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| Bush backs Israel at divided G8 |
| 2006-07-17 |
| The US president, in St Petersburg for the G8 summit, has insisted Israel is defending itself against terror and Hezbollah is the root of the crisis. George W Bush added that the Israelis had to be mindful of the consequences of their actions, as fresh air strikes and rocket attacks were reported. French President Jacques Chirac spoke out in defence of Lebanon. The leaders of the world's eight top economic powers have begun working meetings focusing on energy supplies. With global energy use likely to increase by 50% in the next 25 years, Russian President Vladimir Putin is keen to convince other G8 members his country can be relied on as a supplier. But Russia's G8 agenda has already been overtaken by events in the Middle East, the BBC's Steve Rosenberg reports. With eight of the world's most powerful leaders meeting for talks, he says, they are under pressure to find a way to end the hostilities. "As a sovereign nation, Israel has every right to defend itself against terrorist activity," Mr Bush said after bilateral talks with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday. "Our message to Israel is defend yourself but be mindful of the consequences." The root cause of the conflict, he added, was Hezbollah and its ties with Syria and Iran. Hezbollah, he said, "was the start of this". Speaking before the first summit working meeting of the day, France's president said that forces "who jeopardise the security, stability and sovereignty of Lebanon must be stopped". He urged "the protection of civilians, moderation and a durable ceasefire" in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Our correspondent notes that working out a common G8 position on the crisis will not be easy with a clear division emerging between the US on one hand, and France and Russia on the other. President Putin has suggested Israel has ulterior motives in Lebanon rather than simply the return of abducted soldiers. "We condemn any terrorist act including hostage-taking but we have the impression that besides the return of its abducted soldiers, Israel is pursuing other, wider goals," he said on Saturday. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 What I would LOVE to see is a combined US/UK/Israel strike on Damascus, Qom, and Tehran, plus all the oil infrastructure in Iran. You may just get your wish Patriot. You might even see some other straphangers besides the UK. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-07-17 18:09 |
| #6 Shitrack and Phrawnce need to be told to sit in the corner until they can grow up. The problem is Iran pulling strings in Syria, Lebanon, and with Hamas and Hezbollah. The current president of Lebanon, emile lahoud, needs to be hung from the radar mount of an Israeli Saar-5 class boat, cruising up and down the coast of Lebanon for all to see. Vlad Putin needs to meet Vlad the Impaler in a dark alley somewhere in Moscow. Both France, with an almost negative GDP growth, and Russia, a failed state, need to be dropped from the G-8, possibly along with a few others. Israel needs to crush Hezbollah and hit the offices of Hamas and the PLO in Damascus, possibly also the Presidential Palace and a few dozen offices - especially Ba'ath party headquarters. I'd use a medium-sized nuke for that last one, if Buffs aren't available. The Israelis need something that will rattle the rats in the sewer from 10 miles away, like an ARCLIGHT strike, and use it on downtown Damascus. There are enough rats there that need to be "disturbed". What I would LOVE to see is a combined US/UK/Israel strike on Damascus, Qom, and Tehran, plus all the oil infrastructure in Iran. Let the world know that we will no longer tolerate "this shit", as the President so aptly said. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-07-17 17:29 |
| #5 Brilliant, Vlad, just as you had motives other than finding the hostage takers in Chechnya. |
| Posted by: Perfesser 2006-07-17 14:08 |
| #4 5 counting his thumb :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-07-17 13:32 |
| #3 Good lord, Mike N., how many girlfriends have you got? And does your wife know? ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-07-17 11:27 |
| #2 If Bush would publicly say to Israel, "Do want you need to, and don't worry about Europe or Russia. I'll take care of them." I would send him one of my girlfriends for a weekend. I would even let him choose which one. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2006-07-17 10:01 |
| #1 Israel is pursuing other, wider goals," he said on Saturday. No kidding. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-07-17 08:38 |