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ABCNEWS VideoSource
US Bush - President Bush's radio address on Georgia
08/16/2008
APTN
VSAP574817
NAME: US BUSH 20080816I TAPE: EF08/0832 IN_TIME: 11:03:57:10 DURATION: 00:02:59:12 SOURCES: POOL DATELINE: Crawford, Texas - 15 August 2008 RESTRICTIONS: SHOTLIST: ++AUDIO OF RADIO ADDRESS BY US PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH OVER GRAPHIC OF PRESIDENT++ 1. SOUNDBITE: (English) George Bush, United States President: "For more than a week, the people of the nation of Georgia have withstood assault from the Russian military. The world has watched with alarm as Russia invaded a sovereign neighbouring state and threatened a democratic government elected by its people. This act is completely unacceptable to the free nations of the world. The United States and our allies stand with the people of Georgia and their democratically elected government. We insist that Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity be respected. And Moscow must honour its pledge to withdraw its invading forces from all Georgian territory. Earlier this week I directed a series of steps to demonstrate America's solidarity with the Georgian people and to help bring about a peaceful resolution of the conflict. On Thursday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in France, where she conferred with President Sarkozy about the diplomatic effort that the French government is leading on behalf of the European Union. She was in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, where she conveyed America's support for Georgia's democratic government. And next week, Secretary Rice will travel to Brussels, where she will meet with the foreign ministers of our NATO allies and EU officials to continue our efforts to rally the free world in defence of a free Georgia. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates is overseeing a mission by the United States military to provide humanitarian aid for the people of Georgia. In recent days, US cargo planes carrying humanitarian supplies have arrived in Georgia. In the days ahead, we will continue using US aircraft and other assets as needed to deliver more humanitarian and medical supplies. Russia has agreed to let in all forms of humanitarian assistance, and Russia must keep open all lines of communication and transport, including seaports, airports, roads, and airspace for civilian transit and the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Georgia's emergence as a young democracy has been part of an inspiring and hopeful new chapter in Europe's history. Europe has moved beyond the world wars that killed (m) millions of people and the Cold War that divided its citizens between two superpowers. For the first time in memory, Europe is becoming a continent that is whole, free, and at peace. And it is essential that America and other free nations ensure that an embattled democracy seeking to stand with us remains sovereign, secure, and undivided. Russia's actions in Georgia raise serious questions about its role and its intentions in the Europe of the 21st century. In recent years, Russia has sought to integrate into the diplomatic, political, economic, and security structures of the West. The United States has supported those efforts. Now Russia has put its aspirations at risk by taking actions in Georgia that are inconsistent with the principles of those institutions. To begin to repair the damage to its relations with the United States, Europe, and other nations, and to begin restoring its place in the world, Russia must act to end this crisis." STORYLINE: US President George W. Bush continued to voice his support of Georgia on Friday, insisting that Moscow must honour its pledge to withdraw its invading forces from all Georgian territory. Speaking at his weekly Saturday morning radio address, which was released a day earlier, the US president said that his country and its allies stood by the people of Georgia and its democratically elected government. "We insist that Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity be respected," Bush said speaking from his ranch in Crawford, Texas where his radio address is recorded. "I directed a series of steps to demonstrate America's solidarity with the Georgian people and to help bring about a peaceful resolution of the conflict," he added. Bush was referring to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to France earlier in the week, "where she conferred with President Sarkozy about the diplomatic effort that the French government is leading on behalf of the European Union." Sarkozy worked out the peace pact that both sides had said they had agreed with. Bush also said Secretary of Defence Robert Gates was overseeing a mission by the United States military to provide humanitarian aid for the people of Georgia. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili grudgingly signed a truce with Russia in Tbilisi on Friday, even as he denounced the Russians as invading barbarians and accused the West of all but encouraging them to overrun his country. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's press office had no information on Friday night on whether he had signed the cease-fire agreement. Russia's foreign minister assured Rice later that his country would implement the deal faithfully, a US official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Rice's conversation was private, said Russia was likely to sign the deal on Saturday. The cease-fire document sets out no specific penalties or deadlines. It contains concessions to Russia that Saakashvili obviously found hard to swallow. Russia could retain peacekeeping forces in the separatist region of South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, and the forces would have a broader mandate in South Ossetia. And as Rice spoke in Tbilisi, Russian forces remained camped out just 25 miles (40 kilometres) away. Associated Press reporters had seen a convoy of some 50 Russian army trucks and armoured personnel carriers roar without warning southeast from the city of Gori on Wednesday, some shouting they were heading to Tbilisi. But they veered into a field outside the town of Igoeti and set up camp conspicuously within sight of the road. The Kremlin said in a statement that Russia would sign the France-brokered deal "as a mediator." That is an apparent reference to UN Security Council resolutions that define Russia as a "facilitator" in the dispute between Georgia and its nominally sovereign breakaway regions. Even if Russia fully complies with the cease-fire, the Bush administration says there will be more consequences to come. Bush's advisers are settling on penalties that would be intentionally modest and subtle, such as continuing to exclude Russia's foreign minister from discussions among his counterparts in elite gatherings of the world's leading economies. "Russia's actions in Georgia raise serious questions about its role and its intentions in the Europe of the 21st century," Bush said. "In recent years, Russia has sought to integrate into the diplomatic, political, economic, and security structures of the West. The United States has supported those efforts. Now Russia has put its aspirations at risk by taking actions in Georgia that are inconsistent with the principles of those institutions," he added. The idea is to give Moscow the diplomatic cold shoulder while offering face-saving leeway for Russia to turn away from a mentality the West sees as throwback to its empire days. Russia would then have motivation, and some wiggle room, to seek inclusion in Western economic, political and security institutions. There was no immediate clue to the Russians' intentions a week after their tanks and bombers entered Georgia in retaliation for Georgia's attempt to retake a disputed province by force.
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