.S. forces are proud to serve beside such fearless warriors," he said.
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