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09/23/2003
Stating the Case...Looking for Help
President George W. Bush’s speech to the United Nations,
9/23/03.
[I will comment some on the content in my “Week in Review”
column. For now, let me just say that I would have cut out half
of what follows. --BT]
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24 months ago – and yesterday in the memory of America – the
center of New York City became a battlefield and a graveyard
and the symbol of an unfinished war. Since that day, terrorists
have struck in Bali, in Mombasa, in Casablanca, in Riyadh, in
Jakarta, in Jerusalem – measuring the advance of their cause in
the chaos and innocent suffering they leave behind.
Last month, terrorists brought their war to the United Nations
itself. The U.N. headquarters in Baghdad stood for order and
compassion, and for that reason the terrorists decided it must be
destroyed
By the victims they choose and by the means they use, the
terrorists have clarified the struggle we are in. Those who target
relief workers for death have set themselves against all humanity.
Those who incite murder and celebrate suicide reveal their
contempt for life itself. They have no place in any religious
faith, they have no claim on the world’s sympathy, and they
should have no friend in this chamber.
Events during the past two years have set before us the clearest
of divides: between those who seek order and those who spread
chaos; between those who work for peaceful change and those
who adopt the methods of gangsters; between those who honor
the rights of man and those who deliberately take the lives of
men and women and children without mercy or shame.
Between these alternatives there is no neutral ground. All
governments that support terror are complicit in a war against
civilization. No government should ignore the threat of terror,
because to look the other way gives terrorists the chance to
regroup and recruit and prepare. And all nations that fight terror
as if the lives of their own people depend on it will earn the
favorable judgment of history.
The former regimes of Afghanistan and Iraq knew these
alternatives and made their choices.
The Taliban was a sponsor and servant of terrorism. When
confronted, that regime chose defiance, and that regime is no
more.
Afghanistan’s president, who is here today, now represents a free
people who are building a decent and just society. They’re
building a nation fully joined in the war against terror.
The regime of Saddam Hussein cultivated ties to terror while it
built weapons of mass destruction. It used those weapons in acts
of mass murder and refused to account for them when confronted
by the world.
The Security Council was right to be alarmed. The Security
Council was right to demand that Iraq destroy its illegal weapons
and prove that it had done so.
The Security Council was right to vow serious consequences if
Iraq refused to comply. And because there were consequences,
because a coalition of nations acted to defend the peace and the
credibility of the United Nations, Iraq is free. And today we are
joined by representatives of a liberated country.
Saddam Hussein’s monuments have been removed and not only
his statues. The true monuments of his rule and his character –
the torture chambers and the rape rooms and the prison cells for
innocent children – are closed. And as we discover the killing
fields and mass graves of Iraq, the true scale of Saddam’s cruelty
is being revealed.
The Iraqi people are meeting hardships and challenges, like
every nation that has set out on the path of democracy, yet their
future promises lives of dignity and freedom. And that is a world
away from the squalid, vicious tyranny they have known.
Across Iraq, life is being improved by liberty. Across the Middle
East, people are safer because an unstable aggressor has been
removed from power. Across the world, nations are more secure
because an ally of terror has fallen.
Our actions in Afghanistan and Iraq were supported by many
governments and America is grateful to each one.
I also recognize that some of the sovereign nations of this
assembly disagreed with our actions. Yet there was and there
remains unity among us on the fundamental principles and
objectives of the United Nations.
We are dedicated to the defense of our collective security and to
the advance of human rights. These permanent commitments
call us to great work in the world; work we must do together.
So let us move forward.
First, we must stand with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq as
they build free and stable countries. The terrorists and their
allies fear and fight this progress above all, because free people
embrace hope over resentment and choose peace over violence.
The United Nations has been a friend of the Afghan people,
distributing food and medicine, helping refugees return home,
advising on a new constitution, and helping to prepare the way
for nationwide elections.
NATO has taken over the U.N.-mandated security force in
Kabul. American and coalition forces continue to track and
defeat al Qaida terrorists and remnants of the Taliban.
Our efforts to rebuild that country go on. I have recently
proposed to spend an additional $1.2 billion for the Afghan
reconstruction effort, and I urge other nations to continue
contributing to this important cause.
In the nation of Iraq, the United Nations is carrying out vital and
effective work every day.
By the end of 2004, more than 90 percent of Iraqi children under
age 5 will have been immunized against preventable diseases,
such as polio, tuberculosis, and measles, thanks to the hard work
and high ideals of UNICEF. Iraq’s food distribution system is
operational, delivering nearly a half million tons of food per
month, thanks to the skill and expertise of the World Food
Program.
Our international coalition in Iraq is meeting its responsibilities.
We are conducting precision raids against terrorists and holdouts
of the former regime. These killers are at war with the Iraqi
people, they have made Iraq the central front in the war on terror,
and they will be defeated.
Our coalition has made sure that Iraq’s former dictator will never
again use weapons of mass destruction.
We are interviewing Iraqi citizens and analyzing records of the
old regime to reveal the full extent of its weapons programs and
its long campaign of deception. We are training Iraqi police and
border guards and a new army, so the Iraqi people can assume
full responsibility for their own security.
And at the same time, our coalition is helping to improve the
daily lives of the Iraqi people. The old regime starved hospitals
of resources, so we have helped to supply and reopen hospitals
across Iraq. The old regime built up armies and weapons while
allowing the nation’s infrastructure to crumble, so we are
rehabilitating power plants, water and sanitation facilities,
bridges and airports.
And I have proposed to Congress that the United States provide
additional funding for our work in Iraq, the greatest financial
commitment of its kind since the Marshall Plan. Having helped
to liberate Iraq, we will honor our pledges to Iraq. And by
helping the Iraqi people build a stable and peaceful country, we
will make our own countries more secure.
The primary goal of our coalition in Iraq is self-government for
the people of Iraq, reached by orderly and democratic process.
This process must unfold according to the needs of Iraqis, neither
hurried nor delayed by the wishes of other parties.
And the United Nations can contribute greatly to the cause of
Iraq self-government. America is working with friends and allies
on a new Security Council resolution which will expand the
U.N.’s role in Iraq. As in the aftermath of other conflicts, the
United States should assist in developing a constitution, in
training civil servants, and conducting free and fair elections.
Iraq now has a governing council; the first truly representative
institution in that country. Iraq’s new leaders are showing the
openness and tolerance that democracy requires and also
showing courage.
Yet every young democracy needs the help of friends. Now the
nation of Iraq needs and deserves our aid, and all nations of
goodwill should step forward and provide that support.
Success of a free Iraq will be watched and noted throughout the
region. Millions will see that freedom, equality and material
progress are possible at the heart of the Middle East. Leaders in
the region will face the clearest evidence that free institutions
and open societies are the only path to long-term national success
and dignity.
And a transformed Middle East would benefit the entire world by
undermining the ideologies that export violence to other lands.
Iraq, as a dictatorship, had great power to destabilize the Middle
East. Iraq, as a democracy, will have great power to inspire the
Middle East.
The advance of democratic institutions in Iraq is setting an
example that others, including the Palestinian people, would be
wise to follow. The Palestinian cause is betrayed by leaders who
cling to power by feeding old hatreds and destroying the good
work of others. The Palestinian people deserve their own state
and they will gain that state by embracing new leaders
committed to reform, to fighting terror and to rebuilding peace.
All parties in the Middle East must meet their responsibilities
and carry out the commitments they made at Aqaba. Israel must
work to create the conditions that will allow a peaceful
Palestinian state to emerge and Arab nations must cut off funding
and other support for terrorist organizations.
America will work with every nation in the region that acts
boldly for the sake of peace.
A second challenge we must confront together is the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction. Outlaw regimes that possess
nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the means to
deliver them would be able to use blackmail and create chaos in
entire regions. These weapons could be used by terrorists to
bring sudden disaster and suffering on a scale we can scarcely
imagine.
The deadly combination of outlaw regimes and terror networks
and weapons of mass murder is a peril that cannot be ignored or
wished away. If such a danger is allowed to fully materialize, all
words, all protests will come too late.
Nations of the world must have the wisdom and the will to stop
grave threats before they arrive.
One crucial step is to secure the most dangerous materials at their
source. For more than a decade, the United States has worked
with Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union to
dismantle, destroy or secure weapons and dangerous materials
left over from another era. Last year in Canada, the G-8 nations
agreed to provide up to $20 billion – half of it from the United
States – to fight this proliferation risk over the next 10 years.
Since then, six additional countries have joined the effort. More
are needed, and I urge other nations to help us meet this danger.
We are also improving our capability to interdict lethal materials
in transit. Through our Proliferation Security Initiative, 11
nations are preparing to search planes and ships, trains and trucks
carrying suspect cargo, and to seize weapons or missile
shipments that raise proliferation concerns. These nations have
agreed on a set of interdiction principles, consistent with current
legal authorities. And we are working to expand the
Proliferation Security Initiative to other countries. We are
determined to keep the world’s most destructive weapons away
from all our shores and out of the hands of our common enemies.
Because proliferators will use any route or channel that is open to
them, we need the broadest possible cooperation to stop them.
Today, I ask the U.N. Security Council to adopt a new anti-
proliferation resolution.
This resolution should call on all members of the U.N. to
criminalize the proliferation of weapons – weapons of mass
destruction, to enact strict export controls consistent with
international standards, and to secure any and all sensitive
materials within their own borders. The United States stands
ready to help any nation draft these new laws and to assist in
their enforcement.
A third challenge we share is a challenge to our conscience. We
must act decisively to meet the humanitarian crises of our time.
The United States has begun to carry out the Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief, aimed at preventing AIDS on a massive scale and
treating millions who have the disease already. We have pledged
$15 billion over five years to fight AIDS around the world.
My country is acting to save lives form famine as well, providing
more than $1.4 billion in global emergency food aid. And I’ve
asked our United States Congress for $200 million for a new
famine fund, so we can act quickly when the first signs of famine
appear. Every nation on every continent should generously add
their resources to the fight against disease and desperate hunger.
There’s another humanitarian crisis spreading, yet hidden from
view. Each year an estimated 800,000 to 900,000 human beings
are bought, sold or forced across the world’s borders. Among
them are hundreds of thousands of teenage girls, and others as
young as 5, who fall victim to the sex trade. This commerce in
human life generates billions of dollars each year, much of which
is used to finance organized crime.
There’s a special evil in the abuse and exploitation of the most
innocent and vulnerable.
The victims of sex trade see little of life before they see the very
worst of life: an underground of brutality and lonely fear.
Those who create these victims and profit from their suffering
must be severely punished. Those who patronize this industry
debase themselves and deepen the misery of others. And
governments that tolerate this trade are tolerating a form of
slavery.
This problem has appeared in my own country and we are
working to stop it. The Protect Act, which I signed into law this
year, makes it a crime for any person to enter the United States
or for any citizen to travel abroad for the purpose of sex tourism
involving children. The Department of Justice is actively
investigating sex tour operators and patrons, who can face up to
30 years in prison. Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act,
the United States is using sanctions against governments to
discourage human trafficking.
The victims of this industry also need help from members of the
United Nations, and this begins with clear standards and the
certainty of punishment under the laws of every country.
Today, some nations make it a crime to sexually abuse children
abroad. Such conduct should be a crime in all nations.
Governments should inform travelers of the harm this industry
does and the severe punishments that will fall on its patrons.
The American government is committing $50 million to support
the good work of organizations that are rescuing women and
children from exploitation, and giving them shelter and medical
treatment and the hope of a new life. I urge other governments
to do their part.
We must show new energy in fighting back an old evil.
Nearly two centuries after the abolition of the trans-Atlantic
slave trade, and more than a century after slavery was officially
ended in its last strongholds, the trade in human beings for any
purpose must not be allowed to thrive in our time.
All the challenges I have spoken of this morning require urgent
attention and moral clarity. Helping Afghanistan and Iraq to
succeed as free nations in a transformed region, cutting off the
avenues of proliferation, abolishing modern forms of slavery,
these are the kinds of great tasks for which the United Nations
was founded. In each case, careful discussion is needed and also
decisive action. Our good intentions will be credited only if we
achieve good outcomes.
As an original signer of the U.N. Charter, the United States of
America is committed to the United Nations. And we show that
commitment by working to fulfill the U.N.’s stated purposes and
giving meaning to its ideals.
The founding documents of the United Nations and the founding
documents of America stand in the same tradition.
Both assert that human beings should never be reduced to objects
of power or commerce, because their dignity is inherent. Both
recognize a moral law that stands above men and nations which
must be defended and enforced by men and nations. And both
point the way to peace; the peace that comes when all are free.
We secure that peace with our courage and we must show that
courage together.
May God bless you all.
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Hott Spotts will return next week, Oct. 2.
Brian Trumbore
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