US President George Bush appealed to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday for international support to guide Iraq to democracy while calling on Palestinians to take new steps toward statehood by embracing new leaders committed to peace.
The United States is preparing a resolution for the UN Security Council seeking troops and cash for Iraq, and Bush told world leaders “Iraq needs and deserves our aid, and all nations of goodwill should step forward and provide that support”.
Many opponents of the US war, some still suspicious of US intentions in Iraq, were at the UN headquarters to hear the speech, but the US leader rejected calls to set a specific timeline for creating self-government in Iraq, saying that the process must be “neither hurried nor delayed”.
“The primary goal of our coalition in Iraq is self-government for the people of Iraq, reached by orderly and democratic means,” he said.
“This process must unfold according to the needs of Iraqis, neither hurried nor delayed by the wishes of other parties,” he said.
But he added that the United Nations must put divisions over the war in Iraq behind it and “move forward” with the efforts to stabilise and rebuild the country.
In an effort to counter his critics, Bush said the United Nations should help craft a constitution for Iraq, train its civil servants and oversee “free and fair elections.”
“Iraq’s new leaders are showing the openness and tolerance that democracy requires, and also the courage. Yet every young democracy needs the help of friends,” he said.
Following up his campaign to bring down Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the US president said he wanted a new Security Council resolution to fight the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
“This resolution should call on all members of the UN to criminalise the proliferation of 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,” he said.
“Because proliferators will use any route or channel that is open to them, we need the broadest possible cooperation to stop them.”
“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.”
Turning to the Middle East, Bush called for the Palestinians to follow Iraq in developing democratic institutions, saying their cause had been “betrayed” by Yasser Arafat.
Arab nations had to cut off funding for Palestinian militant groups that the United States has deemed “terrorist” organisations, he added, and Israel had to act to improve the living conditions of the Palestinians to improve prospects for reaching a Middle East settlement.
“Iraq as a dictatorship had great power to destabilise the Middle East,” he told the General Assembly.
“The advance of democratic institutions in Iraq is setting an example that others, including the Palestinian people, would be wise to follow,” he said.
“The Palestinian cause is betrayed by leaders who cling to power by feeding old hatreds and destroying the good work of others,” Bush said, referring to Arafat without identifying him by name.
“The Palestinian people deserve their own state — committed to reform, to fighting terror and to building peace,” he said.
“All parties in the Middle East must meet their responsibilities and carry out the commitments they made at Aqaba,” Bush said.
At a June summit in Jordan, Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and former Palestinian premier Mahmud Abbas pledged to adhere to the so-called “roadmap” for Middle East peace.
“Israel must work to create the conditions that will allow a peaceful Palestinian state to emerge,” Bush said.
“Arab nations must cut off funding and other support for terrorist organisations,” he said. “America will work with every nation in the region that acts boldly for the sake of peace.” – AFP