Posted on 03/20/2006 12:43:57 PM PST by veronica
US President George W. Bush said he hoped to resolve the nuclear dispute with Iran with diplomacy, but warned Tehran he would "use military might" if necessary to defend Israel.
"The threat from Iran is, of course, their stated objective to destroy our strong ally Israel. That's a threat, a serious threat. It's a threat to world peace," the US president said after a speech defending the war in Iraq.
"I made it clear, and I'll make it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally Israel," said Bush, who was apparently referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for the destruction of Israel.
On the atomic dispute, Bush said he hoped "to solve this issue diplomatically" with a "united message" to Tehran from Washington, London, Paris, Berlin as well as Russia "hopefully" and China.
The message would be that "your desire to having a nuclear weapon is unacceptable," he said.
Bush also touched on Iran's agreement to discuss Iraq with the United States, saying that "it's very important, however, for the Iranians to understand that the discussion is limited to Iraq.
"We're using this as an opportunity to make it clear about our concerns of interference within a democratic process that is evolving," he said, saying that the talks will not decide Iran's relations with a sovereign Iraq.
"Ultimately, Iraq-Iranian relations will be negotiated between the Iraqi government and the Iranian government," he said.
Pat Buchanan is saddened.
I'm sure this warning will fall on deaf (dead) ears......
Please Mr. President, just don't promise to help the French.
I'm sure this warning will fall on deaf (dead) ears......
I do not think so, he means it. Big time.
I think our intelligence knows something that the public doesn't know...
Well, interesting public statement but if Israel decides to make a midnight bombing run then where does that put us?
I hope you were able to watch his speech and the Q/A afterward.
Beat me to it! :)
I'm sure President Bush means business, but it will fall on deaf Iranian ears. They somehow think they will come out on top of this. When in fact all that will be on top (of them) is rubble of Teheran
Ricard Clarke and the rest of Slick's Administration turned their backs on Iran's nuclear procurement program and now we have to clean up another Clinton Legacy!
Kenneth Timmerman's "Countdown To Crisis..." is a must read!
Why do I get the feeling that Dubya is just mouthing the words here. Saying what people want to hear. If and when the time is right, action against Iran will be taken.
Pat Buchanan, Robert Novak, George Will....they are VERY sad today...
I, on the other hand, am cheering President Bush today.
"but if Israel decides to make a midnight bombing run then where does that put us?"
Right smack in the middle of it, but you knew that. First Israel would not do it without our blessings second they are the best possible only reliable ally we have in the Middle East so it's completely appropriate for him to make the statem,ent.
Ya think?
So is Cindy Sheehan and Noam Chomsky.
Maybe he's saddened because no one told him when Israel was made the 51st state...or maybe because he thought George Washington had it right when he counseled his fellow Americans to avoid foreign entanglements:
So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.
As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils 7 Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.
The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.
--George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796
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