[NYTr] Sick Joke of the Month: Bush urges UN to spread freedom

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

AP via Yahoo- Sep 25, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070925/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

Bush urges U.N. to spread freedom

By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS - President Bush announced new sanctions Tuesday against
the military dictatorship in Myanmar, accusing it of imposing "a
19-year reign of fear" that denies basic freedoms of speech, assembly
and worship.

"Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma," the president said
in an address to the U.N. General Assembly. The military junta renamed
the Asian country Myanmar, but the United States does not recognize the
change.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a bitter foe of the United
States, sat in the chamber and checked his watch during Bush's remarks.
First lady Laura Bush, also present for the president's speech, walked
right by the seated Iranian president. The two had no contact.

Bush urged other nations to support countries that are struggling for
democracy.

"The people of Lebanon and Afghanistan and Iraq have asked for our
help, and every civilized nation has a responsibility to stand with
them," Bush said.

"Every civilized nation also has a responsibility to stand up for the
people suffering under dictatorship," the president said. "In Belarus,
North Korea, Syria and Iran, brutal regimes deny their people the
fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration" of the
United Nations.

While the war in Iraq continues, Bush made scant mention of it.

After his speech, however, he reassured Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki that U.S. support is not wavering. "We're with ya, prime
minister," Bush told him.

Addressing reporters after a roughly hour-long meeting, Bush and
al-Maliki did not say whether they had discussed the killing of 11
Iraqi civilians by security guards with Blackwater USA, a private
contractor. The incident has strained U.S.-Iraqi ties.

But Al-Maliki did say "Iraq's security is very important and we talked
about the importance of mutual respect between our two sides."

Bush prodded political parties in Iraq to reconcile their differences
and pass a series of pivotal laws. "Some political parties may be
trying to block the laws to gain special advantage," Bush said.

In his address to the U.N., Bush barely mentioned Iran, a nation the
United States accuses of terrorism, pursuit of a nuclear weapon and aid
for deadly insurgents in Iraq.

Instead, Bush focused his remarks elsewhere, challenging the U.N. to
uphold its pledge to fight for freedom in lands of poverty and terror.

"The nations in this chamber have our differences, yet there are some
areas where we can all agree," Bush said. "When innocent people are
trapped in a life of murder and fear, the declaration is not being
upheld. When millions of children starve to death or perish from a
mosquito bite, we're not doing our duty in the world. When whole
societies are cut off from the prosperity of the global economy, we're
all worse off."

"Changing these underlying conditions is what the declaration calls the
work of larger freedom and it must be the work of every nation in this
assembly," he said. "This great institution must work for great
purposes: to free people from tyranny and violence, hunger and
diseases, illiteracy and ignorance and poverty and despair."

Bush looked ahead to a Cuba no longer ruled by Fidel Castro, the ailing
81-year-old leader of the communist-run government.

"In Cuba, the long rule of a cruel dictator is nearing its end," Bush
said. "The Cuban people are ready for their freedom. And as that nation
enters a period of transition, the United Nations must insist on free
speech, free assembly and, ultimately, free and competitive elections."

Cuba's foreign minister walked out of the gathering in protest of
Bush's speech. The Cuban delegation later said Foreign Minister Felipe
Perez Roque's move was a "sign of profound rejection of the arrogant
and mediocre statement" by Bush.

Bush urged the U.N. to reform its Human Rights Council, created to
replace the discredited Human Rights Commission. But Bush criticized
the new body for ignoring abuses in places like Iran "while focusing
its criticism excessively on Israel."

"The American people are disappointed by the failures of the Human
Rights Council," Bush said. "The United Nations must reform its own
Human Rights Council."

But the president's call for change came with the suggestion of a deal:
the United States' support for the highly contentious issue of
expanding the Security Council, the U.N.'s most powerful body. Bush
suggested that Japan is "well-qualified" to be an additional member and
said "other nations should be considered as well."

The council has 10 rotating members elected for two-year terms and five
permanent members with veto power — the United States, Russia, China,
Britain and France. Bush said the United States would listen to all
"good ideas."

Bush singled out Myanmar for particular attention.

"Basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship are severely
restricted," he said. "Ethnic minorities are persecuted. Forced child
labor, human trafficking and rape are common. The regime is holding
more than a thousand political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi,
whose party was elected overwhelmingly by the Burmese people in 1990.

"The ruling junta remains unyielding, yet the people's desire for
freedom is unmistakable," he said.

Bush said the United States would tighten economic sanctions on the
leaders of the regime and their financial backers and impose an
expanded visa ban on people responsible for human rights violations, as
well as their family members.

The policies came as Myanmar's military government issued a threat
Monday to the barefoot Buddhist monks who led 100,000 people marching
through a major city. It was the strongest protest against the
repressive regime in two decades.

About a dozen anti-war protesters were arrested during a peaceful
demonstration of President Bush's speech before the U.N. General
Assembly. They were among about 400 people opposing the Bush
Administration's war in Iraq, and its incarceration in Guantanamo Bay
of more than 300 men on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida or
the Taliban. Many in the crowd wore orange jumpsuit in solidarity with
the Guantanamo detainees.