Bush defends Israel's attacks in Lebanon, parting ways with key allies
TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent
July 13, 2006 12:12 PM
STRALSUND, Germany (AP) - President Bush strongly defended Israel's attacks in Lebanon on Thursday but worried they could weaken or topple the fragile government in Beirut. The Mideast violence exposed divisions between the United States and allies and raised fears of a widening war.
''Israel has a right to defend herself,'' Bush said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. ''Every nation must defend herself against terrorist attacks and the killing of innocent life.''
Merkel appealed for restraint by all sides and said it was up to the militant group Hezbollah to defuse the situation, triggered by its cross-border raid from Lebanon into Israel and the capture of two Israeli soldiers. She called the violence a ''very disturbing situation'' that ''fills us with concern.''
The Mideast eruption came at an awkward time for Bush. His strong support of Israel put him sharply at odds with European Union allies two days before a summit of world leaders in Russia, where the United States is counting on a united stand against Iran's nuclear ambitions and North Korea's long-range missile test. The violence also presents Bush with yet another major crisis in the Middle East, along with the Iraq war and the Iran standoff.
Bush was welcomed to Merkel's home district in what once was communist East Germany with a ceremonial barrel of pickled herring, a Baltic delicacy. Later at dinner, he cut several slices from the rib area of one of three wild boars that turned slowly on spits when he arrived for a barbecue in nearby Trinwillershagen.
Anti-Bush demonstrators were kept far away, but one protester from the Greenpeace environmental group managed to climb high in the clock tower of St. Nicholas Church overlooking Old Market Square where the president was welcomed. The protester displayed a yellow ''No War, No Nukes, No Bush'' banner from a window but it was gone by the time Bush appeared minutes later.
With Iran delaying its answer on a Western offer of incentives to shelve its nuclear program, Bush said he wanted the summit to send Tehran a message ''loud and clear: We're not kidding, it's a serious issue, the world is united in insisting that you not have a nuclear weapons program.''
But Bush and Merkel said it was not too late for Iran to avoid possible penalties as the U.N. Security Council prepares to take up its case. ''They can show us any time and say, wait a minute, now we'd like to go back and negotiate,'' Bush said. Merkel said: ''The door has not been closed.''
Among allies, there was disagreement with Bush about Israel's attacks, which included air strikes on Beirut's airport and two Lebanese army air bases near the Syrian border. The European Union criticized Israel for using ''disproportionate'' force and said Israel's naval blockade of supply routes to Lebanon was unjustified.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the Israeli air campaign - its heaviest against Lebanon in 24 years - could ''plunge Lebanon back into the worst years of the war with the flight of thousands of Lebanese who ... were in the process of rebuilding their country.''
Bush, at the news conference, voiced fears about the survival of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's government. ''The concern is that any activities by Israel to protect herself will weaken that government ... or topple that government. And we've made it clear in our discussions.
''Having said all that,'' Bush continued, ''people need to protect themselves. There are terrorists who will blow up innocent people in order to achieve tactical objectives.''
Merkel called on all parties to use ''proportionate means'' but said, ''I am not at all for sort of blurring the lines between the root causes and the consequences of an action. There has to be a good reaction now, not from the Israeli government but from those who started these attacks in the first place.''
Bush arrives in Moscow on Friday and will have dinner with President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders also will meet Saturday before the opening of the eight-nation summit of industrial powers.
Bush and Merkel said they would raise concerns with Putin that Russia is backsliding on democracy and human rights. But the president laughed off Putin's slap at Vice President Dick Cheney for his criticism of Russia's behavior. Putin, in an interview broadcast Wednesday, called Cheney's remark ''an unsuccessful hunting shot'' - referring to Cheney's accidental wounding of a hunting companion in February.
''It was pretty clever,'' Bush said of Putin. ''It was quite humorous - not to diss my friend the vice president.''
Bush said he would be firm but respectful with Putin, recognizing that ''nobody likes to be lectured a lot. ... I may not tell you exactly what I talked to him about in private,'' the president said.
Merkel said she would press Putin to ratify an energy charter that would require Russia to open its export pipeline network and other energy assets to foreign investment. Russia startled Europe last winter when a dispute with Ukraine over natural gas prices resulted in a temporary reduction of Russian natural gas deliveries to Europe.
Like Bush, Merkel said she would not publicly chastise Putin. ''We ought to have an open, confidential dialogue,'' she said. ''We should not sort of speak loudly and in public about certain issues.''
Bush defends Israel's attacks in Lebanon, parting ways with key allies
