Bush says Israel has right to defend itself

AP via Houston Chronicle:

President Bush declined to criticize Israel today for its air strike inside Syria, saying Israel "has got a right to defend herself." But Bush also said he had cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to try to avoid escalating tensions in the region.

Bush decried the "needless murder" of 19 people in a suicide attack by a Palestinian militant group in Israel on Saturday that led to the Israeli attack on a suspected terrorist camp in Syria.

Bush said that the Palestinian Authority must do more to fight terror and "must use whatever means is necessary .... All parties must assume responsibility."

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Of course, in this case "defend" means "attack Syria." And let's not forget that the blimp-like warrior-leader Ariel Sharon is, according to Bush, "a man of peace." You know, at this point such blatant disregard for the truth is starting to sound almost normal; these guys are starting to get to me.

Saturday's terrorist attack in Israel was horrible, and I agree that it's government must do everything humanly possible to try to prevent more attacks. The problem is that expanding the hostilities will do nothing of the sort. Tit for tat violence will only make things worse: this is an extraordinarily sophisticated problem; it cannot be solved with Dirty Harry philosophy. The Palestinians are not crazy religious zealots; they have some real, concrete grievances about which Sharon has shown no concern. The cycle of violence in Israel/Palestine will only end when these grievances are addressed. Sadly, Sharon has made it absolutely clear that this will never happen on his watch.

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