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"The
development of a nuclear weapon in Iran is intolerable, and a
program is intolerable, otherwise they will be dealt with,"
Bush (AFP)
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WASHINGTON,
April 22 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - U.S. President George
W. Bush argued Wednesday, April 21, that the world owes Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon a "thank you."
The
American leader also opened his salvos at Iran, threatening that its
alleged development of nuclear weapons is "intolerable."
Speaking
to newspaper editors, Bush opined that Sharon should be praised for his
controversial unilateral disengagement.
"Ariel
Sharon came to America, and he stood up with me and he said, 'We are
pulling out of Gaza and parts of the West Bank,"' Bush was quoted
by Reuters as saying.
In
"my judgment, the whole world should have said, 'Thank you, Ariel.
Now we have a chance to begin the construction of a peaceful Palestinian
state,'" he argued.
As
always, Bush blasted the Palestinian leadership, charging they
"failed the people, year after year after year" by not
preventing attacks against Israel.
The
statements came after Bush triggered worldwide wrath by saying, with
Sharon at his side in a press conference here, that Palestinian refugees
could not return to land lost in 1948 and that Israel could retain
occupation of lands in the West Bank, in what is dubbed as a "Bushfour
Promise".
The
U.N. and the European Union immediately rebuked
the American policy shift, which completely ignored dozens of U.N.
resolutions in that regard.
In
another related development, diplomatic sources said Bush and Sharon had
settled most of their differences over Israel's separation wall in the
West Bank, once derided by the U.S. president as a "problem"
to peace efforts.
"The
fence is no longer an issue," a diplomatic source told Reuters.
The
stance also marks a major policy shift, if only publicly.
A
U.N. General Assembly resolution had recently demand Israel to "stop
and reserve" the construction of the wall.
'Intolerable'
Saving
criticism for others, Bush said that Iran’s alleged development of an
atomic weapon would be "intolerable".
"The
development of a nuclear weapon in Iran is intolerable, and a program is
intolerable, otherwise they will be dealt with, starting through the
United Nations," he said.
"The
Iranians need to feel the pressure from the world that any nuclear
weapons program will be uniformly condemned. It's essential that they
hear that message," Bush added.
He
claimed that it is "intolerable for the peace and the stability in
the Middle East if they get a nuclear weapon especially when their
stated objective is the destruction of Israel."
Bush's
statements came the same day Mordechai Vanunu, the technician who has
blown the whistle on Israel’s undeclared nuclear secrets, called
for opening Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant for international
inspection.
Last
December, Iran signed up to an additional protocol to the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), allowing a tougher IAEA inspection.
But
Bush gave no mention of Israel, thought to be the sixth world country
having nuclear weapons.
Israel's
nuclear arsenal has grown from an estimated 13 nuclear bombs in 1967 to
400 nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, according to a report published
by The Los Angles Times last October.
In
early 1968, the CIA issued a report concluding that Israel had
successfully started production of nuclear weapons. (Click
here to read the history of Israel's nuclear arsenal.)
