What follows is a transcript of the "President's" speech at the UN today. Don't trust those other transcripts -- Mahablog's is better. :wink:
Mr. Secretary General, Mr. President, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen:
24 months ago--and yesterday in the memory of America -- the center of New York City became a battlefield and a graveyard and one hell of a photo op.
You may wonder why I'm bringing up September 11 in a speech on Iraq, since I've admitted there is no connection between Iraq and September 11. Well, the only reason the American people supported me in the great effort in Iraq is that most of 'em believe there
is such a connection, and I want them to keep thinking that.
Since that day, terrorists have struck in Bali, in Mombasa, in Casablanca, in Riyadh, in Jakarta, in Jerusalem--and mostly this terrorism didn't have much to do with Iraq either. But last month some different terrorist bombed the UN headquarters in Baghdad.
The UN headquarters in Baghdad stood for order and compassion, and for that reason -- and because the CIA got some boys liquored up and told 'em I was there -- the terrorists decided it must be destroyed.
By the victims they choose and by the means they use, the terrorists have clarified the struggle we are in. And I'm glad they did, because otherwise I wouldn't understand it myself. Those who target relief workers for death have set themselves against all humanity. Those who incite murder and celebrate suicide reveal their contempt for life itself. They have no place in any religious faith, they have no claim on the world's sympathy, and they should have no friend in this chamber. But you let me speak here, anyway, and I thank you.
The Taliban was a sponsor and servant of terrorism. When confronted, that regime chose defiance, and that regime is no more. [Pause; Karl Rove runs to podium, hands Bush a note.] Oh, wait; it says here the Taliban is making a comeback. Well, never mind.
Afghanistan's president, who is here today, now represents a free people who are building a decent and just society. They're building a nation fully joined in the war against terror. [Pause; Rove runs to podium and whispers in the President's ear.] Well, we acknowledge that the decent and just society extends to just a few square blocks of Kabul, and the rest of Afghanistan is a mess. But you got to start somewhere.
The regime of Saddam Hussein cultivated ties to terror with weapons of mass destruction. We knew they had those weapons, because we had the receipts. It used those weapons in acts of mass murder and refused to account for them when confronted by the world. Saddam had written down where and when the weapons had been dumped on the back of a napkin and tossed the napkin, but how were we to know that?
The Security Council was right to be alarmed, because we raised enough stink about Saddam to drown out every skunk in North America. And because a coalition of at least a couple of nations acted to defend the peace and the credibility of the United Nations, even while we called you "irrelevant," Iraq is free.
Saddam Hussein's monuments have been removed along with that mosaic tile picture of my daddy in that Baghdad hotel. Plus the torture chambers and the rape rooms and the prison cells for innocent children, which are now occupied by US soldiers who never got the barracks Brown and Root was supposed to build. And as we discover the killing fields and mass graves of Iraq, the true scale of Saddam's cruelty is being revealed.
Of course, my daddy shouldn't have mouthed off about an uprising against Saddam and then sit by while Saddam wiped out his opposition, but that's not my fault.
The Iraqi people are meeting hardships and challenges, like every nation that has set out on the path of democracy, yet their future promises lives of dignity and freedom. And that is a world away from the squalid, vicious tyranny they have known. Instead of squalid, vicious tyranny, they now enjoy squalid, viscious anarchy. That's entirely different.
Across Iraq, life is being improved by liberty whenever people can get out of the way of the airstrikes. Our actions in Afghanistan and Iraq were supported by many governments and America is grateful to each one. Your checks are in the mail.
So let us get over that little disagreement we had last year and move forward. There are challenges we must meet together.
First, we must stand with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq as they build free and stable countries. Free people embrace hope over resentment and choose peace over violence, unless they are Republicans.
The United Nations has been a friend of the Afghan people, distributing food and medicine, helping refugees return home, advising on a new constitution, and helping to prepare the way for nationwide elections. And it's a good thing, because the United States ain't doin' it.
NATO has taken over the UN-mandated security force in Kabul. American and coalition forces continue to track and defeat Al Qaida terrorists and remnants of the Taliban, even the same guys we defeated last year. They are persistent little buggers.
By the end of 2004, more than 90 percent of Iraqi children under age 5 will have been immunized against preventable diseases, such as polio, tuberculosis, and measles, thanks to the hard work and high ideals of UNICEF. Iraq's food distribution system is operational, delivering nearly a half-million tons of food per month, thanks to the skill and expertise of the World Food Programme. And as soon as you guys are done in the Middle East, we're gonna need you in Mississippi. Probably Texas, too.
Our coalition has made sure that the former dictator will never again use weapons of mass destruction. They'll need a new dictator for that.
We are interviewing Iraqi citizens and analyzing records of the old regime to reveal the full extent of its weapons programs and its long campaign of deception. [Rove runs up to podium gesturing frantically, speaks to President.] We're not supposed to mention the David Kay report? Can we edit the tape? This is live? Oh, crap ... Karl, you promised me this wouldn't be live! Well, forget I said that.
And at the same time, our coalition is helping to improve the daily lives of the Iraqi people. The old regime built palaces while letting schools decay, so we are rebuilding more than a thousand schools. The old regime starved hospitals of resources, so we have helped to supply and reopen hospitals across Iraq. The old regime built up armies and weapons while allowing the nation's infrastructure to crumble, so we are rehabilitating power plants, water and sanitation facilities, bridges and airports.
However, as we do this, the schools, hospitals, and infrastructure in the United States is going to hell, so I've come here today to ask for help. Even if you don't help, I can blame you guys if the power goes out again.
And I have proposed to Congress that the United States provide additional funding for our work in Iraq, the greatest financial commitment of its kind since the Marshall Plan, which was a big important thing that happened when I was a baby. The primary goal of our coalition in Iraq is self-government for the people of Iraq, reached by orderly and democratic process; just not in the immediate future.
A second challenge we must confront together is the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The deadly combination of outlaw regimes and terror networks and weapons of mass murder is a peril that cannot be ignored or wished away. 'Course, I don't like to waste time tryin' to figure out what makes these people tick, either. Let's just bomb 'em. Shock and awe -- let God sort 'em out.
A third challenge we share is a challenge to our conscience. We must act decisively to meet the humanitarian crises of our time. The United States has begun to carry out the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, aimed at preventing AIDS on a massive scale and treating millions who have the disease already. We have pledged $15 billion over five years to fight AIDS around the world, although of course we won't release this money unless people prove to us they aren't having sex outside of heterosexual marriage.
There's another humanitarian crisis spreading, yet hidden from view. Each year an estimated 800,000 to 900,000 human beings are bought, sold or forced across the world's borders. Among them are hundreds of thousands of teenage girls, and others as young as 5, who fall victim to the sex trade. This commerce in human life generates billions of dollars each year, much of which is used to finance organized crime. The victims of sex trade see little of life before they see the very worst of life: an underground of brutality and lonely fear. Governments that tolerate this trade are tolerating a form of slavery.
This problem has appeared in my own country and we are working on it. We are investigating sex tour operators. We are comparing rates and figuring out when we can get away for a couple of weeks... wait a minute; how'd this letter from Neil get mixed up in my speech?
As an original signer of the UN Charter, the United States of America is committed to the United Nations. And we show that commitment by working to fulfill the UN's stated purposes and giving meaning to its ideals, as we interpret them, whether you like it or not.
May God bless you all.
