Bush Says It’s Time ‘to Put an End’ to Arab-Israeli Hostility : Policy: President salutes U.S. forces who fought ‘with honor and valor.’ He also tells a cheering Congress that the first wave of returnees will begin arriving today.

Seeking to turn the momentum of the allied victory in the Persian Gulf War into a campaign for peace throughout the troubled Middle East, President Bush declared Wednesday that it is time “to put an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

The President, welcomed as a triumphant commander in chief by a cheering joint session of the House and Senate, pressed Israel and its Palestinian foes to end years of mutual antagonism and make the necessary concessions to achieve a broader peace.

And, saluting the American forces who fought “with honor and valor,” Bush announced that U.S. soldiers would begin arriving home from the Gulf today. The first planeload--elements of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division from Ft. Stewart, Ga.--was scheduled to lift off from the war zone shortly after he completed his speech.

One week to the hour after he declared a cessation in the combat, Bush declared: “Aggression is defeated. The war is over.”

The President sought to use the allied victory in the six-week war as a lever to move Congress to press ahead speedily on his domestic program, particularly his transportation and anti-crime measures.

“If our forces could win the ground war in 100 hours, then surely the Congress can pass this legislation in 100 days. Let that be a promise we make tonight to the American people,” he said.

But the focus of the President’s remarks was on the successful conclusion of the war against Iraq and its leader, Saddam Hussein, and on the liberation of Kuwait after seven months of brutal Iraqi occupation.

Invited by Congress to make the address, which was broadcast live on nationwide television and radio, Bush basked in the unquestioned triumph in the Gulf War, a victory that has propelled the President to new heights of popularity.

Addressing the prospects for building on that success--and on the cohesiveness of the coalition that found such disparate nations as the United States, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Israel sharing the same goals--Bush said the world must seize “new opportunities for peace and stability in the Middle East.”

“Peacemaking in the Middle East requires compromise,” Bush said. “We must do all that we can to close the gap between Israel and the Arab states, and between Israelis and Palestinians.”

In a clear reference to Israel’s vulnerability to Iraq’s Scud missile attacks, Bush said that one of the lessons of the Gulf War is that “geography cannot guarantee security--and security does not come from military power alone.”

And, in a pointed rejoinder to radical Palestinians and the nations that have supported them in the past, the President declared: “The tactics of terror lead nowhere--there can be no substitute for diplomacy.”

The President offered support for “the principle of territory for peace,” implicit for years in U.S. policy toward the region.

“This principle must be elaborated to provide for Israel’s security and recognition, and at the same time for legitimate Palestinian political rights,” he said. “Anything else would fail the twin tests of fairness and security.”

Although the Bush Administration and its predecessors have endorsed implementation of U.N. resolutions calling for resolution of the Palestinian issue and full recognition of Israel, efforts to forge a Middle East peace accord have repeatedly foundered. Bush’s hopes for progress, however, rest on the expectation that the upheaval of the war may be sufficient to begin to break down the decades of hostility.

Declaring that “our commitment to peace in the Middle East does not end with the liberation of Kuwait,” Bush set out three other goals:

* Creating “shared security arrangements in the region,” including joint military exercises with allied forces.

* Fostering “economic development for the sake of peace and progress.”

* Controlling “the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the missiles used to deliver them.”

“Iraq requires special vigilance. Iraq must not have access to the instruments of war” until it has convinced the world “of its peaceful intentions,” Bush said.

“Tonight in Iraq, Saddam walks amidst ruin. His war machine is crushed. His ability to threaten mass destruction is itself destroyed,” Bush said. “When his defeated legions come home, all Iraqis will see and feel the havoc he has wrought.

“And this I promise you: For all that Saddam has done to his own people, to the Kuwaitis, and to the entire world--Saddam and those around him are accountable,” Bush said.

As a first step in attempting to achieve the kind of Middle East peace accord that has eluded his predecessors, with the exception of the Israeli-Egyptian agreements negotiated at Camp David by Jimmy Carter, Bush is dispatching Secretary of State James A. Baker III to the region today.

The trip will take the secretary of state to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, Syria, Turkey, the Soviet Union and possibly Kuwait. Bush is expected to visit Kuwait at some point, but, Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said, “I think it will be awhile.”

The question of arms proliferation tugs the Administration in opposite directions. It favors efforts to stem the spread of missiles and other sophisticated weaponry throughout the region. But it also wants to maintain a balance of power and demonstrate continuing support for the moderate Arab states whose support was crucial in the anti-Iraq alliance, and for Israel’s restraint in the face of Iraq’s Scud missile attacks throughout the war.

Under rearmament plans moving quickly through the Administration, Israel is expected to receive $650 million to help it meet the increased costs of military and civil defense campaigns during the war; Egypt would be sold planes and bombs worth $1.6 billion, and Saudi Arabia would be allowed to keep some of the armaments it received during the prewar buildup.

With the end of the East-West rivalry that divided the world for more than four decades and the arrival of a “new world,” Bush said, “the Gulf War put this new world to its first test. And, my fellow Americans, we passed that test.”

“There is no single solution, no solely American answer” to the Middle East’s problems, Bush said. “But we can make a difference. America will work tirelessly as a catalyst for positive change.”

But, he said, “we cannot lead a new world abroad if, at home, it’s politics as usual on American defense and diplomacy.”

Calling for Congress to “turn away from the temptation to protect unneeded weapons systems and obsolete bases,” he declared, “It’s time to rise above the parochial and the pork barrel.”

The announcement that the first planeload of troops would be on its way home brought cheers from Congress.

“I have directed (Defense) Secretary (Dick) Cheney to begin the immediate return of American combat units from the Gulf,” Bush said, adding that the first units were “just the beginning of a steady flow of Americans troops coming home.”

The assembled lawmakers gave Bush a three-minute standing ovation upon his arrival, as he walked slowly down the center aisle of the House of Representatives, relishing the applause, handclasps and pats on the back from members, many of them displaying small American flags in their coat pockets.

House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.), departing from the tradition of making no introductory remarks, offered Bush “our warmest congratulations on the brilliant victory of the Desert Storm operation.”

Orange County’s conservative Republican congressmen strongly praised the President’s speech.

Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad), who represents southern Orange County, said that Bush, the nation’s military leaders and the troops who carried out Operation Desert Storm all deserve a “ticker-tape parade, and that’s what tonight was.”

Packard said that Foley set the tone in his glowing introduction of the President, and Packard called the response of members of Congress “a bipartisan hurrah for our troops and the men who planned” the war effort.

Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), one of Bush’s most enthusiastic supporters, said he was especially moved by the President’s evocation of the values of selflessness and generosity.

“The House stood up for the American people,” Dornan said. “We are a good and generous people, and we do do things for people without strings attached. That is an important message for the world to understand.”

Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) noted that the President appeared to choke up slightly at one point during the address.

“This to him was the fulfillment of why he entered public life,” Dannemeyer said. “To provide leadership and to serve his fellow man.”

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Long Beach) said after the speech: “It doesn’t get much better than this. I just relished every second of it.”

While the President refrained from criticizing the Democrats who on Jan. 12 voted against the resolution that authorized the use of force in the Gulf, Rohrabacher felt no such hesitation.

“The bottom line is that the entire leadership of the Democratic Party in the House, and two-thirds (of their fellow Democrats) voted to undercut the President. They may call it politics, but they’re going to be held accountable.”

On domestic matters, Bush said the nation’s top priority “is to get this economy rolling again.”

“Oil prices are down. Interest rates are down. And confidence is rightly coming back,” he said. “Americans can move forward, to lend, spend and invest in this, the strongest economy on Earth.”

Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) said Bush “wasted no time in translating his 90% approval rating into a domestic agenda.” Noting that Bush also specifically mentioned his Administration’s transportation and crime initiatives, Cox added: “Now that we’ve taken care of the criminal in Baghdad, it’s time to take care of the criminals at home.”

Although the address allowed Bush to speak to the nation as the victorious commander in chief and revel in the applause, it was the Democratic leaders of Congress who invited him.

The speech gave the Democrats--many of whom voted against use of force in the Gulf--an opportunity to publicly applaud the President at a time when his popular approval rating of 90%, as measured in a Washington Post/ABC News poll made public Wednesday, is the highest given an American chief executive in modern times.

Earlier in the day, two prominent Democrats complained about Republican efforts to turn the Gulf victory to partisan advantage. In particular, Democrats have been stung by the rhetoric of House GOP whip Newt Gingrich of Georgia, who contrasted Bush’s leadership in the Gulf crisis with Carter’s handling of the Iran hostage crisis.

Times staff writers William J. Eaton, Robert Shogan, Melissa Healy, Don Shannon, and Robert W. Stewart contributed to this report.