President Bush pressed Syria, Iran and North Korea yesterday to live up
to international commitments and reverse policies destabilizing their regions,
but emphasized that he will seek diplomatic rather than military solutions to
the escalating conflicts.
Bush carefully avoided provocative language and stressed his desire to
work with European and Asian allies to isolate or persuade the three maverick
countries to alter course, distinguishing the current standoffs from the
confrontation that led to the U.S. invasion of Iraq two years ago.
At a news conference, Bush pointedly declared Syria "out of step" with
the rest of the Middle East and insisted that it end its support for terrorism
and withdraw its troops from Lebanon after this week's assassination of a former
Lebanese prime minister. But Bush declined to specify any consequences if
Damascus fails to comply. "The idea is to continue to work with the world to
remind Syria it's not in their interest to be isolated," he said.
Likewise, Bush said he will use his trip to Europe next week to
collaborate with allies to persuade Iran to abandon any effort to develop
nuclear weapons. "Iran is different from Iraq -- very different," he said,
adding, "there's more diplomacy, in my judgment, to be done." As for North
Korea, he said, "again, it's not Iraq. It's a different situation." With
Pyongyang's announcement that it possesses nuclear weapons, Bush said, "Now is
the time for us to work with friends and allies . . . to determine what we're
jointly going to do about it."
The cautious tone reflects how the outside world has thrust itself back
onto Bush's agenda at a time when he would prefer to focus on his domestic
platform, particularly Social Security. Bush has been crisscrossing the United
States pitching his plan to allow younger workers to divert Social Security
payroll taxes to personal investment accounts -- only to find his campaign-style
swings drowned out by new eruptions overseas.
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But foreign policy again dominated Bush's day. Three days after Lebanon's
former prime minister Rafiq Hariri was killed in a bombing attack in Beirut,
Bush said he still did not know whether Syria was behind the killing, as many
suspect. He called for a thorough investigation.
"I'm going to withhold judgment until we find out what the facts are,"
Bush said. "Hopefully, by the time I get overseas, we'll have a clearer
understanding of who killed Mr. Hariri, and it will be an opportune time to talk
with our friends to determine what to do about it."
But Bush, who will leave Sunday for a trip to Europe, noted that
U.S.-Syrian ties are on rocky footing. "We've recalled our ambassador, which
indicates that the relationship is not moving forward, that Syria is out of step
with the progress being made in a greater Middle East, that democracy is on the
move," he said. "And this is a country that isn't moving with the democratic
movement."
Bush called on Syria to withdraw the 15,000 troops still occupying
Beirut, prevent Iraqi insurgents from using Syrian territory as a base and stop
supporting international terrorist organizations, a reference to Hezbollah. He
called those demands "very reasonable requests," but he declined to discuss the
sanctions under consideration by the administration. "I look forward to working
with our European friends on my upcoming trip to talk about how we can work
together to convince the Syrians to make rational decisions," he said.
National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley said at a briefing later
that Bush will work with European leaders next week "to send a clear message to
Syria that the winds of change are blowing in the Middle East" and that Syria is
"an outlier." He also said the Bush administration has raised concerns with
Russia about fresh arms sales to Syria. The president will meet with Russian
President Vladimir Putin in Slovakia next Thursday.
Members of Congress ratcheted up the pressure on Bush to punish Syria.
A letter written by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and signed by 10 other
senators from both parties urged Bush "to take strong action against Syria,"
adding that Washington cannot "afford to let Syria off the hook."
Although European leaders have complained that the United States has
not joined their efforts to negotiate an accord with Iran, Bush praised their
efforts and offered rhetorical support. "The objective is to solve this issue
diplomatically," he said. But he did vow to come to Israel's assistance if it is
threatened by Iranian weapons. "If I was the leader of Israel and I listened to
some of the statements by the Iranian ayatollahs . . . that regarded my security
of my country, I'd be concerned about Iran having a nuclear weapon as well,"
Bush said. "We will support Israel if there's a -- if their security is
threatened."
On North Korea, Bush offered only a muted response to the
assertion that it already has nuclear weapons. He reiterated his commitment to a
joint declaration with China urging that the Korean peninsula remain free of
nuclear arms.