A year ago the left thought they had Bush on the ropes and he made the UN speech. Will this one do the same for him?
[The New York Times] [Sponsored by Starbucks]
September 5, 2003
Bush to Address Nation Sunday on Iraq and Terrorism
By DAVID STOUT
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 - President Bush will speak to the American people on Sunday night about his plan for rebuilding Iraq, the White House announced this afternoon.
"The president felt this was a good time to talk to the American people about our progress and our needs moving forward," the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said in Indianapolis as Mr. Bush wrapped up a brief trip visit to speak about his economic policies.
Mr. McClellan said Mr. Bush would speak on television at 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
The address, which Mr. McClellan said would be a progress report on the overall war on terror, comes after a difficult week for Mr. Bush, a week in which lawmakers returned to Washington bearing complaints from their constituents that the peace in Iraq seems bloodier than the war.
Moreover, two longtime American allies, France and Germany, continue to oppose Washington's plan for the United Nations Security Council to authorize an expanded force in Iraq under American control.
While he has never accused Saddam Hussein of having a direct role in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Bush has long insisted that the American-led campaign in Iraq was part of the broader battle against terror, in the sense that Mr. Hussein, in Mr. Bush's eyes, has promoted terrorism.
Given that position, it is not surprising that he chose to address the American people four days before the second anniversary of the attacks.
Earlier today in Washington, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said the United States would remain open to the views of other countries on how to promote democracy in Iraq. But he also signaled that the Bush administration would not abandon its proposal for an American-controlled international force.
In a speech that seemed addressed, at least in part, to the concerns of Germany and France, Mr. Powell reiterated that the goal of the United States ? "our single goal, our only goal" ? is to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis, so they can govern themselves according to democratic ideals.
"As you have been reading in your newspapers for the last several days, we have begun consultations with our Security Council colleagues on a new U.N. resolution concerning Iraq," the Secretary said during a speech at George Washington University, where he was a graduate student more than 30 years ago after returning from Army duty in Vietnam.
"In this resolution, we will invite the Iraqi Governing Council to submit a plan and a timetable for them to write a constitution, develop political institutions and conduct free elections, all of this leading to their resumption of sovereignty over their own country, over their own people," the Secretary said.
"This is our single goal, our only goal, to allow the Iraqi people to regain sovereignty, but sovereignty based on democracy, sovereignty based on freedom, sovereignty based on peaceful existence with one's neighbors. This has been the president's goal from the very beginning, and this new resolution will move us further along toward that goal."
In what seemed to be a reference to France and Germany, who have complained that the proposed American resolution would not go far enough and fast enough in transferring power to the Iraqis, Mr. Powell said: "There are some of my Security Council colleagues who would like to move faster; some who say, `Be a little more careful.'
"We will listen to all of the comments that will be coming in, and we will try to adjust and adapt to those comments, as long as it is consistent with what I have just described as our overall goal."
But Mr. Powell reiterated Washington's insistence, as outlined in the proposed resolution, that the international force be under American command.
"There's nothing unusual about this," he said. "With a force this size and with the majority of that force coming from one country, that country is the provider of a commander. And we have seen this model work on many occasions in the past, and we are confident it will work now, keeping in mind there are already 30 nations standing side by side with us in Iraq."
There are now about 140,000 American troops in Iraq, far more than from any other country.
"We hope with this new resolution, more nations will be encouraged to become a part of this noble effort," Mr. Powell said.
Without softening the administration's stance, the Secretary offered a conciliatory note to Germany and France, without naming them.
"Let there be no doubt that the partnership we have with our European friends is a strong partnership," he said. "Yes, it is true that we have differences with some of our oldest and most valued NATO allies. But these are differences among friends.
"The transatlantic partnership is based so firmly on common interests and values, that neither feuding personalities nor diversion perceptions can derail it. We have new friends and old friends alike in Europe. They are all, in the end, friends, best friends."
nytimes.com |
