Abstract

Bush Spins at the UN

The article discusses a speech made by United States President George W. Bush before the United Nations (UN) on September 21, 2004. Bush's speech to the United Nations, marked by an air of unreality and hypocrisy, was insulting to many other nations. Bush presented the United States as the world's premier social worker, leading the fight against AIDS, poverty, child trafficking, human cloning and genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Bush further insulted his listeners by speaking about Iraq as if the United States did what other UN members were not willing to do--namely, enforce UN Security Council resolutions. Bush presented Iraq and Afghanistan as cases in which the United States was leading a noble cause to bring democracy and liberty to the peoples of the Middle East, while ignoring the problems his policies have helped cause: He made no mention of growing radicalism, heightened hostilities or the money and lives wasted. Bush's remarks stood in sharp contrast to a speech the day before by his rival for the presidency, Democratic candidate John Kerry, in which Kerry promised to work closely with foreign leaders and international bodies to restore stability in Iraq, although he gave little idea of how he intends to accomplish that.