Bush to U.N.: “People Are Making the Choice for Freedom”
UNSPEECH
The Eagle-Tribune
Bryan McGonigle
Boston University Washington News Service
Sept. 20
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 – President Bush addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, highlighting progress and goals he says are crucial to gaining stability in the Middle East and winning the struggle against global terrorism.
Frequently referring to his speech to the assembly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Bush argued that progress has been made – albeit not easily.
“Some of the changes in the Middle East have been dramatic, and we see the results in this chamber,” Bush told the 192-member assembly, referring to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. “With these changes, more than 50 million people have been given a voice in this chamber for the first time in decades.”
Bush responded to assertions that his administration’s policy in the Middle East has caused instability rather than corrected it.
“The reality is that the stability we thought we saw in the Middle East was a mirage,” Bush said. “For decades, millions of men and women in the region have been trapped in oppression and hopelessness. And these conditions left a generation disillusioned and made this region a breeding ground for extremism.”
Bush repeatedly differentiated between Muslim moderates and Muslim extremists, emphasizing that the United States is not at war with Islam as a whole but with terrorist factions within the Islamic community.
“From Beirut to Baghdad, people are making the choice for freedom,” Bush said. “And the nations gathered in this chamber must make a choice, as well. Will we support the moderates and reformers who are working for change across the Middle East, or will we yield the future to the terrorists and extremists?”
Bush waited until near the end of his speech to address the global community’s relationship with Iran. Speaking to Iranians directly, he stressed that the United States respects Iran and its rich culture and history but maintained his tough stance against that country’s rulers.
“You deserve an opportunity to determine your own future, an economy that rewards your intelligence and your talents, and a society that allows you to fulfill your tremendous potential,” he said. “The greatest obstacle to this future is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty and to use your nation’s resources to fund terrorism, and fuel extremism, and pursue nuclear weapons.”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered his speech to the U.N. several hours later. The speech lacked his usual high level of controversy and anti-Western flair. He only discussed the United States vaguely when he mentioned a blanket support for Israel and what he called a regime installed by a coup – a reference to the United States’ support of the secular rule of former Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, deposed during Iran’s 1979 revolution.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is born out of a movement, based on the pure primordial nature of a people who rose up to regain their dignity, esteem and human rights,” Ahmadinejad said. “The Islamic Revolution toppled a regime which had been put in place through a coup and supported by those who claim to be advocates of democracy and human rights. The Islamic Republic of Iran is the manifestation of true democracy in the region.”
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday that the United States would push for sanctions against Iran, which failed to halt its uranium enrichment by the Aug. 21 deadline set by the United Nations.
In his speech Tuesday, Ahmadinejad again denied that his country is enriching uranium for weapons, saying Iran’s nuclear program was transparent and under close scrutiny of U.N. inspectors.
Representatives from the United States and Israel were absent during Ahmadinejad’s speech.
Congressional reactions to Bush’s speech were mixed.
“We are tragically in need of leadership from the president on the tensions in the Middle East, but instead, the president’s speech to the U.N. today was full of the same old empty rhetoric,” Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass., said. “While the President spoke of peace in Lebanon, between Israel and Palestine and with the people of Iran, he continually fails to realize the true impact of the war in Iraq on the Middle East and the prospects for peace in the region. President Bush’s unilateral actions have undermined our legitimacy in the region as an honest broker of peace and hindered our efforts to counter extremism.”
In an interview with MSNBC immediately following Bush’s address, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., scoffed at the president’s contention that his administration is creating stability in the Middle East.
“Of course we should stand with democracies,” Kerry said. “Democracy will not emerge out of a gun barrel.”
Kerry then repeated his previous calls for 5,000 more troops in Afghanistan, saying the president has “cut and run” from that country.
Rep. Jeb Bradley, R-N.H., said Wednesday that he agrees with Bush about Iran and sees the need to halts that country’s uranium enrichment.
“A nuclear-armed Iran is not only a threat to the region but to our national security, and we need to continue the diplomatic process to make sure this government does not possess nuclear weapons,” Bradley said.
###
