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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tadsamillionaire who wrote (17374)	10/17/2002 12:01:06 AM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

WASHINGTON — President Bush said that he would expect Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to defend his nation if it were attacked by Iraq in the near future. URL: foxnews.com "If Iraq attacks Israel tomorrow I would assume the prime minister would respond. He's got a desire to defend himself," the president said during a photo session with Sharon Wednesday. "Our hope is that the Iraqi regime will disarm peacefully." Earlier, Bush had asked Israel to refrain from retaliating against Iraq if it attacks the Jewish nation in response to a U.S. offensive against it. After the meeting, White House officials stressed that the United States still wants restraint from Israel if the U.S. does engage in military action against Iraq. Sharon arrived in Washington on Tuesday for his seventh visit since taking office in March of last year. He spent the day in private consultations and met in the evening with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. During his stay, Sharon also met with Secretary of State Colin Powell and was scheduled for talks with Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and congressional leaders before heading for home on Thursday. At the White House, he praised Bush for his commitment to Israel. "We never had such cooperation in everything as we have with the current administration," Sharon said. The United States, however, is hoping Israel will keep a lid on any aggression in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that could excite Arab allies in advance of a possible Iraqi offensive. At Wednesday's meeting, the president stressed that the United States is seeking to resume peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. Afterward, he announced that he is sending Assistant Secretary of State Bill Burns back to the region to pick up peace talks. However, Bush and Sharon both said that if Palestinian terrorism continues, it will not only stifle peace talks; Israel will respond with force. "We, on the one hand, have taken all the necessary steps against terror. And we will continue to defend our citizens. At the same time, we'll take all the necessary steps to move forward a political office," Sharon said. Added Bush: "We certainly want to work with Israel, and we'll make it clear to Hezbollah, nations housing Hezbollah, whether in the context of Iraq or not, we expect there to be no attacks. This is terrorist activity, and we will fight terror wherever terror exists." Hezbollah terrorists who live on the Lebanese border with Israel are armed by Iran and supported by Syria, two nations which are listed annually as sponsors of terror by the State Department. The president also said that he is happy to hear that Sharon is willing to return some of the Palestinian taxes collected to the Palestinian people, something that had been in doubt prior to the meeting. I appreciate so very much the fact that the prime minister ... cares about the human condition of the Palestinians, and that under a monitoring system to make sure that the money being sent back to the Palestinian people will not be used for terrorist activities, that he is willing to work with his Cabinet to do just that. I believe that's important," Bush said. Earlier in the week, Israel's Cabinet Secretary Gideon Starr said that Israel had not given money to Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority because it would be setting Israel up for trouble. Israelis believe Arafat's group is not interested in carrying out promised financial reforms to prevent cash from being redirected to terrorists. An American official noted Israelis "have legitimate concerns about the money being used" to finance terrorism, but Israel should try working with the Palestinians that are making efforts to cooperate in negotiations with Israel. "A fresh group of [Palestinian] leaders is starting to emerge and we believe there's a possibility of working with some of them on these issues," the official said. A State Department official familiar with U.S. talking points delivered during the meeting said that Bush and Powell were going to press for Sharon to "stop making Arafat relevant". The official said dialogue with Palestinian leaders on setting up a basic infrastructure and authority in Palestinian areas had been progressing nicely, but Sharon made the task more difficult after Israel surrounded Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah. "There [Sharon] goes, surrounding Mukata and making Arafat central again," the official said. When Israel is not so aggressive against Arafat, the official said, the Palestinians tend to criticize their leader and move away from him, but when Israel focuses on him, the Palestinians unite behind Arafat. Fox News' Wendell Goler, Jim Angle, Teri Schultz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.