A rare event in the presidency of George W. Bush occurred yesterday…he spoke in front of a hostile audience. In his address before the General Assembly of the United Nations, Bush’s mission was to convince that august body that his was the voice of moderation, reason and peace in the world. And he thought Iraq was hard work…
He began with the tried and true…9/11:
Last week, America and the world marked the fifth anniversary of the attacks that filled another September morning with death and suffering…At the start of the 21st century, it is clear that the world is engaged in a great ideological struggle, between extremists who use terror as a weapon to create fear, and moderate people who work for peace.
In reading this short excerpt, a number of questions come to mind. What was the other September morning? Does he think being subjected to waterboarding causes fear and terror? How are his two wars going? Does he know the definition of moderate? Was he confused when the audience didn’t cheer some of his favorite lines? Is he the worst. President. Ever?
What follows is a post-mortem of Bush’s speech, given before his worst nightmare…a non-Republican audience:
Five years ago, I stood at this podium and called on the community of nations to defend civilization and build a more hopeful future.
The result? The “Coalition of the Willing,” later known as the “Coalition of the United States, Tony Blair and a few countries that really need money.”
This morning, I want to speak about the more hopeful world that is within our reach, a world beyond terror, where ordinary men and women are free to determine their own destiny, where the voices of moderation are empowered, and where the extremists are marginalized by the peaceful majority. This world can be ours if we seek it and if we work together.
The sincerity of this hopeful thought can be best illustrated (in order), here, here, here and here.
The principles of this world beyond terror can be found in the very first sentence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document declares that the “equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom and justice and peace in the world.
That George W. Bush would cite the UDHR is laughably hypocritical. Consider these excerpts from this United Nations resolution that Eleanor Roosevelt called “a Magna Carta for all mankind”:
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration…no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Apparently the actual wording of the resolution didn’t make Bush’s summer reading list, otherwise he never would have referenced such a terrorist-enabling document.
Five years ago, Afghanistan was ruled by the brutal Taliban regime, and its seat in this body was contested. Now this seat is held by the freely elected government of Afghanistan…
And how are things going in Afghanistan? In economic news, poppy farming:
…now accounts for more than half the country’s gross national income and provides the raw material for about 75 percent of the world’s heroin.
Okay, that’s not good, but at least the Taliban is no longer an issue, right?
Taliban opposition to NATO forces in Afghanistan is far tougher than was expected when alliance troops were initially deployed, British Defense Minister Des Browne said on Tuesday.
With 19 British and four Canadian troops killed this month in separate attacks in the country, Browne said the end was still some way off.
Making democracy flower is harder than it looks.
Five years ago, Iraq’s seat in this body was held by a dictator who killed his citizens, invaded his neighbors, and showed his contempt for the world by defying more than a dozen U.N. Security Council resolutions. Now Iraq’s seat is held by a democratic government that embodies the aspirations of the Iraq people
Unfortunately, just staying alive is the primary aspiration of the Iraqi people today, which is starkly documented in Occams Hatchet’s current diary.
Next Bush moved to the portion of the show where he personally offends a good portion of his audience, when he said of the Middle East as a whole:
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.
While not arguing against the notion that there is oppression, particularly against women, in much of the Middle East, I have a suggestion for Mr. Bush. When making a speech designed to, “blunt anti-Americanism across the Middle East,” perhaps insulting the countries and the way of life of your target audience isn’t the way to go.
After explaining that the “dismal choices” facing the young people of the Middle East is the root cause of extremism, Bush spoke on a subject that he has a lot of personal experience with:
Extremists in your midst spread propaganda…
At this point, one can’t help but think, “It takes one to know one…”
Next were personal messages to Iraq (purple fingers, stay the course), Afghanistan (the Taliban is no more), Lebanon (Syria sucks), Syria (you’re either fer us or agin us), Darfur (who knew?), and of course, Iran:
The United States respects you…The greatest obstacle to this future is that your rulers have chosen…We’re working toward a diplomatic solution to this crisis…America and Iran can be good friends and close partners in the cause of peace.
Roughly translated: Democracy only works when you vote for people who agree with me, just as in Iraq, a military solution will be our option of last resort and trust me, you’ll greet us as liberators.
And then, perhaps sensing a tension in the room, Bush attempted to lighten the mood with a joke:
Freedom, by its nature, cannot be imposed — it must be chosen.
He finished with a quote from a letter written by “a courageous group of Arab and Muslim intellectuals,” that was a more articulate version of “stay the course.” Not surprisingly, he didn’t quote Colin Powell’s recent letter:
The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism.
And as it was on May 1, 2003, Bush’s mission was accomplished.
