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Iraqi war 'good for Israel'
22/11/2006 22:32 - (SA)
Jerusalem - The Iraq war was a boon for
Israel's security, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on
Wednesday, voicing fresh endorsement for a Bush administration
sapped by the unpopularity at home of its Middle East policies.
The mid-term election losses of US President George W
Bush's Republican Party were widely considered a repudiation of
his decision to topple Iraq's Saddam Hussein as part of a vision
of democratising the region and bolstering allies like Israel.
Olmert avoided explicit comment on the Republicans' fortunes
during Washington talks with Bush earlier this month. But in a
speech to visiting American Jews, Olmert made clear he had few
regrets about the changes wrought by the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
"I know all of his (Bush's) policies are controversial in
America. "There are some who support his policies in the Middle
East, particularly in Iraq, and some who do not," he said. 'I stand with the president'
"I stand with the president because I know that Iraq without
Saddam Hussein is so much better for the security and safety of
Israel, and all of the neighbours of Israel without any
significance to us," added Olmert, who was speaking in English.
"Thank God for the power and the determination and
leadership manifested by President Bush."
With US-led forces mired in an Iraqi insurgency, political
analysts have speculated that Bush may redirect his attentions
toward solving an Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is a major
grievance in the Arab and Muslim world.
That could prompt Olmert to reconsider his unilateral
policies towards a Palestinian leadership that he has argued is
incapable or unwilling to make peace with Israel.
- Reuters
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