Add millions of freedom voters in Iraq, Freedom protestors in Lebanon and other middle East countries to Shock and Awe, and we see the Bush doctrine taking hold.
Posted on 03/04/2005 9:03:44 AM PST by aculeus
March 4, 2005 -- WASHINGTON — President Bush told the New York Post yesterday that Syria must pull all of its troops out of Lebanon by May so that the now-occupied nation can have free elections.
"The subject that is most on my mind right now is getting Syria out of Lebanon, and I don't mean just the troops out of Lebanon, I mean all of them out of Lebanon, particularly the secret service out of Lebanon — the intelligence services," he said.
"This is non-negotiable. It is time to get out . . . I think we've got a good chance to achieve that objective and to make sure that the May elections [in Lebanon] are fair. I don't think you can have fair elections with Syrian troops there," the president said in a wide-ranging Oval Office interview with The Post's editorial board.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Sounds clear enough for me. Skeeedaddle.
I don't believe I've ever heard the President say this. Although not very diplomatic, it certainly sends the right message.
The Lone Avenger rides again!
Hi Ho, Silver!
[And adios, Half-Arsed-Al Assad's baby, Bashar]
To which Assad's only possible non-withdrawal counteraction is:
"Or esle what?"
At which point, I hope Bush reverts to Reagan:
"The bombing will beginn in five minutes."
But what will the French say? (/sarcasm)
That should be "Headline."
Thanks for fixing it.
Yes, a well played move - Arab leaders are already calling on Syria to withdraw, so Bush threw more weight behind his comments. They do have an omnious tone don't they!!
Anyone who doesn't think this president means exactly what he says hasn't been paying attention. You have got to love him.
They also have info from a Lebanese politician, with ties to Syria, that Assad plans to announce tomorrow that the troops won't be withdrawn, rather transferred to the Bekaa valley.
The source is anonymous.
Link here (in German)
longjack
<< Anyone who doesn't think this president means exactly what he says hasn't been paying attention. You have got to love him. >>
Doncha, though?
God bless him.
And why not?
The Almighty surely does!
BUMPping
Lebanese Defenseminister Abdul Rahim Murad said the same thing as the other anonymous source re: Syrian troops being transferred to Bekaa Valley.
That was in the article, I jut scanned it to briefly to pick it up the first time.
longjack
In German:
"Spiegel-Online"....Bush fordert syrischen Truppenabzug bis Mai
longjack
I am so excited about events occuring in the MEast as of late. I know better, but I can't help it. I am just setting myself up for more appointment, but maybe not. See, I keep trying to kill all optimism within myself and become a bitter cynic, but I'm not always too successful. Come on you MEasters, do it. DO IT.
Thanks for the ping!
"This is non-negotiable. It is time to get out . ."
Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Will Assad foolishly run out the clock?
He also showed off his desk — used by John F. Kennedy — saying it makes him feel part of history. "Any president that thinks he's larger than history will fail," Bush remarked.
It's it awful the Prez once again demonstrates his humility? For the Dems at any rate.
"But some day, I'd like to go back to see the free country. It would have been fantastic to have been there when over 8 million people voted."
I wish he could ahve been there. No one deserves it more.
The president said change is coming so fast to the Middle East that he has to stop himself from getting "completely swept up in the rapidity of things right now" and remember that substantive change takes time......Now that freedom and hope seem to be racing across the Middle East, Bush said he sometimes has to remind himself to be patient. "Certain countries can't move as fast as we would like. But, nevertheless, it is easier to imagine now that maybe things will happen quicker than I thought," he said. "But I'm not going to allow myself to get too enthusiastic."
Sounds as though he's as moved as we are while cognizant of the difficulties along the way that will have to be faced to make this permanent. i think all of us that believed in this policy are surprised at the rapidity of the movement.
"It was just one of those things that just popped right out. It wasn't something [where] somebody handed me a nice little note and said, 'Get up there on top of that thing and read it,' " he said. "It was just one of those moments, it just flowed out. And maybe — that's probably why it had the impact it had, because it wasn't viewed as scripted, because it wasn't."
Bush being Bush.
"Once that's clear, the politician that stands in the way of fixing the system for younger Americans will pay a price in the ballot box, in my judgment," the president insisted.
Indeed. hear that Reps?
"When the United States says something, it must mean it. That's what I meant when I said, 'Remove all your troops,' not remove 94 percent of them," the president said.
Assad had better get that message. Partial removal is not acceptable.
"It took me a while to fully understand what it meant to say that out of this evil will come some good," he said. "But it was hard to envision at that point in time the tremendous changes that take place as a result of democracy taking hold in a place like Afghanistan."
I don't think any of us initially anticipated the scope our mission would take with those initial strikes against Afganistan. Thankfully Bush's understanding developed far sooner than most. Dems are only now beginning to get a small clue.
Hmmmm. I wonder why? I'd bet dollars to donuts there's a geosynched sat over that valley. This may get more interesting than first glances reveal.
How true. Look at Carter, the ultimate failure as president, but still tottering vaguely from dictator to dictator in his quest to finally find a legacy to define a term in office that was put out of our misery 25 years ago. Clinton's doing the same thing.
He's quite a man, and he's got great people working for him.
Bush may have found a way to position US troops, tanks, planes, and bases in Lebanon under friendly Lebanese auspices, for the purpose of ensuring free and fair elections in Lebanon.
To come out and make a statement that is 'non-negotiable' like that must mean he's holding cards he didn't have four months ago.
Syria and Iran would be caught between Lebanon and Iraq. That would be interesting.
I'm with you
There is an old Testament prophecy about Damascus being destroyed.
That Saddam's WMD were moved to Syria, thus creating a senario where Damascus could be nuked is very interesting.
That's why we love President Bush so much....he just puts his face out there and says it like it is.
Hear! Hear!And I love the NY Post headline, too!
The Bekaa Valley... good... then we can get the syrian troops, the terrorists camps and the WMD's all in one fell swoop. Major delight.
I think that makes it official, Syria is next.
(Nice that it was Lebanon signing them up for it, instead of America.)
The were both anti-American leftists who put the advancement of Socialism/Communism above the security of the USA. They still have that goal. If you believe that is not what is in their hearts, it doesn't matter. What they did, do, and will do, accomplishes that purpose. Of course, Hillary is part of the movement.
It is kind of you to give them the benefit of the doubt. I think the consequesnces and the purpose are the same.
A worthy goal.
Works for me!! :^D
God bless you Sir, God bless America, and God bless our brave troops who are fighting to protect our freedom and our way of life and fighting to spread freedom and democracy to the oppressed people of the Middle East.
Somehow I do not think this administration has shown in the least it is interested in saving face for any leader especially in the mid-east. The harder it is on their dictators the better in hopes of stirring up the masses against them.
Actually that is the one question that has already been answered in Afghanistan and in Iraq.
This President has shown his words have meaning. He has also shown he is willing to take the heat from the UN, from Europe, from home.
Once you have shown you mean what you say, and you have the means to back up your word, the only question left is "..do you want to die, punk?"
With Syria, it's all about the money (being stolen from Lebanon). The minute they are shown that they will lose more money than they will make by leaving Lebanon, they will leave. Right now they think they cannot afford to leave Lebanon. We need to get them to a place where they can't afford to stay in Lebanon.
"This is non-negotiable. It is time to get out . . . I think we've got a good chance to achieve that objective and to make sure that the May elections [in Lebanon] are fair. I don't think you can have fair elections with Syrian troops there," the president said in a wide-ranging Oval Office interview with The Post's editorial board.
Add millions of freedom voters in Iraq, Freedom protestors in Lebanon and other middle East countries to Shock and Awe, and we see the Bush doctrine taking hold.
According to Debka – Someone has decided to begin lobbing grenades at Syrian troops in Lebanon today.
? By Yoav Stern and Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies
?BEIRUT - Syrian President Bashar Assad prepared to announce on Saturday a partial pullout of troops from Lebanon, but U.S. President George W. Bush warned nothing short of a full withdrawal would satisfy Washington.
"When we say withdraw we mean complete withdrawal - no half-hearted measures," Bush told an audience in New Jersey on Friday. "Syrian troops, Syrian intelligence services must get out of Lebanon now."
Bush called in an interview published earlier for all Syrian forces to be out by May to clear the way for fair elections.
In a speech to Syria's parliament, Assad is expected announce the pullout of some troops completely from Lebanon and the redeployment of the rest close to the border, Lebanese political sources said on Friday.
Abdel Halim Mrad, defense minister in the Syrian-backed Lebanese government which resigned on Monday, said the move would adhere to the Taif Accord which ended Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.
"Syria will redeploy its forces in line with Taif," he said.
The agreement stipulates Syrian forces be redeployed to the eastern Bekaa Valley, and then that the Lebanese and Syrian governments agree on how long these forces stay.
Syria has carried out five redeployments since 2000, pulling some forces to the Bekaa and some back to Syria, but has maintained forces in and around Beirut and in northern Lebanon.
Pressure on Damascus has intensified since former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated last month in a bombing many Lebanese blame on Syria. Syria denies involvement.
While the pressure from Arab leaders is veiled, Western governments have become increasingly blunt. U.S. officials said Washington and European allies wanted to be ready to act quickly, perhaps with sanctions and a tougher United Nations resolution, if Syria failed to pull out.
Bush said in an interview in the New York Post: "This is non-negotiable. It is time to get out ... I think we've got a good chance to achieve that objective and to make sure that the May elections (in Lebanon) are fair. I don't think you can have fair elections with Syrian troops there.
Lebanese opposition contacts Israel about Syrian withdrawal Lebanese opposition members have asked Israel to encourage the United States to pressure Syria into withdrawing its troops from Lebanon.
In the wake of recent diplomatic activity aimed at getting Syria to withdraw its military forces from Lebanon, a top Syrian envoy headed to Moscow on Friday to discuss the step with Russian officials.
Lebanese figures contacted Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz's advisor, Uri Lubrani, among other officials in Jerusalem, and indicated they were determined to keep struggling against the Syrian presence in Lebanon but need American support.
The Lebanese opposition members believe the U.S. has a great deal of influence over Damascus, even without the use of military force.
Senior officials at Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office were in touch with Lebanese leaders even before the current crisis.
The events of the last few days, which culminated in a demonstration that led to the fall of the Lebanese government, have been dubbed "The Spring of Beirut."
The Lebanese opposition figures indicated to officials in Jerusalem that they have no claims from Israel whatsoever. They also said they don't understand Hezbollah's insistence to perpetuate conflict over the Shaba Farms. This small area near the Lebanon-Israel border remained in Israeli hand after its withdrawal from the southern Lebanon security zone in 2000.
Hezbollah has been running a military and propaganda campaign to get Israel to withdraw from Shaba Farms.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Thursday during a meeting with the British Minister of State for the Middle East Baroness Elizabeth Symons: "We must put our forces together and support the [Lebanese] opposition, and this is [the British government's] responsibility.
"The international community must deliver an unequivocal message to Syria - to pull out its military forces from Lebanon now," Shalom said.
Syrian envoy heads for Moscow A top Syrian envoy headed to Moscow on Friday for talks with Russian diplomats on a United Nations resolution urging Syria to pull out of Lebanon.
Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Walid al-Moalim's visit comes after Moscow urged its longtime ally to withdraw 15,000 Syrian troops from Lebanon, adding to the mounting international pressure.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Syrian troops should leave Lebanon in line with September's resolution of the UN Security Council, but added in an interview with the BBC that the withdrawal must be conducted in such a way that it does not break the "fragile balance in Lebanon." Russia's Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov's talks with al-Moalim would focus on the UN resolution requiring the Syrian pullout and also touch on the regional situation and bilateral cooperation.
Lavrov said that while Russia, a permanent Council member, abstained during the vote on the resolution, it must be implemented. He also voiced hope that forthcoming elections will bring a new Lebanese government that would help stabilize the situation.
Syria, which the United States says sponsors international terrorism, is also accused by the Lebanese opposition of being behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri last month that plunged the nation into political turmoil.
A close ally of Moscow since the Soviet era, Syria and the Russian government is negotiating to sell advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Damascus in defiance of the U.S. and Israeli pressure.
Saudi Arabia: Talks with Syria 'fruitful' Talks between Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad about his country's withdrawal from Lebanon were "fruitful" and their results will appear soon, Saudi's foreign minister said.
Abdullah told Assad on Thursday to meet international demands to start withdrawing troops from Lebanon immediately, Saudi officials said.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told the pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper in remarks printed on Friday the talks were "fruitful" and "their positive results will emerge soon."
One Saudi official said after Abdullah's talks with Assad in Riyadh that Syria must start withdrawing soon, otherwise Saudi-Syrian relations would go through difficulties.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/548114.html
Last Update: 04/03/2005 21:17
?Lebanese sources: Lebanese army foils bid to fire rockets at Israel
?By Reuters
?BEIRUT - Lebanese soldiers foiled an attempt to fire two rockets at Israel from southern Lebanon on Friday, security sources said.
They said an army patrol found the two armed Katyusha rockets near the town of Markaba after receiving a tip.
The soldiers were hunting for those who had planned to fire the rockets, the sources said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/548187.html
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