Posted on 08/14/2006 1:27:59 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
President Bush said Monday that Hezbollah guerillas suffered a defeat at the hands of Israel in their monthlong Mideast war.
"There's going to be a new power in the south of Lebanon," Bush said.
The president also said the war was part of a broader struggle between freedom and terror and "we can only imagine how much more dangerous this conflict would be if Iran had the nuclear weapon it seeks."
Bush said Iran and Syria were the primary sponsors of Hezbollah guerrillas who captured two Israeli soldiers, igniting the battle with Israel. More than 900 people were killed in the fighting, and there was massive destruction in southern Lebanon.
Bush said the "responsibility for this suffering lies with Hezbollah."
The president spoke at the State Department after conferring with his national security team, first at the Pentagon and then at the State Department. He was flanked by Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Bush said the U.N. cease-fire resolution was "an important step forward that will help bring an end to the violence."
"We certainly hope the cease-fire holds," he said.
"Lebanon can't be a strong democracy when there is a state within a state and that's Hezbollah," Bush said.
"Hezbollah attacked Israel without any knowledge of the (Lebanese) government. Hezbollah attacked Israel. Hezbollah started the crisis, and Hezbollah suffered a defeat in this crisis," the president said.
In the Mideast, there were competing claims about who came out on top in the war that claimed more than 900 lives.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the war had shifted the strategic balance in the region and eliminated the "state within a state" run by Hezbollah, restoring Lebanon's sovereignty in the south.
But Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said his guerrillas achieved a "strategic, historic victory" against Israel.
They'll be back...
Roaches are hard to get rid of once they have a foothold.
I respectfully disagree. They are dancing in the streets and not from the end of our ropes.
Yeah and he says our borders are secure enough too.
As soon as the hezzies have rearmed they will be fighting again. During this lull in action of course Iranian and Syrian resupply convoys won't be touched.
Another day, another weak GWB spin to cover up another GWB gaff...
They have also boosted confidence throughout the region, having as one analyst put it "put up a better resistance" than any Arab army or combination thereof in earlier wars.
They lost people and ground...but they are turning the propoganda and PR war to their favor by simply having fought the IDF (who were not gioven the green light to go in and do the job they way it should be done...with extreme prejudice) to this cease-fire without being destroyed.
In as much as we in the US, in any way, pulled the IDF to such a table, or hindered them from an all-out fight against Hezbollah, UN, EU, Liberals, leftists, and fundamental Islamics, be damned, we are guilty of almost surely ensuring that there will be worse later.
For arabs this is a propaganda war, with western media falling over themselves to serve them.
They would be dancing in the streets if New York had been blown up. It doesn't mean anything.
It is up to Bush and the Israelis to put pressure on the UN and Lebanon to not allow Hizollah to rearm, under the threat of all out war.
Sorry Mr. President, but you screwed up. You shuld have let Isreal finish the @%#$%*Ds off.
Beruit, Hez-Ebola celebrate victory with fireworks
For crying out loud - he stalled for four weeks waiting for the Israelis to finish the fight but Ohlmert wouldn't take a full swing. At some point ya gotta get tired of holding the guy's coat.
The problem is the Bush was afraid that the Iraq situation was gojng to be negatively affected by this war, still holding out for the "desire" of the Iraqis to embrace "freedom".
The problem is that the Iraqis don't care for freedom, if it means freedom for terrorists to make their life hell. They would be happy to have a dictator now that would establish law and order in their country.
""This is a mistake. A big mistake. We have exerted a great effort to prevent any reactions (from Hizbollah supporters) because what happened was insulting. I call on the people, the resistance lovers and supporters to pass over what they have heard," the Shi'ite cleric said."
Aint it grand to see their House in a state of war. Simply grand. You know they aren't going to stop making trouble around the world until they can't sleep comfortably below the citadel.
Israel beat the hell out of them militarily but they have nothing to show for it and the main reason for going to war is still a reason, the kidnapped soldiers are still kidnapped.
One thing is for sure, there is no victory as long as Nasrallah is still sucking air.
Bush needs to kick the visiting Andy Card out of his office.
Oh and it just confirms to these cretins that their only (fatalistic) hope is to send over missiles with a lot more pop. A lot more. I expect to wake to the news our air force and navy has blown a hole through Iran's arse.
Anytime your declared enemy that attacked you can still rain down rockets on your soil, you have won nothing.
Bush wants to play this off as a defeat of Hezbollah, because he signed on to the peace initiative, but Hezbollah was not defeated. It will rearm and be back for round two.
Israel won the battles, but lost the war IMO.
Nobody is going to disarm Hezbollah. Tell me how that's a victory Mr. President.
The good news- you can't be impeached for being delusional.
Is it August 22nd yet?
ping
I note that we're still taking it to the terrorists at three years and counting. Should folks stop holding our coat?
Why should Israel have to win in one month what we haven't in three years?
Sorry, this ceasefire is a fraud and we all know it.
As I read the wording of the Bush quotes, it is almost as though they were for future, “after the cease fire fails” reading. It almost appears that we are doing, with Syria and Iran, what Israel did with the Palestinians in Gaza. That is, giving them enough rope to hang themselves and then move in.
I may be all wet, but the 22nd is approaching and I am seriously interested to see if they can “stay calm” for even a couple of weeks. We’ll know soon enough.
Israel won?
That must mean they got their kidnapped soldiers back, eh?
This president is the best friend Israel ever had in the White House and I hope they appreciate his support and his statements today which were right on target, I believe.
Thanks for the ping. Have to run for concert and dinner or I'll be late for both. LOL
Sorry, but I have to disagree with this statement. Knowing many military and contractor personnel on the ground who are over there right now and have been for the last 2+ years, it is clear that the vast majority of Iraqis do want peace, do want freedom, and are willing to sign up and die by the tens of thousands to obtain it, and to risk their lives under the threat of terror and death to vote in their own elections.
US pressure prompts delay of [Israel's] offensive ("We do not want escalations" - White House)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1680983/posts
Israel Asks U.S. to Ship Rockets With Wide Blast-State Department seeks to delay supply
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1681771/posts
U.S. Directs Criticism at Israel
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1680666/posts
That's the biggest mystery to me. The impetus for them going after the Hezzies in the first place, and they stop without getting their guys back.
I don't know how to score this... I guess, in terms of "expectations." Israel lost big time. Hez**lla came from nothing and ended up as a "contender;" a strong contender I might add.... Israel failed to do what it had to do. It lost a great deal of its reputation. Yes I know... it was tought to fight an enemy who prepared for years and years for this moment but.... excuse me... Israel was not expecting this battle would take place as well?... And I have news for Israel, the better start dusting off their nuclear arms... because as things are shaping up in the near future, Oh boy... Those nuts on the other side have demostrated that life has not value for them!... so... be prepared Israel.
There might have been a better outcome, but 530+ dead Hezbullah is not a defeat!!!! No matter how you look at it!!! Y'all are holding Israel to an unreasonable standard. Anything short of a "perfect outcome", whatever you define that to be, is a defeat?!???
With this definition of victory, we'll never have a majority of conservatives claim victory on any issue ever again.
I agree with you - this ceasefire is a farce. On the other hand if our proxie can't do the job and we're unprepared/unwilling to do the job for them what is the sense in continuing to hold the door open. I believe, as I suspect you do, that the war in Iraq would be much different if the military would be allowed to bring unrelenting hell upon our enemies. Israeli politicians - just as here in the US - don't have the nereve to unleash the dogs of war.
Western societies, with their MTV-like attention spans don't realize that wars take time, that there are ebbs and flows, setbacks and victories.
My point was merely that Bush gave them the opening and they didn't seem, in my opinion, to take it.
The entire operation was FUBAR. The IDF should have attacked Hezbollah indirectly by seeking a military decision against Syria. Without Syria, Iran can't support Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Not saying that the IDF should not have gone into southern Lebanon, but trying to destroy a militia/light-infantry force in a mountainous area is like trying to kill a mosquito with a sledgehammer.
.....They'll be back....
In the clearing haze in my crystal ball I see an answer....
Keep in mind there are Hezbollah the terrorists and Hezbollah the social services agency.
I think there is a good chance they will in fact come back as the social agency bought off with lots of money in return for dropping the terrorist activity. That way the military loss that definitely occurred will be covered by the face saving continuance of the social services . They can declare victory to the Arab street even though a loss and change actually ocurred.
The leaders will be shown the Iranian extermination plan, the one that will assure Hezbollah is shut off from Iran. The writing on the wall will dictate peaceful resolution.
Although the French are blustering, they will in fact get control of the situation and eventually allow the development of a democratic and prosperous Lebanon.
As long as there is a single Hezbo left to wave the flag in front of some TV camera, the Media will declare the Hezbos the winner. That should have been evident before this operation even began.
You read my mind.
We cannot afford many more victories like this.
Hezbollah, like a colony of red ants, can reorganize fairly quickly. True, red ants lack the capability of achieving victory on their own, but they have tenacity, and can eventually cause the picnic to be broken up.
So I suppose a dusting of some pesticide that is highly effective in repelling this sort of invasive and tenacious lifeform is in order.
I would suggest dried pig dung. And be especially sure to let them know it is dried pig dung. In their clothes, in their nostrils, in their hair, sifting down on the food they eat.
Me, I grew accustomed to the stuff, when I was a kid growing up on the farm. My dad always said, "That's the smell of money, boy." This while I was about ankle-deep in it, trying to scoop it up and throw it into the manure spreader.
IMO ElMort is going to pay heavily for his method of conducting the war. I can't argue against that, and won't. He deserves it.
That being said, I think the guy realized his mistake and was about to go full tilt until we stepped in and asked him not to.
Once started, you attain your goals and nobody should ask you to stop. That's the way I see it.
This has turned out to be a real boon for Hezbollah, reputation wise and even militarily in the long run.
There are times when Dubya is his own worst enemy.
This is one of them.
I agree, people need to STOP grumbling, they act like they want to give up on the best president we have. Hezbullah will pay for their evil.
If victory means the war not escalating to a point where Iran and Syria and US get directly involved (which would lead to even more participants), as well as Israel creating a buffer zone for a real UN peace keeping force to occupy and watch what is really going on and to enforce the treaty, then it's a victory. From what I understand, the two kidnapped soldiers are to be returned. It might not be this minute, but they are to be returned.
This area has always been a tinderbox for a Great World War, but so far we have been able to avoid it.
Israel, no matter how badly they beat their opponents, will never be able to enjoy a lasting peace.
I think it does mean something. The fact is that the DNC and the MSM slimes would rather see the injury and defeat of a free nation, rather than contemplate a successful acknowledged policy of the Bush Administration.
The Dems :
a) have no substitute policy for the administrations approach to Iraq( leave Iraq? Dead on Arrival)
b) they have nothing to offer on protecting the nation agaist Islamofascists ( take away presidential tools and legislation such as the patriot act, Dead on Arrival)
c) The dems have no alternate view on the world situation , the Bush administration obviously following the pre WWII to 1942 view on how fascismshould be handled, the dems have nothing to offer.( the dems? appease the Islamofascists, Dead on Arrival)
The Dems have only one avenue to return to electoral effectiveness, and that is a bipartisan policy on Islamofascism in general, similar to the bi-partisan effort during the cold war. Until that happens, the Dems will not be elected to office, no matter how many MSMs or Dem moonbats dance in the streets.
I think they should keep dancing in the streets, so as to amplify their idiocy. And maybe it will take a national tragedy which will bring an end to their parade of self indulgent politicians supported by a self indulgent media.
Exactly what happened. Bush ran interference for Israel for weeks! For whatever reason Israel did not deliver a crushing blow.
Personally, I am tired of seeing all this bloodshed in the Middleeast just so we can try and keep these wars neat and tidy without any bad words from the NYTimes.
Just when are these leaders going to stop playing around? whatever happened to shock and awe? Why can we not seriously unlease the dogs of war on Hezbolla and in Iraq? Why do we keep trying to fight a gentleman's war?
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