Bush's Monday speech and press conference at the State Department

An abbreviated version of Bush's State Department speech and press conference today.  Direct quotes in italics:

We discussed the global war on terror. We discussed the situation on the ground in three fronts of the global war on terror - in Lebanon, and Iraq, and Afghanistan. ...

Responsibility for the suffering of the Lebanese people also lies with Hezbollah's state sponsors, Iran and Syria. The regime in Iran provides Hezbollah with financial support, weapons, and training. Iran has made clear that it seeks the destruction of Israel. We can only imagine how much more dangerous this conflict would be if Iran had the nuclear weapon it seeks.

... Syria allows Iranian weapons to pass through its territory into Lebanon. ...

The message of this administration is clear: America will stay on the offense against al Qaeda. Iran must stop its support for terror. ...

The first step is -- and part of the mandate in the U.N. resolution was to secure Syria's borders.  Iran is able to ship weapons to Hezbollah through Syria. ...

... The world must now recognize that it's Iranian sponsorship of Hezbollah that exacerbated the situation in the Middle East.  People are greatly concerned about the loss of innocent life, as are the Americans - American people.  We care deeply about that, the fact that innocents lost their life.  But it's very important to remember how this all happened.  And Hezbollah has been emboldened because of its state sponsors.

I know they claim they didn't have anything to do with it, but sophisticated weaponry ended up in the hands of Hezbollah fighters, and many assume, and many believe that that weaponry came from Iran through Syria.

And so the task is more than just helping the Siniora government; the task is also - and the task is not just America's alone, the task is the world's. And that is to continually remind the Iranians of their obligations, their obligations not to develop a nuclear weapons program, their obligations not to foster terrorism and promote terrorism.  (my emphasis)

What is he trying to tell us here?  It's safe to say it has something to do with Iran.

I notice that Bush used a favorite FOX News-type formula, "many believe that", referring to the idea that Hizbullah is receiving weapons from Iran.  "Many believe that ..."?  I thought it was generally accepted.  Maybe not.

The "many believe that..." formulation would be more appropriate for the assumption that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon.  I assume it is, as well.  But it has not been clearly shown.  And not only does Iran officially deny it, but its Supreme Juristprudent Khamanei has ruled it would be a sin against God for them to develop one.  That Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon is a good assumption.  But it's still an assumption.

It's hard to miss the train of thought behind this sequence:  "America will stay on the offense against al Qaeda. Iran must stop its support for terror."  But Shi'a-fundamentalist Iran has about as much operational connection to the Sunni Salafist fundamentalist Al Qaida as Saddam's regime did. Little to none, in other words.

If Iran develops nuclear weapons in ten years or so, are they likely to share them with Hizbullah?  Extremely unlikely.  Israel has had nukes for decades.  Did they share them with, say, their Christian Phalangist allies in the Lebanese civil war?  No.

Does Iran seek "the destruction of Israel"?  Rhetorically, maybe.  But in practical terms, no.

It's worth thinking carefully about these claims from the Cheney-Bush administration.