Haruna,
You are right on that! Most of us in the the so-called Third World
are largely displeased with the choices and outcomes Bush's
global leadership. The Americans, I gather, are not also pleased with
the results of his leadership over their economy. With Senator McCain,
it will be "more of the same". The world needs a change of leadership
from the Neocons.
I have to go home to break my fast. The sun is going down!
Thanks and later.
Bailo
From:
Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: I admire
President Bush' speech at the UN this morning/Bailo. To:
[log in to unmask] Date: Wednesday, 24 September, 2008,
6:59 PM
My friend Bailo,
I see you are not terribly pleased with George Bush. Well I'm not
either my friend, but Jesus friggin Christ, do you think W is capable
of doing anything by his lonesome? You and I might be missing the
forest for the magnolia tree. If its any consolation, the speech was
not W's words. It was written for him. He delivered it and he even had
some phonetic and grammatical problems delivering it. It was a great
speech in the main for me, for the actionable ideas it contains. One
of those ideas is that when people anywhere have been given the
freedom to choose, they choose Democracy and her intrinsic liberties.
That has been the theme of The GDP from its conceptualization. The GDP
will go further than hoping people will be given that freedom to
choose. We will enable people to seize those Freedom moments and allow
them to exercise the choice ability. I will be honoured if you should
consider joining us at The GDP. You can visit us at http://www.thegdp.wordpress.com and grow with
us.
Thanks my friend. Together we will convince W that the speech can
actually be put into practice.
Haruna Darbo. MQJGDT. Al Khairawan.
In a message dated 9/24/2008 11:32:42 A.M. Mountain Daylight
Time, [log in to unmask] writes:
Haruna,
G. Bush is just another terrorist albeit a legitimate one
who could give lectures to the world about fighting terrorism.
He is got the blood of so many innocents on his hands.
Architect of shock & awe. He deserves to spend the rest of
his days in a Haque prison.
Nonetheless, thanks for sharing. --- On Wed,
24/9/08, Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
From:
Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]> Subject: I
admire President Bush' speech at the UN this morning. To:
[log in to unmask] Date: Wednesday, 24
September, 2008, 12:53 AM
I share it in its entirety. Courtesy The White House.
Haruna.
President Bush Addresses United Nations General
Assembly United Nations Headquarters New
York, New York
10:12 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Secretary General, distinguished
delegates, ladies and gentlemen: I'm pleased to be here to
address the General Assembly.
Sixty-three years ago, representatives from around the
world gathered in San Francisco to complete the founding of
the Charter of the United Nations. They met in the shadow of
a devastating war, with grave new dangers on the horizon.
They agreed on a historic pledge: "to reaffirm faith in
fundamental human rights, and unite their strength to
maintain international peace and security."
This noble pledge has
endured trying hours in the United Nations' history, and it
still guides our work today. Yet the ideals of the Charter
are now facing a challenge as serious as any since the
U.N.'s founding -- a global movement of violent extremists.
By deliberately murdering the innocent to advance their
aims, these extremists defy the fundamental principles of
international order. They show contempt for all who respect
life and value human dignity. They reject the words of the
Bible, the Koran, the Torah, or any standard of conscience
or morality. They imperil the values of justice and human
rights that gave birth to the United Nations -- values that
have fueled an unprecedented expansion of freedom across the
world.
To uphold the words of the Charter in the face of this
challenge, every nation in this chamber has
responsibilities. As sovereign states, we have an obligation
to govern responsibly, and solve problems before they spill
across borders. We have an obligation to prevent our
territory from being used as a sanctuary for terrorism and
proliferation and human trafficking and organized crime. We
have an obligation to respect the rights and respond to the
needs of our people.
Multilateral organizations have responsibilities. For
eight years, the nations in this assembly have worked
together to confront the extremist threat. We witnessed
successes and setbacks, and through it all a clear lesson
has emerged: The United Nations and other multilateral
organizations are needed more urgently than ever. To be
successful, we must be focused and resolute and effective.
Instead of only passing resolutions decrying terrorist
attacks after they occur, we must cooperate more closely to
keep terrorist attacks from happening in the first place.
Instead of treating all forms of government as equally
tolerable, we must actively challenge the conditions of
tyranny and despair that allow terror and extremism to
thrive. By acting together to meet the fundamental challenge
of our time, we can lead toward a world that is more secure,
and more prosperous, and more hopeful.
In the decades ahead,
the United Nations and other multilateral organizations must
continually confront terror. This mission requires clarity
of vision. We must see the terrorists for what they are:
ruthless extremists who exploit the desperate, subvert the
tenets of a great religion, and seek to impose their will on
as many people as possible. Some suggest that these men
would pose less of a threat if we'd only leave them alone.
Yet their leaders make clear that no concession could ever
satisfy their ambitions. Bringing the terrorists to justice
does not create terrorism -- it's the best way to protect
our people.
Multilateral organizations must respond by taking an
unequivocal moral stand against terrorism. No cause can
justify the deliberate taking of innocent human life -- and
the international community is nearing universal agreement
on this truth. The vast majority of nations in this assembly
now agree that tactics like suicide bombing, hostage-taking
and hijacking are never legitimate. The Security Council has
passed resolutions declaring terror unlawful and requiring
all nations to crack down on terrorist financing. And
earlier this month, the Secretary General held a conference
to highlight victims of terror, where he stated that
terrorism can never be justified.
Other multilateral organizations have spoken clearly,
as well. The G8 has declared that all terrorist acts are
criminal and must be universally condemned. And the
Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference recently spoke out against a suicide bombing,
which he said runs counter to the teachings of Islam. The
message behind these statements is resolutely clear: Like
slavery and piracy, terrorism has no place in the modern
world.
Around the globe, nations are turning these words into
action. Members of the United Nations are sharing
intelligence with one another, conducting joint operations,
and freezing terrorist finances. While terrorists continue
to carry out attacks like the terrible bombing in Islamabad
last week, our joint actions have spared our citizens from
many devastating blows.
With the brutal nature of the extremists increasingly
clear, the coalition of nations confronting terror is
growing stronger. Over the past seven years, Afghanistan and
Iraq have been transformed from regimes that actively
sponsor terror to democracies that fight terror. Libya has
renounced its support for terror and its pursuit of nuclear
weapons. Nations like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are actively
pursuing the terrorists. A few nations -- regimes like Syria
and Iran -- continue to sponsor terror. Yet their numbers
are growing fewer, and they're growing more isolated from
the world.
As the 21st century
unfolds, some may be tempted to assume that the threat has
receded. This would be comforting; it would be wrong. The
terrorists believe time is on their side, so they made
waiting out civilized nations part of their strategy. We
must not allow them to succeed. The nations of this body
must stand united in the fight against terror. We must
continue working to deny the terrorists refuge anywhere in
the world, including ungoverned spaces. We must remain
vigilant against proliferation -- by fully implementing the
terms of Security Council Resolution 1540, and enforcing
sanctions against North Korea and Iran. We must not relent
until our people are safe from this threat to civilization.
To uphold the Charter's promise of peace and security
in the 21st century, we must also confront the ideology of
the terrorists. At its core, the struggle against extremists
is a battle of ideas. The terrorists envision a world in
which religious freedom is denied, women are oppressed, and
all dissent is crushed. The nations of this chamber must
present a more hopeful alternative -- a vision where people
can speak freely, and worship as they choose, and pursue
their dreams in liberty.
Advancing the vision of freedom serves our highest
ideals, as expressed in the U.N.'s Charter's commitment to
"the dignity and worth of the human person." Advancing this
vision also serves our security interests. History shows
that when citizens have a voice in choosing their own
leaders, they are less likely to search for meaning in
radical ideologies. And when governments respect the rights
of their people, they're more likely to respect the rights
of their neighbors.
For all these reasons, the nations of this body must
challenge tyranny as vigorously as we challenge terror. Some
question whether people in certain parts of the world
actually desire freedom. This self-serving condescension has
been disproved before our eyes. From the voting booths of
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Liberia, to the Orange Revolution in
Ukraine and the Rose Revolution in Georgia, to the Cedar
Revolution in Lebanon and the Tulip Revolution in
Kyrgyzstan, we have seen people consistently make the
courageous decision to demand their liberty. For all the
suggestions to the contrary, the truth is that whenever or
wherever people are given the choice, they choose freedom.
Nations in these chambers have supported the efforts of
dissidents and reformers and civil society advocates in
newly free societies throughout the new United Nations
Democracy Fund. And we appreciate those efforts. And as
young democracies around the world continue to make brave
stands for liberty, multilateral organizations like the
United Nations must continue to stand with them.
In Afghanistan, a determined people are working to
overcome decades of tyranny, and protect their newly-free
society. They have strong support from all 26 nations of the
NATO Alliance. I appreciate the United Nations' decision
this week to renew the mandate for the International
Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. The United Nations
is also an active civilian presence in Afghanistan, where
experts are doing important work helping to improve
education, facilitate humanitarian aid, and protect human
rights. We must continue to help the Afghan people defend
their young democracy -- so the Taliban does not return to
power, and Afghanistan is never again a safe haven for
terror.
In Iraq, the fight has been difficult, yet daily life
has improved dramatically over the past 20 months -- thanks
to the courage of the Iraqi people, a determined coalition
of nations, and a surge of American troops. The United
Nations has provided the mandate for multinational forces in
Iraq through this December. And the United Nations is
carrying out an ambitious strategy to strengthen Iraq's
democracy, including helping Iraqis prepare for their next
round of free elections. Whatever disagreements our nations
have had on Iraq, we should all welcome this progress toward
stability and peace -- and we should stand united in helping
Iraq's democracy succeed.
We must stand united in our support of other young
democracies, from the people of Lebanon struggling to
maintain their hard-won independence, to the people of the
Palestinian Territories, who deserve a free and peaceful
state of their own. We must stand united in our support of
the people of Georgia. The United Nations Charter sets forth
the "equal rights of nations large and small." Russia's
invasion of Georgia was a violation of those words. Young
democracies around the world are watching to see how we
respond to this test. The United States has worked with
allies in multilateral institutions like the European Union
and NATO to uphold Georgia's territorial integrity and
provide humanitarian relief. And our nations will continue
to support Georgia's democracy.
In this chamber are representatives of Georgia and
Ukraine and Lebanon and Afghanistan and Liberia and Iraq,
and other brave young democracies. We admire your courage.
We honor your sacrifices. We thank you for your inspiring
example. We will continue to stand with all who stand for
freedom. This noble goal is worthy of the United Nations,
and it should have the support of every member in this
assembly.
Extending the reach of political freedom is essential
to prevailing in the great struggle of our time -- but it is
not enough. Many in this chamber have answered the call to
help their brothers and sisters in need by working to
alleviate hopelessness. These efforts to improve the human
condition honor the highest ideals of this institution. They
also advance our security interests. The extremists find
their most fertile recruiting grounds in societies trapped
in chaos and despair -- places where people see no prospect
of a better life. In the shadows of hopelessness, radicalism
thrives. And eventually, that radicalism can boil over into
violence and cross borders and take innocent lives across
the world.
Overcoming hopelessness requires addressing its causes
-- poverty, disease, and ignorance. Challenging these
conditions is in the interest of every nation in this
chamber. And democracies are particularly well-positioned to
carry out this work. Because we have experience responding
to the needs of our own people, we're natural partners in
helping other nations respond to the needs of theirs.
Together, we must commit our resources and efforts to
advancing education and health and prosperity.
Over the years, many nations have made well-intentioned
efforts to promote these goals. Yet the success of these
efforts must be measured by more than intentions -- they
must be measured by results. My nation has placed an
insistence on results at the heart of our foreign assistance
programs. We launched a new initiative called the Millennium
Challenge Account, which directs our help to countries that
demonstrate their ability to produce results by governing
justly, and fighting corruption, and pursuing market-based
economic policies, as well as investing in their people.
Every country and institution that provides foreign
assistance, including the United Nations, will be more
effective by showing faith in the people of the developing
world -- and insisting on performance in return for aid.
Experience also shows that to be effective, we must
adopt a model of partnership, not paternalism. This approach
is based on our conviction that people in the developing
world have the capacity to improve their own lives -- and
will rise to meet high expectations if we set them. America
has sought to apply this model in our Emergency Plan for
AIDS Relief. Every nation that receives American support
through this initiative develops its own plan for fighting
HIV/AIDS -- and measures the results. And so far, these
results are inspiring: Five years ago, 50,000 people in
sub-Sahara Africa were receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS.
Today that number is nearly 1.7 million. We're taking a
similar approach to fighting malaria, and so far, we've
supported local efforts to protect more than 25 million
Africans.
Multilateral organizations have made bold commitments
of their own to fight disease. The G8 has pledged to match
America's efforts on malaria and HIV/AIDS. Through the
Global Fund, many countries are working to fight HIV/AIDS,
malaria, and TB. Lives in the developing world depend on
these programs, and all who have made pledges to fight
disease have an obligation to follow through on their
commitments.
One of the most powerful engines of development and
prosperity is trade and investment, which create new
opportunities for entrepreneurs, and help people rise out of
poverty, and reinforce fundamental values like transparency
and rule of law. For all these reasons, many in these
chambers have conducted free trade agreements at bilateral
and regional levels. The most effective step of all would be
an agreement that tears down trade barriers at the global
level. The recent impasse in the Doha Round is
disappointing, but that does not have to be the final word.
I urge every nation to seize this opportunity to lift up
economies around the world -- and reach a successful Doha
agreement as soon as possible.
Beyond Doha, our nations must renew our commitment to
open economies, and stand firm against economic
isolationism. These objectives are being tested by
turbulence in the global financial markets. Our economies
are more closely connected than ever before, and I know that
many of you here are watching how the United States
government will address the problems in our financial
system.
In recent weeks, we have taken bold steps to prevent a
severe disruption of the American economy, which would have
a devastating effect on other economies around the world.
We've promoted stability in the markets by preventing the
disorderly failure of major companies. The Federal Reserve
has injected urgently-needed liquidity into the system. And
last week, I announced a decisive action by the federal
government to address the root cause of much of the
instability in our financial markets -- by purchasing
illiquid assets that are weighing down balance sheets and
restricting the flow of credit. I can assure you that my
administration and our Congress are working together to
quickly pass legislation approving this strategy. And I'm
confident we will act in the urgent time frame required.
The objectives I've laid out for multilateral
institutions -- confronting terror, opposing tyranny, and
promoting effective development -- are difficult, but they
are necessary tasks. To have maximum impact, multilateral
institutions must take on challenging missions. And like all
of us in this chamber, they must work toward measurable
goals, be accountable for their actions, and hold true to
their word.
In the 21st century, the world needs a confident and
effective United Nations. This unique institution should
build on its successes and improve its performance. Where
there is inefficiency and corruption, it must be corrected.
Where there are bloated bureaucracies, they must be
streamlined. Where members fail to uphold their obligations,
there must be strong action. For example, there should be an
immediate review of the Human Rights Council, which has
routinely protected violators of human rights. There should
be a stronger effort to help the people of Burma live free
of the repression they have suffered for too long. And all
nations, especially members of the Security Council, must
act decisively to ensure that the government of Sudan
upholds its commitment to address the violence in Darfur.
The United Nations is an organization of extraordinary
potential. As the United Nations rebuilds its headquarters,
it must also open the door to a new age of transparency,
accountability, and seriousness of purpose.
With determination and clear purpose, the United
Nations can be a powerful force for good as we head into the
21st century. It can affirm the great promise of its
founding.
In the final days of the San Francisco Conference, the
delegates negotiating the U.N. Charter received a visit from
President Harry Truman. He acknowledged the enormous
challenges they faced, and said success was only possible
because of what he called an "unshakable unity of
determination." Today the world is engaged in another period
of great challenge. And by continuing to work together, that
unshakable unity of determination will be ours. Together, we
confront and defeat the evil of terrorism. Together, we can
secure the Almighty's gift of liberty and justice to
millions who have not known it. And together, we can build a
world that is freer, safer, and better for the generations
who follow.
Thank you. (Applause.)
END 10:34 A.M. EDT
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