March 21, 2006
Daily Star staff
Lebanon Daily Star
U.S. President George W. Bush said Monday he hoped to resolve the nuclear dispute with Iran with diplomacy, but warned Tehran he would "use military might" if necessary to defend Israel. Bush accused Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons and called that "unacceptable behavior" but stressed that "our objective is to solve this issue diplomatically."
Bush also referred to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "serious threat" against Israel and warned that if necessary, "we will use military might to protect our ally, Israel."
Bush, in what aides have described as an antidote to media reporting on the violence clouding Iraq's future, traveled to Cleveland, Ohio to deliver the second in a series of speeches to promote signs of progress.
U.S. opinion polls have found support for the war at a new low, and Bush mired in approval ratings at or below 40 percent, amid a growing chorus of calls for a swift withdrawal from Iraq, where some 2,300 U.S. soldiers have been killed.
"We are implementing a strategy that will lead to victory in Iraq. And a victory in Iraq will make this country more secure and will help lay the foundation of peace for generations to come," he said.
On Sudan, Bush earlier told NATO's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer that he hoped the alliance would "take the lead" in ending violence in the troubled Darfur region.
But Scheffer, who met with Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, made it clear he saw the 26-member alliance as playing more of a support role without troops on the ground in the African trouble spot.
Bush, who had previously referred only to NATO "stewardship, planning, facilitating, organizing" said he and Scheffer had discussed "a strategy that would enable NATO to take the lead in Darfur."
This would require the African Union, which heads the current 7,000-strong peacekeeping mission in Darfur, to formally ask the United Nations to take over control of the force, Bush said as he met with Scheffer in the Oval Office.
"At which point, if that's done, the NATO can move in with United States help inside of NATO to make it clear to the Sudanese government that we're intent upon providing security for the people there and intent upon helping work toward a lasting peace agreement," he said.
Scheffer sketched out a more-limited role for NATO in Darfur, where up to 300,000 people have died over three years of fighting between government-backed militias and rebels that Washington has labeled genocide.
In a brief interview with AFP after his talks with Rice, Scheffer specified that NATO could provide logistical support, transport and training for an eventual UN peacekeeping force.
Asked about the possibility of dispatching NATO troops to Darfur, Scheffer said: "No I don't think so. I think NATO should have, as I have said many times before, the enabling role."
Scheffer appeared cool to the suggestion that NATO take the lead in Darfur. "NATO is of course very important as an enhancer, as an enabler, but not with forces on the ground," he said. - Agencies
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