President Bush stands with Israel

President Bush has evidently remembered his stance against terrorists, “and all those who shelter them,” and is standing by Israel.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think you’ll find all parties here want the violence to stop. In my judgment, the best way to stop the violence is to understand why the violence occurred in the first place. And that’s because Hezbollah has been launching rocket attacks out of Lebanon into Israel, and because Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers. That’s why we have violence.

And the best way to stop the violence is for Hezbollah to lay down its arms, and to stop attacking. And, therefore, I call upon Syria to exert influence over Hezbollah.

Now, here’s my concern — is that we were making good progress toward a two-state solution in the Middle East. The Israeli Prime Minister came to Washington and talked to me about his desire for there to be a democracy living side-by-side with another democracy, said this was part of his strategic vision for Israel and for peace.

And he was working toward that end. As you know, he made efforts to reach out to President Abbas, who we support. He made efforts to reach out to countries in the neighborhood to help achieve this vision. And as the vision was progressing, certain elements — certain terrorist elements began to act to stop the advance of democracy. The militant wing of Hamas made decisions to attack and to capture. Hezbollah has made decisions to stop the advance of a two-state solution.

The solution, short-term solution is for Hezbollah to stop the attacks. The longer-term solution is for nations around the world and nations in the neighborhood to support those who support the advance of democracy.

The first and last paragraphs quoted are the ones getting the most play on TV. If you don’t see a clip, you miss the absolute anger that comes across when the president blames Hezbullah. He is furious. If anyone knows of a YouTube or other clip, please let me know in the comments, and I’ll link it.

But for a change, Bush is doing the right thing and refusing to stop Israel’s offensive against the terrorists at her border. There doesn’t appear to be a danger of a UN resolution rescuing Hezbullah any time soon.