[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 39 (Monday, September 27, 2004)]
[Pages 2075-2080]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City

September 21, 2004

    Mr. Secretary-General, Mr. President, distinguished delegates, 
ladies and gentlemen: Thank you for the honor of addressing this General 
Assembly. The American people respect the idealism that gave life to 
this organization. And we respect the men and women of the U.N., who 
stand for peace and human rights in every part of the world. Welcome to 
New York City, and welcome to the United States of America.
    During the past 3 years, I've addressed this General Assembly in a 
time of tragedy for my country and in times of decision for all of us. 
Now we gather at a time of tremendous opportunity for the U.N. and for 
all peaceful nations. For decades, the circle of liberty and security 
and development has been expanding in our world. This progress has 
brought unity to Europe, self-government to Latin America and Asia, and 
new hope to Africa. Now we have the historic chance to widen the circle 
even further, to fight radicalism

[[Page 2076]]

and terror with justice and dignity, to achieve a true peace founded on 
human freedom.
    The United Nations and my country share the deepest commitments. 
Both the American Declaration of Independence and the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights proclaim the equal value and dignity of 
every human life. That dignity is honored by the rule of law, limits on 
the power of the state, respect for women, protection of private 
property, free speech, equal justice, and religious tolerance. That 
dignity is dishonored by oppression, corruption, tyranny, bigotry, 
terrorism, and all violence against the innocent. And both of our 
founding documents affirm that this bright line between justice and 
injustice--between right and wrong--is the same in every age and every 
culture and every nation.
    Wise governments also stand for these principles for very practical 
and realistic reasons. We know that dictators are quick to choose 
aggression, while free nations strive to resolve differences in peace. 
We know that oppressive governments support terror, while free 
governments fight the terrorists in their midst. We know that free 
peoples embrace progress and life, instead of becoming the recruits for 
murderous ideologies.
    Every nation that wants peace will share the benefits of a freer 
world, and every nation that seeks peace has an obligation to help build 
that world. Eventually, there is no safe isolation from terror networks 
or failed states that shelter them or outlaw regimes or weapons of mass 
destruction. Eventually, there is no safety in looking away, seeking the 
quiet life by ignoring the struggles and oppression of others.
    In this young century, our world needs a new definition of security. 
Our security is not merely found in spheres of influence or some balance 
of power. The security of our world is found in the advancing rights of 
mankind.
    These rights are advancing across the world, and across the world, 
the enemies of human rights are responding with violence. Terrorists and 
their allies believe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 
American Bill of Rights and every charter of liberty ever written are 
lies to be burned and destroyed and forgotten. They believe that 
dictators should control every mind and tongue in the Middle East and 
beyond. They believe that suicide and torture and murder are fully 
justified to serve any goal they declare, and they act on their beliefs.
    In the last year alone, terrorists have attacked police stations and 
banks and commuter trains and synagogues and a school filled with 
children. This month in Beslan we saw, once again, how the terrorists 
measure their success, in the death of the innocent and in the pain of 
grieving families. Svetlana Dzebisov was held hostage along with her son 
and her nephew. Her nephew did not survive. She recently visited the 
cemetery, and saw what she called the ``little graves.'' She said, ``I 
understand that there is evil in the world, but what have these little 
creatures done?''
    Members of the United Nations, the Russian children did nothing to 
deserve such awful suffering and fright and death. The people of Madrid 
and Jerusalem and Istanbul and Baghdad have done nothing to deserve 
sudden and random murder. These acts violate the standards of justice in 
all cultures and the principles of all religions. All civilized nations 
are in this struggle together, and all must fight the murderers.
    We're determined to destroy terror networks wherever they operate, 
and the United States is grateful to every nation that is helping to 
seize terrorist assets, track down their operatives, and disrupt their 
plans. We're determined to end the state sponsorship of terror, and my 
Nation is grateful to all that participated in the liberation of 
Afghanistan. We're determined to prevent proliferation and to enforce 
the demands of the world, and my Nation is grateful to the soldiers of 
many nations who have helped to deliver the Iraqi people from an outlaw 
dictator.
    The dictator agreed in 1991, as a condition of a cease-fire, to 
fully comply with all Security Council resolutions, then ignored more 
than a decade of those resolutions. Finally, the Security Council 
promised serious consequences for his defiance. And the commitments we 
make must have meaning. When we say ``serious consequences,'' for the 
sake of peace, there must be serious consequences. And so a coalition of 
nations enforced the just demands of the world.

[[Page 2077]]

    Defending our ideals is vital, but it is not enough. Our broader 
mission as U.N. members is to apply these ideals to the great issues of 
our time. Our wider goal is to promote hope and progress as the 
alternatives to hatred and violence. Our great purpose is to build a 
better world beyond the war on terror.
    Because we believe in human dignity, America and many nations have 
established a Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. In 3 
years, the contributing countries have funded projects in more than 90 
countries and pledged a total of $5.6 billion to these efforts. America 
has undertaken a $15 billion effort to provide prevention and treatment 
and humane care in nations afflicted by AIDS, placing a special focus on 
15 countries where the need is most urgent. AIDS is the greatest health 
crisis of our time, and our unprecedented commitment will bring new hope 
to those who have walked too long in the shadow of death.
    Because we believe in human dignity, America and many nations have 
joined together to confront the evil of trafficking in human beings. 
We're supporting organizations that rescue the victims, passing stronger 
antitrafficking laws, and warning travelers that they will be held to 
account for supporting this modern form of slavery. Women and children 
should never be exploited for pleasure or greed anywhere on Earth.
    Because we believe in human dignity, we should take seriously the 
protection of life from exploitation under any pretext. In this session, 
the U.N. will consider a resolution sponsored by Costa Rica calling for 
a comprehensive ban on human cloning. I support that resolution and urge 
all governments to affirm a basic ethical principle: No human life 
should ever be produced or destroyed for the benefit of another.
    Because we believe in human dignity, America and many nations have 
changed the way we fight poverty, curb corruption, and provide aid. In 
2002, we created the Monterrey Consensus, a bold approach that links new 
aid from developed nations to real reform in developing ones. And 
through the Millennium Challenge Account, my Nation is increasing our 
aid to developing nations that expand economic freedom and invest in the 
education and health of their own people.
    Because we believe in human dignity, America and many nations have 
acted to lift the crushing burden of debt that limits the growth of 
developing economies and holds millions of people in poverty. Since 
these efforts began in 1996, poor countries with the heaviest debt 
burdens have received more than $30 billion of relief. And to prevent 
the buildup of future debt, my country and other nations have agreed 
that international financial institutions should increasingly provide 
new aid in the forms of grants rather than loans.
    Because we believe in human dignity, the world must have more 
effective means to stabilize regions in turmoil and to halt religious 
violence and ethnic cleansing. We must create permanent capabilities to 
respond to future crises. The United States and Italy have proposed a 
Global Peace Operations Initiative. G-8 countries will train 75,000 
peacekeepers, initially from Africa, so they can conduct operations on 
that continent and elsewhere. The countries of the G-8 will help this 
peacekeeping force with deployment and logistical needs.
    At this hour, the world is witnessing terrible suffering and 
horrible crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan, crimes my Government has 
concluded are genocide. The United States played a key role in efforts 
to broker a ceasefire, and we're providing humanitarian assistance to 
the Sudanese people. 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. I call on the 
Government of Sudan to honor the cease-fire it signed and to stop the 
killing in Darfur.
    Because we believe in human dignity, peaceful nations must stand for 
the advance of democracy. No other system of government has done more to 
protect minorities, to secure the rights of labor, to raise the status 
of women, or to channel human energy

[[Page 2078]]

to the pursuits of peace. We've witnessed the rise of democratic 
governments in predominantly Hindu and Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, and 
Christian cultures. Democratic institutions have taken root in modern 
societies and in traditional societies. When it comes to the desire for 
liberty and justice, there is no clash of civilizations. People 
everywhere are capable of freedom and worthy of freedom.
    Finding the full promise of representative government takes time, as 
America has found in two centuries of debate and struggle. Nor is there 
any--only one form of representative government because democracies, by 
definition, take on the unique character of the peoples that create 
them. Yet this much we know with certainty: The desire for freedom 
resides in every human heart. And that desire cannot be contained 
forever by prison walls or martial laws or secret police. Over time and 
across the Earth, freedom will find a way.
    Freedom is finding a way in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we must 
continue to show our commitment to democracies in those nations. The 
liberty that many have won at a cost must be secured. As members of the 
United Nations, we all have a stake in the success of the world's newest 
democracies.
    Not long ago, outlaw regimes in Baghdad and Kabul threatened the 
peace and sponsored terrorists. These regimes destabilized one of the 
world's most vital and most volatile regions. They brutalized their 
peoples in defiance of all civilized norms. 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 harboring 
terrorists, they're fighting terrorist groups, and this progress is good 
for the long-term security of all of us.
    The Afghan people are showing extraordinary courage under difficult 
conditions. They're fighting to defend their nation from Taliban 
holdouts and helping to strike against the terrorist killers. They're 
reviving their economy. They've adopted a constitution that protects the 
rights of all while honoring their nation's most cherished traditions. 
More than 10 million Afghan citizens, over 4 million of them women, are 
now registered to vote in next month's Presidential election. To any who 
still would question whether Muslim societies can be democratic 
societies, the Afghan people are giving their answer.
    Since the last meeting of this General Assembly, the people of Iraq 
have regained sovereignty. Today, in this hall, the Prime Minister of 
Iraq and his delegation represent a country that has rejoined the 
community of nations. The Government of Prime Minister Allawi has earned 
the support of every nation that believes in self-determination and 
desires peace. And under Security Council Resolutions 1511 and 1546, the 
world is providing that support. The U.N. 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.
    A democratic Iraq has ruthless enemies, because terrorists know the 
stakes in that country. They know that a free Iraq in the heart of the 
Middle East will be a decisive blow against their ambitions for that 
region. So a terrorist group associated with Al Qaida is now one of the 
main groups killing the innocent in Iraq today, conducting a campaign of 
bombings against civilians and the beheadings of bound men. Coalition 
forces now serving in Iraq are confronting the terrorists and foreign 
fighters, so peaceful nations around the world will never have to face 
them within our own borders.
    Our coalition is standing beside a growing Iraqi security force. The 
NATO Alliance is providing vital training to that force. More than 35 
nations have contributed money and expertise to help rebuild Iraq's 
infrastructure. And as the Iraqi Interim Government moves toward 
national elections, officials from the United Nations are helping Iraqis 
build the infrastructure of democracy. These selfless people are doing 
heroic work and are carrying on the great legacy of Sergio de Mello.
    As we have seen in other countries, one of the main terrorist goals 
is to undermine, disrupt, and influence election outcomes. We can expect 
terrorist attacks to escalate as Afghanistan and Iraq approach national 
elections. The work ahead is demanding, but these difficulties will not 
shake our conviction that the future of Afghanistan and Iraq is a future 
of liberty. The proper response to difficulty is not to retreat; it is 
to prevail.

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    The advance of freedom always carries a cost, paid by the bravest 
among us. America mourns the losses to our Nation and to many others. 
And today I assure every friend of Afghanistan and Iraq and every enemy 
of liberty: We will stand with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until 
their hopes of freedom and security are fulfilled.
    These two nations will be a model for the broader Middle East, a 
region where millions have been denied basic human rights and simple 
justice. For too long, many nations, including my own, tolerated, even 
excused, oppression in the Middle East in the name of stability. 
Oppression became common, but stability never arrived. We must take a 
different approach. We must help the reformers of the Middle East as 
they work for freedom and strive to build a community of peaceful, 
democratic nations.
    This commitment to democratic reform is essential to resolving the 
Arab-Israeli conflict. Peace will not be achieved by Palestinian rulers 
who intimidate opposition, tolerate corruption, and maintain ties to 
terrorist groups. The long-suffering Palestinian people deserve better. 
They deserve true leaders capable of creating and governing a free and 
peaceful Palestinian state.
    Even after the setbacks and frustrations of recent months, good will 
and hard effort can achieve the promise of the roadmap to peace. Those 
who would lead a new Palestinian state should adopt peaceful means to 
achieve the rights of their people and create the reformed institutions 
of a stable democracy. Arab states should end incitement in their own 
media, cut off public and private funding for terrorism, and establish 
normal relations with Israel. Israel should impose a settlement freeze, 
dismantle unauthorized outposts, end the daily humiliation of the 
Palestinian people, and avoid any actions that prejudice final 
negotiations. And world leaders should withdraw all favor and support 
from any Palestinian ruler who fails his people and betrays their cause.
    The democratic hopes we see growing in the Middle East are growing 
everywhere. In the words of the Burmese democracy advocate Aung San Suu 
Kyi, ``We do not accept the notion that democracy is a Western value. To 
the contrary, democracy simply means good government rooted in 
responsibility, transparency, and accountability.'' Here at the United 
Nations, you know this to be true. In recent years, this organization 
has helped create a new democracy in East Timor, and the U.N. has aided 
other nations in making the transition to self-rule.
    Because I believe the advance of liberty is the path to both a safer 
and better world, today I propose establishing a Democracy Fund within 
the United Nations. This is a great calling for this great organization. 
The fund would help countries lay the foundations of democracy by 
instituting the rule of law and independent courts, a free press, 
political parties, and trade unions. Money from the fund would also help 
set up voter precincts and polling places and support the work of 
election monitors. To show our commitment to the new Democracy Fund, the 
United States will make an initial contribution. I urge other nations to 
contribute as well.
    Today I've outlined a broad agenda to advance human dignity and 
enhance the security of all of us. The defeat of terror, the protection 
of human rights, the spread of prosperity, the advance of democracy, 
these causes, these ideals, call us to great work in the world. Each of 
us alone can only do so much. Together, we can accomplish so much more.
    History will honor the high ideals of this organization. The charter 
states them with clarity: ``to save succeeding generations from the 
scourge of war,'' ``to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights,'' 
``to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger 
freedom.''
    Let history also record that our generation of leaders followed 
through on these ideals, even in adversity. Let history show that in a 
decisive decade, members of the United Nations did not grow weary in our 
duties or waver in meeting them. I'm confident that this young century 
will be liberty's century. I believe we will rise to this moment, 
because I know the character of so many nations and leaders represented 
here today, and I have faith in the transforming power of freedom.
    May God bless you.

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Note: The President spoke at 11 a.m. in the General Assembly Hall. In 
his remarks, he referred to Secretary-General Kofi Annan of the United 
Nations; Foreign Minister Jean Ping of Gabon, President, 59th session of 
the U.N. General Assembly; former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; and 
Prime Minister Ayad Allawi of the Iraqi Interim Government. The Office 
of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of 
these remarks.