Bush Praises Sharon for Pullout

NY Times

BOISE, Idaho – President Bush praised Prime Minister Sharon on Tuesday for his “courageous decision” to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

“This is step one in the development of a democracy,” Mr. Bush said at a news conference here, adding that his administration would work with the Palestinians to help them consolidate their security forces in the coming weeks.

“It turns out that the post-Arafat regime is one of different factions and different security forces that were really in place to kind of maintain his power, but not necessarily to protect the overall security of the Palestinian people,” Mr. Bush said. “It’s in the interest to consolidate the security forces, so that the government has got a vehicle and a group of folks by which to help enforce order.”

Mr. Bush said the Palestinian government would have to build confidence that it would serve its people better and that a peaceful Palestinian state could emerge.