President George Bush last night issued clear warnings to Syria and Iran that they were next in his sights in his declared mission to spread democracy around the world.
The state of the union address to Congress had been billed as reconciliatory, but, along with a series of references to alliances and international initiatives, there were some blunt words. After recounting the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the president said: "There are still governments that sponsor and harbour terrorists, but their numbers have declined.
"There are still regimes seeking weapons of mass destruction, but they are no longer without attention and without consequence."
The president then singled out Syria, which he said "still allows its territory and parts of Lebanon to be used by terrorists who seek to destroy every chance of peace in the region." "We expect Syria to end all support for terrorists and open the door to freedom," he said, to heavy applause from members of Congress.
He turned to Iran, which he said "remains the world's primary sponsor of terror" and he issued a direct message to Iranians to stand up to the clerical regime in Tehran. He said the US was working with European states to make clear to Tehran it must give up its uranium enrichment programme, but he also signalled a much broader agenda, aimed at the ultimate removal of the clerical regime itself.
He declared "to the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you."
| Only way he could have been more blunt would have been to wear an orange tie and wave a purple-stained finger. |
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