Last update - 02:23 12/01/2007
Bush: We won't let Iran control the region
WASHINGTON - In his speech to the American nation yesterday, President George W. Bush issued a warning to Iran and Syria, accusing them of taking deliberate action against U.S. forces in Iraq and enabling aid transfers to insurgents.
Bush said the U.S. intends to take action against Iranian proxies in Iraq, and vowed to find and destroy the networks supplying these groups with weapons and training.
Bush also promised that the U.S. would work "with others" in order to block Iran from developing nuclear arms and dominating the region.
The Bush administration recently leaked details of clandestine Iranian operations in Iraq, as well as what the president described as direct assistance for insurgents targeting American soldiers.
Bush said that success in Iraq would come only after Iran and Syria are addressed.
However, in a briefing at the Pentagon yesterday, Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace said there were no plans for military operations inside Iran.
Both Syria and Iran condemned Bush's speech yesterday. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammed Ali Husseini, said the American decision to send more troops to Iraq was a "continuation of the occupation" and would only "contribute to the insecurity, danger and anxiety in Iraq, and will not help solve the problems."
Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Shara said yesterday that Bush's decision to reinforce U.S. forces in Iraq would only "add fuel to the fire."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that those calling for dialogue with Syria and Iran fail to realize that these countries are seeking to undermine stability, and that talks with them are unlikely to yield results.
Rice, who is due to visit the Middle East this weekend, explained it is the administration's policy to cooperate with moderate states interested in stabilizing Iraq and the Middle East.