‘Take the side of hope’
WORLD SUMMIT: U.S. president softens tone in address to global leaders Bush says ideas key to terror fight Force not enough, he tells assembly
UNITED NATIONS—
George W. Bush and other world leaders have moved to use their might against those who would incite terrorism around the globe, even as the U. S. president conceded arms alone cannot turn the tide in the war on terror. Bush told the largest gathering of prime ministers, presidents and kings ever to assemble here that they must defeat terrorists not only on the battlefield, but must also win the war of ideas so terrorists cannot flourish.
It was a change in tone from the more bellicose messages Bush has taken to the U. N. in recent years and is strikingly different from his warnings that the world body could become irrelevant if it did not join him in his invasion of Iraq. He spoke on a day when bloody suicide attacks in Baghdad killed more than 170 and wounded more than 570, making it the deadliest day in the Iraqi capital since the March 2003 U. S. invasion.
“ The lesson is clear. There can be no safety in looking away, or seeking the quiet life by ignoring the hardship and oppression of others,” Bush told more than 160 leaders gathered for three days of U. N. General Assembly meetings aimed at battling poverty and reforming the world body.
“ Either hope will spread, or violence will spread — and we must take the side of hope.”
Bush’s change in tone also reflects the shifting of his own political landscape at home. He is at historic lows in popularity and is listing badly in the wake of the bungled federal response to the death and suffering brought to the U. S. Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina. He will leave the summit today to address Americans on hurricane relief from Louisiana. But he also spoke to a U. N. that is suffering itself on its 60th birthday, reeling from an oil- forfood scandal and having failed to forge the widespread reforms sought by Secretary General Kofi Annan. The U. S. president was blunt in calling for much broader U. N. reforms
“ When this great institution’s member states choose notorious abusers of human rights to sit on the U. N. Human Rights Commission, they discredit a noble effort, and undermine the credibility of the whole organization,” Bush said.
“ If member countries want the United Nations to be respected — respected and effective — they should begin by making sure it is worthy of respect.” Prime Minister Paul Martin echoed Bush’s criticism of the human rights commission and expressed his disappointment that U. N. reforms did not go further.
“ Frankly, this group should have done better,” said Martin, who will address the summit tomorrow. Bush also sought out Martin at a luncheon attended by leaders and the two men had an animated, but warm, conversation. Bush thanked Martin personally for Canadian help in the wake of Katrina.
Officials also said last night U. S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be making her longawaited first trip to Ottawa “ very soon,” although they could not announce a date. They said she had accepted an invitation from Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew when the two joined other foreign ministers last night to discuss upcoming elections in Haiti. Bush said he believed poverty led to the “ failing states and stagnant societies,” which breed terrorism, and he challenged the world to eliminate billions of dollars’ worth of trade tariffs and barriers to help poor countries.
“ Confronting our enemies is essential, and so civilized nations will continue to take the fight to the terrorists,” Bush said.
“ Yet we know that this war will not be won by force of arms alone. We must defeat the terrorists on the battlefield, and we must also defeat them in the battle of ideas.
“ We must change the conditions that allow terrorists to flourish and recruit, by spreading the hope of freedom to millions who’ve never known it.”
Later in the day, world leaders voted unanimously to call on all governments to adopt laws prohibiting the incitement of terrorism. The move was criticized by some human rights activists, who fear such laws could be used for crackdowns on peaceable citizens by some regimes around the world.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair had introduced the resolution after the deadly bomb attacks on the London subway in July. It calls on world leaders to report in a year’s time on measures they have taken to crack down on terrorism.
Blair told world leaders terrorists will never be defeated “ until our determination is as complete as theirs, our defence of freedom as absolute as their fanaticism, until our passion for the democratic way is as great as their passion for tyranny.” He also said the civilized world must unite to fight the “ poisonous propaganda” that the free world incites terrorism. Bush told the high- level delegates the spread of freedom was “ the calling of our time . . . the