Posted on 03/30/2002 10:19:29 AM PST by scratchgolfer
Bush: U.S. Supports Israeli Defense
CRAWFORD, Texas- President Bush said Saturday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat "can do a lot more" to prevent attacks against Israelis and that the United States supports Israel's right to defend itself.
"I believe he can do a lot more to prevent attack," Bush said in his first comments since Israeli troops laid siege Friday to Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank on Friday after 30 Israelis were killed in a week.
"I am deeply concerned about the loss of innocent life. ... I fully understand Israel's need to defend herself," the president said at his Texas ranch where he had kept a silence while monitoring Friday's developments.
Bush also said U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni will remain in the region to continue his efforts at arranging a cease-fire.
Just as Bush began speaking, there was fresh violence in Israeli. An explosion went off Saturday evening in a cafe in Tel Aviv's crowded entertainment district, and paramedics said there were dozens of casualties.
Bush stepped up his Mideast diplomacy Saturday with calls to five world leaders. But the president announced no new action by his administration to end the bloodshed, such as sending Vice President Dick Cheney back to the region.
He urged all Middle East leaders to strongly condemn the attacks against Israelis, but singled out Arafat.
"He has got to speak up," Bush said. "He need needs to stand up and condemn ... these attacks."
Asked if he thought the administration could do more to help end the cycle of violence, Bush said U.S. officials are spending "a great deal of time" on the matter and he is committed to ending terrorism in the Middle East and around the world.
In addition to harsh words for Arafat, Bush insisted Israel must work to reduce the violence. He urged Israel to "make sure there is a path to peace as she secures her homeland."
"There's got to be a peaceful solution," Bush said.
Bush made calls from the ranch to King Abdullah II of Jordan, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of Spain and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who has offered a leading peace initiative.
The president did not speak with Arafat or Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the conversations covered the Middle East and the U.S. commitment to moving the peace process forward. Johndroe knew of no plan to send Vice President Dick Cheney back to the region.
The spokesman did not indicate what Bush heard from the leaders.
Spanish officials said Bush and Aznar, who holds the rotating chairmanship of the European Union, agreed on the need to find a common EU-U.S. position regarding a solution to the crisis.
The president also had a conference call with Secretary of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, his national security adviser.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah, where Arafat's headquarters were under siege, Israeli soldiers rounded up hundreds of Palestinians in a sweep for militants. Arafat was effectively penned in a few rooms of his office building with water cut off and food dwindling, surrounded by Israeli tanks and troops.
At the United Nations, the United States joined other U.N. Security Council members Saturday in adopting a resolution that calls on Israel to withdraw its troops from Palestinian cities.
In his weekly radio address, Bush appeared to refer indirectly to the conflict in the Middle East. For Christians and Jews in this season of religious observance, he said, "Faith brings confidence that failure is never final, and suffering is temporary, and the pains of the earth will be overcome.
"We can be confident, too, that evil may be present, and it may be strong, but it will not prevail."
The president, his wife, Laura, and his parents, former President Bush and Barbara Bush, planned to attend Easter sunrise services Sunday at a Crawford church.
Honoring Easter and Passover, Bush told Christians and Jews their faiths offer bastions of hope in a world scarred by evil.
"We can be confident that evil may be present, and it may be strong, but it will not prevail," Bush said on the radio.
Give me a _______ break Mr. President. Addressing Israel in this manner in light of the violence perpetrated against it is outrageous. It's an absolute insult to anyone's intelligence, including your own. Israel has shown extreme restraint up until now. Your dismissal of that fact offends me intensely.
That seems to be a strange misinterpretation of the actual statement that Bush made.
His speech was obvious in his support for Israel without cheerleading.
Which is what Israel is doing by attacking Yasser Arafat. Eventually, the Islamists will realize the hard way that they too must operate in accordance with human morality.
It's nice to have the adults back in charge!
I'm a Bush-supporter who is withholding judgment till I see an actual transcript. I was not a happy camper about the UN vote; an abstention would have done as well.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.