Blair Offers Bush Show of Support at ‘Difficult’ Hour
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Prime Minister Blair’s decision to appear with President Bush at the White House yesterday was intended as a signal that, even though he is in the closing months of his own leadership, Mr. Blair has no intention of backing a quick withdrawal of troops from Iraq or an imminent summit with the Iranians and Syrians, no matter what the Iraq Study Group recommended.
With the British leader at his side, Mr. Bush made clear yesterday that while he may have stopped repeating “stay the course,” he has no intention of changing it to “cut and run,”and that his aim remains a self-sustaining democratic government in Iraq.
Barely 24 hours old, the bipartisan group’s report has been placed on a high shelf to gather dust, its principal function having been to take the heat off the president for a time while allowing him to gather his resolve to press on with the mission to bring democracy to Iraq as an example for the rest of the Middle East.
If opponents of the Iraq war hope the group — headed by a former secretary of state, James Baker, and a former congressman, Lee Hamilton — provided the means to retreat, it appeared yesterday that they are in for a disappointment. Although Mr. Bush resisted ridiculing the report, he seemed in no mood to dignify it. “A lot of reports in Washington are never read by anybody,” he said. “To show you how important this one is, I read it.”
The president showed no signs of compromise on the war on terror. “We agree that victory in Iraq is important; it’s important for the Iraqi people, it’s important for the security of the United States and Great Britain, and it’s important for the civilized world,” he said.
The presence of Mr. Blair on the 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor seemed to lend more meaning to the president’s words. “It’s a difficult moment for America and Great Britain. And the task before us is daunting. Yet our nations have stood before in difficult moments. Sixty-five years ago this day, America was jolted out of our isolationism and plunged into a global war that Britain had been fighting for two years. In that war, our nation stood firm,” he said.
The president stressed that he had little intention of putting all of the Baker-Hamilton findings into effect. “Congress isn’t going to accept every recommendation in the report, and neither will the administration,” he said.
And in addressing the suggestion that it is time to share the burden of Iraq with others in the region, Mr. Bush did not budge an inch in putting conditions on talking to Iran and Syria.
“If people come to the table to discuss Iraq, they need to come understanding their responsibilities to not fund terrorists, to help this young democracy survive, to help with the economics of the country. And if people are not committed, if Syria and Iran is not committed to that concept, then they shouldn’t bother to show up,” he said. “In other words, you support the democratic elected government. You do not support sectarians and you do not support, arm, or finance terrorists.”
Mr. Blair was even more forthright in his insistence that there was no turning back and that democracy in Iran was in his sights. Retreat would mean that “you leave a Middle East in which the Israel-Palestine issue is not solved, in which there’s no moves towards democracy, in which Iraq goes back in its old state, in which the Iranian people have no chance to express themselves,” he said.
Mr. Bush made plain that America is not prepared to accommodate Iran’s nuclear ambitions. If Iran “would like to engage the United States, then they’ve got to verifiably suspend their enrichment program. … There is no need to have a weapons program; there is no need to isolate your people; there’s no need to continue this obstinance when it comes to your stated desires to have a nuclear weapon.”
Nor will Syria be embraced so long as it meddles in Lebanon by supporting Hezbollah. “If we were to have a conversation, it would be this one, to Syria: Stop destabilizing the Siniora government. … Stop allowing money and arms to cross your border into Iraq. Don’t provide safe haven for terrorist groups,” the president said.
Following Prime Minister Olmert’s reservations yesterday about the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations, the president was quick to lay the blame for the lack of progress in the negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinian Arabs.
“I find it interesting that when Prime Minister Olmert reaches out to Palestinians to discuss a way forward on the two-state solution, Hezbollah attacks Israel. Why? Because radicals and extremists can’t stand the thought of a democracy,” he said.
Mr. Blair, who will travel next to the Middle East, joined the president in expressing solidarity with Israel, saying the first priority was “to get the release” of Corporal Gilad Shalit. As for Hamas, Mr. Blair said there would be no progress at all “unless it’s on the basis that everyone accepts the other’s right to exist.”
When asked point blank about whether the Baker suggestion of bringing the troops home by “early 2008” was in the cards, the president demurred, saying he was awaiting other reports from the Pentagon, the military, and the State Department.