Bush - More Praise

And from an AP writer in the Guardian no less!

Georgians have been frantically preparing for the visit, erecting giant welcoming billboards along the highway and coating ramshackle buildings with fresh paint. Georgian dancers and singers in traditional costumes performed for the president.

``When the leader of today's free world turns his attention to you, you should be proud,'' said Katya Chichua, 50, as she surveyed workers laying colorful Oriental rugs on a stage in the old town.

The White House has said the trip, coming directly after Bush's visit to Moscow, is a chance to praise the rising pro-democracy sentiment in the former Soviet sphere - a movement that Georgians proudly claim to have started with their peaceful 2003 Rose Revolution that brought the pro-Western Saakashvili to power.

``Now we have the privilege and honor to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the U.S., sharing the gifts of liberty and democracy with our neighbors,'' Saakashvili said in a welcome letter.

UPDATE

Even The BBC notice.