U.S. 'freedom agenda' big winner in Lebanon war, Bush says

By Allan Woods
CanWest News Service

08/15/06 "Canada.com" -- -- WASHINGTON - Hezbollah suffered a sound defeat in its war against Israel, which has given a significant boost to the U.S.-led "freedom agenda" in the Middle East, U.S. President George Bush declared Monday.

In lengthy comments on his first day back from a 10-day vacation, Bush emerged from a full day of briefings to rebut the claims of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that his militia had won a "historic" victory over Israel.

"Hezbollah attacked Israel, Hezbollah started the crisis, and Hezbollah suffered a defeat in this crisis," Bush said, noting that the United Nations resolution agreed to last week calls for the Lebanese army to take over the areas of southern Lebanon once occupied by the Islamic militia.

"Hezbollah, of course, has got a fantastic propaganda machine and they're claiming victory, but how can you claim victory when at one time you were a state within a state, safe within southern Lebanon and now you're going to be replaced?"

The U.S. president was speaking at the State Department, flanked by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Vice-President Dick Cheney. Bush expressed confidence the UN-brokered ceasefire that went into effect Monday morning will hold, saying he has received assurances from both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

However, he said he could not speak for Hezbollah and added it is time to realize the militia and its "sponsors" Iran and Syria pose a danger to peace in the Middle East that can no longer be ignored.

"The conflict in Lebanon is part of a broader struggle between freedom and terror that is unfolding across the region," he said, adding that earlier U.S. policies of promoting stability at the expense of freedom played into the hands of radical Islamic groups and led directly to attacks on America, including the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Bush said the country's new "strategy of fostering freedom" in the Middle East is a direct attack on those radical elements through the promotion of democracy, and he promised to stay the course despite intense criticism over his country's unwavering support of Israel in the most recent conflict, and the perception that the U.S. held up a UN resolution to stop the fighting in order to allow Israel to inflict maximum damage on its enemy.

That perception is certain to increase with the publication of an article in this week's New Yorker magazine by journalist Seymour Hersch detailing how the Bush administration was intimately involved with Israel's plans to attack Hezbollah even before Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers more than a month ago, and how the U.S. has drawn up plans to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities.

Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley Monday called the thrust of the article "flat wrong."

Bush also addressed criticisms that America's "strategy of freedom" is contributing to instability in the region.

"History shows otherwise," Bush said. "The freedom agenda did not create the terrorists or their ideology, but the freedom agenda will help defeat them both."

With Monday's fragile peace appearing to hold in southern Lebanon, the attention of the U.S. government is now directly focused on Iran, which it believes is developing nuclear weapons.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose country is on the verge of becoming the strongest and most dangerous power in the region said Iran wants nuclear energy, not bombs.

Nevertheless, Bush warned of the war in Lebanon that "we can only imagine how much more dangerous this conflict would be if Iran had the nuclear weapons it seeks."

Iran is expected to respond by Aug. 22 to an incentive package offered by the international community to suspend its uranium-enrichment program. It could also face sanctions if it fails to adhere to a UN resolution with similar aims by the end of the month.

Bush said "the task" for the world now is to do more than just help the people of Lebanon rebuild from the destructive month-long war.

"It is to continually remind Iranians of their obligations not to develop a nuclear weapons program and their obligations not to foster terrorism," he said. "We'll continue working with our partners to do that."

awoods@cns.canwest.com

© CanWest News Service 2006