President George Bush said the survival of Israel would be threatened if the United States surrenders to terrorism.
In a wide-ranging speech to U.S. troops on Oct. 28, Bush cited Israel as a major target of Al
Qaida and outlined the likely ramifications of a perceived U.S. loss in the War on Terror.
"With the greater economic, military and political power they seek, the terrorists would be
able to advance their stated agenda: to develop weapons of mass destruction,
to destroy Israel, to intimidate Europe, to assault the American people, and
to blackmail our government into isolation," the president said.
Bush did not refer to repeated statements last week by Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad that Israel should be "wiped off the map." But administration
officials said the Iranian statements could not be dismissed.
"I think it has to be taken seriously," Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice said on Saturday. "When the president of one country says that another
country should be wiped off the face of the map in violation of all of the
norms of the United Nations where they sit together as members, it has to be
taken seriously."
Bush referred to attacks in Israel and other Middle East states since
2001. The president cited Al Qaida strikes against Israeli tourists in the
Sinai in 2004 as well a Hamas suicide bombing in the Israeli city of
Netanya.
The president dismissed arguments that Israel's presence in the West
Bank has fueled terrorism. He said this was one of many pretexts used to
justify Islamic attacks against the West and its supporters.
"Over the years these extremists have used a litany of excuses for
violence — the Israeli presence on the West Bank, or the U.S. presence in
Saudi Arabia, or the defeat of the Taliban, or the Crusades of a thousand
years ago," Bush said.
For his part, Bush said the United States requires partners in the war
against Al Qaida and its aligned groups. He cited the need for allies in the
Middle East and other areas.
"Defeating a broad and adaptive network requires patience and constant
pressure and strong partners in Europe, in the Middle East, and North
Africa, and Asia and beyond," Bush said. "Working with these partners, we
are disrupting militant conspiracies, destroying their ability to make war,
and are working to give millions in a troubled region of the world a hopeful
alternative to resentment and violence."
The U.S. counter-terror strategy has sought to prevent attacks and the
acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by Islamic insurgency groups,
Bush said. Citing Iran and Syria, the president said the United States has
worked to deny sanctuary to insurgents and prevent them from gaining control
of any nation.
Bush cited the Proliferation Security Initiative as a major tool in the
war against terrorism. He said PSI halted more than a dozen shipments of
suspected weapons technology — including equipment for Iran's ballistic
missile program. The president did not elaborate.
"State sponsors like Syria and Iran have a long history of collaboration
with terrorists — and they deserve no patience from the victims of terror,"
Bush said. "The United States makes no distinction between those who commit
acts of terror and those who support and those who support and harbor
them — because they are equally guilty of murder."
