NATO leaders at Bush ranch

President Bush is banking on NATO support to help quell the violence in Afghanistan as he meets with the alliance's leader to review strategy on a flurry of issues.
Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has met privately with Bush a handful of times, but never before at the president's getaway in central Texas. The invitation was meant to be a special treat, an offer of extended personal time with Bush.
Afghanistan's surging violence, NATO's role in Kosovo and U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Europe all were likely to be on Monday's agenda.
On Sunday, a relaxed Bush and first lady Laura Bush greeted de Hoop Scheffer and his wife, Jeannine, who arrived by helicopter.
The president, in blue jeans and cowboy boots, then climbed into his extended-cab pickup truck and drove the couples down the road — men in the front seat, women in the back seat.
Bush gave a tour of his property to the NATO leader. They were joined over dinner by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, among other dignitaries.
In Afghanistan, more than 1,600 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year, according to U.S., NATO and Afghan figures. The mounting civilian death toll has fueled distrust of international forces and U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai.