Bush presses for comprehensive Mideast plan

updated 8:00 p.m. ET Aug. 7, 2006

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush on Monday said he anticipates that Hezbollah and Israel will not agree with all aspects of a Mideast cease-fire resolution but said “we all recognize that the violence must stop.”

The president said the United States and its allies were pressing for a comprehensive solution that would restore Lebanon’s sovereignty and provide a lasting peace.

Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke about the Mideast during a meeting with reporters at his Texas ranch. Rice is expected to go to the United Nations for deliberations on twin resolutions for a cease-fire and the establishment of a peacekeeping force.

She called the resolutions “a reasonable basis that I think both sides can accept” once details are worked out. Bush said the goal was to find consensus quickly on a resolution calling for a cessation of violence.

“I understand that both parties aren’t going to agree with all aspects of the resolution,” the president said. “But the intent of the resolutions is to strengthen the Lebanese government so Israel has got a partner in peace.”

At the United Nations, the United States and France delayed action on the cease-fire measure to consider demands from Lebanon and Arab states over the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

NBC VIDEO U.S. optimism Aug. 6: The Bush administration says it expects a U.N. Security Council resolution to stop the fighting will be approved. NBC's Rosiland Jordan reports. Nightly News

The proposed changes include a call for Israeli forces to pull out of Lebanon once the fighting stops and hand over their positions to U.N. peacekeepers. A draft resolution by the United States and France would allow Israel to strike back if Hezbollah were to break a cease-fire. The draft made no mention of an Israeli withdrawal.

“I don’t believe anybody anticipates that there should be foreign forces on Lebanese soil as a result of what has happened here,” Rice said.

‘Time to address root causes’
Bush, on a 10-day vacation at his ranch, emphasized that the U.N. resolution must deal with Hezbollah, which he said was the root cause of the violence.

“Whatever happens in the United Nations, we must not create a vacuum in which Hezbollah and its sponsors can move more weapons,” he said.

“Sometimes the world likes to take the easy route in order to solve a problem,” Bush said. “Our view is it’s time to address root causes of problems. ... The idea is to have the Lebanese government move into the south so that the government of Lebanon can protect its own territory, and that there be an international force to provide the help necessary for the Lebanese government to secure its country.

Rice said there was wide agreement on that point.

“I think there is room ... to work on this issue because everybody has the same vision,” the secretary said. “That it's the Lebanese army with support from an international force that can actually prevent that vacuum from appearing again in the south, so that we’re not right back here three or four or five months from now in the same situation.”

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