Daily Times – Pakistan January 21, 2006
If Israel is attacked, the United States will “obviously” militarily support its close Mideast ally, US Vice President Dick Cheney said in interview with CNBC television Thursday.
Cheney was asked if Washington would come to the military assistance of Israel if Iran or any of the terrorist groups it allegedly sponsors attacked Israel.
“I don’t think there’s any question but what we would support Israel under those circumstances. I think any administration would,” said Cheney.
When pressed on the details of military assistance, Cheney said: “Obviously, we would support our friends in Israel under those circumstances were they attacked.” Cheney warned against seeing US military intervention in Iraq as a precedent for possible action to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“It would be a mistake to go back and try to predict what might or might not happen, based on what happened in some other country in the past,” Cheney said in an interview with the Fox News Channel Neil Cavuto program.
“The fact of the matter is, it is a problem for the world if the Iranians have nuclear weapons, especially with a government headed up by the kind of individual that’s there today,” he said. “We are working aggressively to avoid having that situation arise.”
Earlier, the White House condemned a suicide bombing that wounded about 19 people in Tel Aviv, and called on the Palestinians to step up efforts to crack down on extremists who target Israel.
“We condemn this atrocious attack in the strongest possible terms. It has wounded tens of innocent civilians. We call upon the Palestinian Authority, again, to do everything it can to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure,” spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. “It is important that the Palestinian Authority ... act in accordance with their road map obligations to dismantle terror groups,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. Afp
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Last updated 22/01/2006
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