Bush: US Will “Rise to Israel’s Defense”
Charles Johnson
Wed Feb 1, 2006 at 1:03 pm PST • Views: 280
Bush: US would defend Israel from Iran.
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - President George W. Bush vowed on Wednesday the United States would defend Israel militarily if needed against Iran, and denounced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for “menacing talk” against Israel.
In a Reuters interview, Bush also said he saw a “very good chance” the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.
Ahmadinejad, addressing a crowd of thousands in the Gulf port city of Bushehr, where Russia is helping Iran build its first nuclear power station, mocked international calls for Iran to rein in its nuclear program. “I am telling those fake superpowers that the Iranian nation became independent 27 years ago and … on the nuclear case, it will resist until fully achieving its rights,” he said.
Iran denies seeking the bomb, but now faces the prospect of being taken to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.
“I am concerned about a person that, one, tries to rewrite the history of the Holocaust, and two, has made it clear that his intentions are to destroy Israel,” Bush said in the interview aboard Air Force One en route to Nashville, Tennessee, from Washington.
“Israel is a solid ally of the United States, we will rise to Israel’s defense if need be. So this kind of menacing talk is disturbing,” he added.
Asked if he meant the United States would rise to Israel’s defense militarily, Bush said: “You bet, we’ll defend Israel.”
Frank says: