News and Document archive source
copyrighted material disclaimer at bottom of page
NewsMine war-on-terror israel hostilities 2006 06-jul-aug-lebanon-invasion dissent Viewing Item | US stands alone in defending israel { July 14 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13848003/http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13848003/
U.S. stands alone in defending Israel Critics say U.S. has not paid enough attention to Israel-Lebanon relations
By Andrea Mitchell Chief foreign affairs correspondent NBC News Updated: 2:03 p.m. ET July 14, 2006
WASHINGTON - In Germany on Thursday, President Bush strongly supported Israel's right to defend itself, blaming Syria for harboring terror groups active in both Lebanon and Gaza.
"Syria needs to be held to account,” Bush says. “Syria is housing the militant wing of Hamas. Hezbollah has got an active presence in Syria."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice blamed Iran as well, but Thursday night cautioned Israel not to go too far.
"The point about restraint, I think, has been taken by our Israeli colleagues,” Rice says.
But all day, the U.S. was alone in defending Israel. At the U.N., the U.S. exercised the sole veto against a resolution condemning Israel's Gaza incursion.
The European Union called Israel's attacks on Lebanon “disproportionate."
In fact, diplomatic sources tell NBC that Israel has been looking for an excuse to clean out Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon after weeks of rocket attacks into Israel.
What role has the U.S. played? Today, U.S. diplomat David Welch arrived in Israel, but critics say too late — 17 days after the first Israeli soldier was captured.
And Rice has not been to Israel or the Palestinian territories since last November.
"I think it’s really inexplicable,” says James Steinberg, dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. “There’s been some sense that if they get involved and fail, that somehow it will lessen American credibility. But I think the opposite is true. That American credibility has been damaged by our unwillingness to get involved.”
Thursday night, critics in both parties say the administration has been so focused on Iraq and Afghanistan it has failed to pay enough attention to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
© 2006 MSNBC Interactive
|
| Files Listed: 9 |
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material
available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political,
human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.
We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research and educational purposes. For more information,
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use
copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond
'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
|