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Bush warns against 'fake peace' in Mideast
By Olivier Knox
AFP
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com 07 28 06
US President George W. Bush said Thursday that he was "troubled" by the destruction in Lebanon under Israeli strikes, but rejected any "fake peace" that does not end extremist attacks on Israel.
Amid criticisms of Washington for speeding weapons to its major Middle East ally, the White House flatly denied that there would be any freeze on future arms shipments, citing "treaty obligations."
Bush also closely tied Iran to the two weeks of fighting, by linking Tehran and Lebanon's Islamist Hezbollah militia, which he blames for touching off the conflict by capturing Israeli soldiers and firing rockets into Israel.
"Hezbollah attacked Israel. I know Hezbollah is connected to Iran. And now is the time for the world to confront this danger," the president told reporters as he met with Romanian President Traian Basescu.
Asked whether the United States would consider freezing weapons sales to Israel, Bush spokesman Tony Snow replied: "There is an urgent need to end the violence. There is also an urgent need for Israel to defend itself."
"We will continue to abide by our treaty obligations," he said, a day before Bush was expected to take up a dispute over a previous shipment with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Snow dismissed British concerns about the alleged use of a Scottish airport as a transit point for an arms shipment to Israel as "a paperwork question."
"This is a paperwork question. And apparently, the British foreign minister thinks the paperwork was not in order; the Department of Defense does. And we'll get it straightened out," Snow told reporters.
Asked whether Britain was uncomfortable about such shipments, Snow replied: "I'm not sure that's the case, because these sorts of things have happened before and probably are going to happen again."
Bush also defended Washington's opposition to a swift ceasefire unless such a truce is part of a more comprehensive solution to end the fighting in the region -- something critics say gives Israel a green light to strike Lebanon.
"We care deeply about the loss of life, and I am troubled by the destruction that has taken place in Lebanon," he said. But "whatever is done diplomatically must address the root cause, and the root cause is terrorist activities."
"The Middle East is littered with agreements that just didn't work," said Bush, adding that he hoped to "end this as quickly as possible and, at the same time, (make) sure there's a lasting peace, not a fake peace."
"I view this as a clash of forms of government. I see people who can't stand the thought of democracy taking hold in the Middle East," he said. "And as democracy begins to advance, they use terrorist tactics to stop it."
Bush declined to say whether he agreed or disagreed with an Israeli minister who declared that the world powers meeting in Rome on Wednesday had authorized Israeli military strikes by not calling for an immediate ceasefire.
"Yesterday's meetings were successful in this way. It showed a diplomatic way forward," said the president. "Look, the sooner we can get this resolved, the better, obviously."
In his first remarks on a new videotape showing Al-Qaeda second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri making threats against Israel, Bush declared: "I'm not surprised."
"I'm not surprised he feels like he needs to lend his voice to terrorist activities that are trying to prevent democracies from moving forward," said Bush. "The United States of America stands strong against Mister Zawahiri and his type."
AFP 27 2127 GMT 07 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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