WORLD ON BUSH
Choosing their words carefully, senior government officials in France
and Germany pledged to work with a second Bush administration because
"we have lots to do on current crises" and "we all have to contribute
to ensuring that the situation in Iraq stabilizes."
But Russian
President Vladimir Putin and foreign leaders whose nations support the
US in combating terrorism expressed clear approval of his reelection.
Putin said he "can only feel joy that the American people ... made the
most sensible decision."
Similar sentiments came from Polish President
Aleksander Kwasniewski and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander
Downer. Italy's Silvio Berlusconi said a "continuation of Bush ...
makes things easier for us."
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom
spoke of Bush's "friendliness" toward his country as being "very
great."
Leaders of Islamic nations withheld immediate comment, but
across the Middle East most people who were asked for their views
expressed disappointment and dismay.
[ISRAELUPDATE] US ELECTION REACTION IN ISRAEL - David Dolan - Jerusalem
Israeli political pundits say the country's leaders are heaving a quiet sigh of relief today after the apparent Bush-Cheney victory in the close US presidential election. For Ariel Sharon, the result reinforces his contention that his proposed evacuation of 25 Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria will be enough to satisfy the Americans that Israel is carrying out its part of the Road Map peace plan. However, Sharon's supporters acknowledge this may change if a "responsible" Palestinian leadership emerges when Yasser Arafat finally passes from the scene, or is otherwise removed from power. Meanwhile a senior aid to the Palestinian leader expressed regret today over Bush's seeming triumph, saying the Middle East would have been better off if a new man had occupied the White House.
More importantly for Israeli political and military leaders, the US election result virtually guarantees that the small Jewish State will have the full backing of its main international ally if the government orders its military forces to remove the menacing Hizbullah missile threat from Israel's northern border. Such action—which many expect to come before the Gaza withdrawal next year—could easily spark a clash with Hizbullah's Syrian masters, if not with the radical Shiite militia's main regional backer, Iran. If so, Sharon is now assured that the US would likely come to Israel's aid if necessary, which many felt was not a certainty if the liberal "internationalist" Senator had become Commander in Chief.
A related issue is Iran's threatening nuclear program. Israeli leaders are said to believe that George W. Bush is much more likely than John Kerry to order US forces into action if he becomes convinced that the extremist Muslim country is about to deploy nuclear weapons in the next four years. Indeed, they noted that Bush basically said as much in a Fox News interview with Bill O'Reilly, broadcast in the US and Israel on Monday. Israeli leaders consider Iran to be by far their most threatening regional enemy.
Government leaders have also hinted that they trust Bush far more than Kerry to pursue the war against Islamic terror groups and states that support them. They were less than convinced that the Massachusetts Democratic candidate would vigorously carry on this "necessary struggle." Many senior government and security officials questioned some aspects of the US-led war against Saddam Hussein, especially the stated expectations that most Iraqis would enthusiastically welcome Western military forces, and that a functioning democracy was likely to rapidly emerge in Iraq. Still most are said to think Bush is the best man at the helm as US troops enter the looming battle over Fallujah, which many expect to be a pivotal campaign that will probably determine the future of the fractured country, located just 300 miles east of Israel.
Edit/Delete Message