US: In a defiant speech at the UN General Assembly, President Bush defended his administration's policy in Iraq, claiming the country was on the path to democracy and setting an example to others in the Middle East. In a wide-ranging address, he predicted that "this young century will be liberty's century", writes Deaglán de Bréadún Foreign Affairs Correspondent, in New York
The President also proposed the establishment of a "Democracy Fund" at the UN to assist countries to "lay the foundations of democracy" by instituting the rule of law and independent courts, a free press, political parties and trade unions.
The US would make an initial, unspecified contribution. "I urge other nations to contribute, as well," Mr Bush said.
He highlighted the "genocide" in western Sudan and called on the Sudanese government to stop the killing in Darfur. As expected, he was highly critical of the Palestinian leadership, but also called on Israel to impose a settlement freeze and "end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people".
Referring to the massacre of Russian schoolchildren in Beslan, he said it showed once again that terrorists measured their success "in the death of the innocent, and in the pain of grieving families".
"The Russian children did nothing to deserve such awful suffering and fright and death," the President said.
"The people of Madrid, Jerusalem, Istanbul and Baghdad have done nothing to deserve sudden and random murder."
However, he sought to broaden the debate beyond immediate security issues. "Because we believe in human dignity", the US had helped establish a $5.6 billion global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. It had also joined other nations against human trafficking, which he termed "a modern form of slavery".
He backed a Costa Rican resolution at the UN for a comprehensive ban on human cloning. "No human life should ever be produced or destroyed for the benefit of another," he said.
Responding indirectly to a claim by the Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, that the Iraqi war was illegal under the UN Charter, Mr Bush pointed out that Saddam Hussein was warned of "serious consequences" of his defiance of Security Council resolutions.
"When we say 'serious consequences', for the sake of peace, there must be serious consequences," he added.
"Today the Iraqi and Afghan people are on the path to democracy and freedom. The governments that are rising will pose no threat to others. Instead of harbouring terrorists, they're fighting terrorist groups."
Noting the presence in the audience of the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mr Ayad Allawi, the President commented: "The UN and its member-nations must respond to Prime Minister Allawi's request, and do more to help build an Iraq that is secure, democratic, federal, and free." These two nations would be "a model for the broader Middle East, a region where millions have been denied basic human rights and simple justice."
On the situation in western Sudan he said: "Rwanda and Nigeria have deployed forces in Sudan to help improve security so aid can be delivered. The Security Council adopted a new resolution that supports an expanded African Union force to help prevent further bloodshed, and urges the government of Sudan to stop flights by military aircraft in Darfur.
"We congratulate the members of the council on this timely and necessary action."
Commenting on the President's remarks about Sudan, Mr John O'Shea, chief executive of the Third World development agency Goal, told The Irish Times: "The main point is that they are still not taking meaningful action. Everything to do with Darfur has been words." Given their record, sending Rwandan and Nigerian troops was ludicrous.
The UN was engaging in semantics and avoiding the necessary action to save lives when 60,000 people had already died.
"The US as the superpower should take the action on its own," Mr O'Shea added. "There is nothing that the UN has done since Day One that has saved the life of a single person in Darfur."
Opening the debate at the General Assembly, Mr Annan called for a renewed emphasis on the rule of law throughout the world. In Iraq, he said, civilians were massacred and hostages put to death, while "at the same time, we have seen Iraqi prisoners disgracefully abused."