Bush Plans Unyielding Stance on Iraq War in Address to U.N. (More Info)

[Khephra]

Bush will tell the United Nations on Tuesday that he was right to order the invasion of Iraq even without the organization's explicit approval, and he will urge a new focus on countering nuclear proliferation, arguing that it is the only way to avoid similar confrontations.

Mr. Bush's unyielding presentation, described over the weekend by officials involved in drafting it, will come in a 22-minute speech to the United Nations General Assembly. Mr. Bush will then spend the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday meeting with the leaders of France, Germany, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

According to the officials involved in drafting the speech, for an audience they know will range from the skeptical to the angry, Mr. Bush will acknowledge no mistakes in planning for postwar security and reconstruction in Iraq. Privately, however, many officials are acknowledging that the Pentagon was unprepared for the scope and duration of the continuing guerrilla-style attacks against the American-led alliance and the newly appointed Iraqi Governing Council. Since Mr. Bush declared an end to active military operations on May 1, more than 70 American troops in Iraq have been killed by hostile fire.

In the speech, Mr. Bush will repeat his call for nations — including those that opposed the Iraq action — to contribute to rebuilding the country, but he will offer no concessions to French demands that the major authority for running the country be turned over immediately to Iraqis.

"We'll stay on the same schedule" of drafting a constitution and holding national elections, one senior official said in an interview today. Mr. Bush will not discuss a timetable in the speech, but his aides said in interviews over the weekend that completing the process by spring or summer would be, in the words of one, "very ambitious." That assessment is bound to anger European nations that have demanded a far more accelerated transfer of power.

Mr. Bush made clear in a Fox News interview taped today, to be broadcast Monday, that he would define a larger role for the United Nations very narrowly. Asked if he was willing to give the United Nations more authority in order to obtain a new resolution, he said, "I'm not so sure we have to, for starters," according to excerpts released by Fox tonight.

more.............................

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/22/international/22PREX.html

[Cappurr]

1. Arrogant piece of trash

That's our president. :puke:

[leftchick]

2. and his arrogance has worked so well

what garbage... :puke:

[grytpype]

3. He knows he's going to get nothing from the UN

so he might as well talk tough.

[rocktivity]

14. He's probably thinking that talking tough will impress us voters

give him a bump in the polls, and join him in his "resolve" to pony up the $87 billion.


rocknation

[snippy]

24. He is hoping to make Americans angry at the UN.

Turd Blossom Rove knows that Whistle Ass does well only when Americans are persuaded to be more angry at someone else. Also, if Whistle Ass was conciliatory, the Reich wing would gnaw his nuts off. This speech is probably trying to exploit the negative opinion of the UN in this recent poll. http://www.pollingreport.com/defense.htm#United%20Nations

[schultzee]

20. Don't you just see his poll number sliding further and further

as he makes it more difficult for the troops and Americans to support his lunancy?

[Ashcroft Kutcher]

4. I wouldn't be surprised if nations walked out.

This is how Bush hopes to get our soldiers some help. By saying this thing he got us into, that is going wrong is was right. I can't wait for Fox & friends unique blend of french and Clinton jokes to smear the reality of this.

[Southsideirish]

6. I hope they have the courage to do so - that would be fantastic.

It would have to be a unified effort of many - just a few would merit un-told persecution from the U.S.

[ConcernedCanuk]

5. - Scary !! - - - Bush speaking for 22 minutes !!!!!

This should be good for about 22 foot in mouth bloopers -

I don't want to miss that - for entertainment value only

I get more enlightenment out of watching the Simpsons !!

[koopie57]

8. I've been feeling quilty all day

for thinking the same thing. I'm looking forward to it like it was Super Bowl Sunday or something and yet there are so many lives and families who will be affected by it. And actually, our entire country will just look more stupid and become one step less respected. How did things get so screwed up so quickly? I guess it is like 1984, bad is good, stupid is smart ....

[lebkuchen]

7. You can see how desperate he has become

The US is losing this war, and Bush has jeopardized the security of the US as a result of his greed and ignorance.

[paulk]

9. this speech will cause

an instant 5 pt. drop in bush's approval rating.

Which is the good news. The bad news is we'll still be stuck in Iraq with no way out and no help forthcoming.

[Beetwasher]

10. Worst. Diplomacy. Ever.

Remember the pre-war fiasco w/ the UN? This will be worse. Is he demanding a standing ovation again?

[oldcoot]

11. I suspect that the U.N is not pleased

The Bush administration presented false information to the U.N. before the war. I cannot imagine that he will be welcomed with open arms.

[Lorien]

12. The author really knows how to spin

for starter:

"Bush will tell the United Nations on Tuesday that he was right to order the invasion of Iraq even without the organization's explicit approval, and he will urge a new focus on countering nuclear proliferation, arguing that it is the only way to avoid similar confrontations."

By saying "explict" approval, he/she indicates that there may have been less than explict approval. The author also leads the reader to believe that Iraq was engaged in nuclear proliferation, and that's why we invaded. Sickening.

[Mechatanketra]

16. In this case, the spin is right.

The UN withheld explicit approval of the Iraq invasion, but has given the Anglo-American Axis implicit approval after the fact, by offering no explicit objection to the invasion (not even, to the best of my knowledge, a General Assembly figurehead resolution condemning the invasion).

Ironically, the neo-con charges have proven largely correct: the UN has proven itself irrelevant due to a basic incapacity to boldly confront belligerent nations threatening peace. The only thing they got wrong was the identity of those nations (USA and UK rather than Iraq).

[htuttle]

19. You know, I've been thinking the same damned thing

When I heard the first Bush UN speech, that was all I could think -- that if the UN did NOT stop this international aggression (by Bush), then it would in fact become irrelevant. Bush has trashed the entire Rule of Law on the international level.

Here's how I heard his first UN speech (I just did a little 'reorganizing' to bring out the truth):

http://piratevideo.tv/MOV/2_BushVsEarth_sm.mov
(quicktime required, 4.8 MB)

More of the American subconscious on display at http://www.piratevideo.tv

[AnnabelLee]

13. "We'll stay on the same schedule"

of drafting a constitution and holding national elections, one senior official said in an interview today.

And just exactly what schedule, pray tell, would that be?:eyes:

Bunnypants to UN: Screw you all, you'd better pony up somethin' quick.

[radfringe]

15. tinfoil hat be damned

whistleass is dropping in the polls, wacky season of election is coming up, Iraq and Afghanistan are blowing up in his face

His arrogant stance regarding the UN is an attempt to save his face (and ass)....

:tinfoilhat: as his his pattern to leave things half-done and to "move on" - consider this scenario... by some "miracle" the UN agrees to bail him out, our troops get replaced by other troops - what's to stop th whistleass from going after Iran or Syria a few months later?

[Guaranteed]

17. Staaaay dowwwwwn !!!!

Reminds me of a boxer that's getting knocked around, but keeps bouncing right back up from the canvas when he gets dropped. Bush just loves the beatings he's getting. Thinks that if he changes his position it's going to make him look weak.
Well, it would.
But, at the same time, you gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold him. He's lost this. His tough guy act is done. He'd be better off ultimately saying that he's sorry and he'll do better next time.

[DrBB]

18. Caligula called it his "Unshakeable Rigor!"

...and considered it one of his chief attributes as a leader.

No wonder some of us like to refer to the Flying Chimp as "Little Boot."

[reprobate]

21. This speech is designed to boost his polls here at home.

By 'standing firm' and 'staying on schedule' he's trying to bring americans back to his side. We know it won't work, but let him try. It will just lose him more points in the polls.

As far as the UN is concerned, the diplomacy that counts goes on behind the scenes and we don't hear about it until the deals are done. What worries me is what france said about not standing in his way.

[BelgianMadCow]

22. i share your worries

just heard on CNN that France "would not veto, but would abstain unless a quicker transfer of power was included in the resolution".

Sounds like a green light to bribery to me :scared:

Pakistanis and Indians prepare to die then.

[TahitiNut]

23. I'd love to see 60%+ of the General Assembly delegates ...

... get up, turn their backs on Bush*, and walk quietly out of the hall while he's reading his speechifying -- all live on TV. The National Narcissist would lose it right then and there. No telling what he'd do - scream, rage, run away, maybe all of the above. Sadly, I suppose this madministration's "advance men" have foreseen the possibility of such protests and have innoculated against them.