Tuesday, 19 September 2006By Matt Spetalnick
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush faced growing international scepticism over his policies for Iran and Iraq as he arrived in New York on Monday to try to rally support at a U.N. General Assembly session.
Bush addresses world leaders at a time when his administration is confronted by an array of foreign policy woes and at home by a Democratic challenge to wrest control of Congress from his fellow Republicans in November's election.
His speech on Tuesday to the 192-nation General Assembly will focus on his vision for Middle East democracy, a source of doubt in many world capitals given unrelenting violence in Iraq three years after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a frequent critic of Bush's approach in Iraq, said there was "grave danger" of civil war and the breakdown of the Iraqi state if trends persist.
Bush also will use his diplomatic agenda to try to shore up opposition to Iran's nuclear ambitions after it ignored an August 31 U.N. deadline for suspending uranium enrichment.
Washington is pressing major powers to begin readying sanctions against Iran if there is no progress soon.
Russia and China are hesitant to support such penalties, and in a sign of European misgivings French President Jacques Chirac, set to meet Bush on Tuesday, said talks should be pursued since U.N. sanctions have never worked well.
"I do not believe in solutions that do not involve ... dialogue taken to its limits," Chirac told a radio station.
The White House has ruled out any meeting between Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an outspoken foe of Washington who also addresses the General Assembly on Tuesday.
Ahmadinejad, whose offer to debate Bush at the U.N. had been dismissed by U.S. officials as a diversionary tactic, was expected to insist Iran had a right to develop nuclear technology for civilian power generation. Washington says Tehran's program is cover for building nuclear weapons.
U.S. officials cautioned against expecting a breakthrough from Bush's U.N. efforts. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned meetings on Tuesday with other key players on Iran.
FOCUS ON ADVANCING DEMOCRACY
Bush's speech was to highlight his "freedom agenda" for the Middle East, a strategy Washington's foes in the region see as a pretext for bullying countries it opposes.
"He will talk about it at the U.N. as a struggle between the forces of extremism and the forces of moderation," White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley said.
But Bush's comments will also be a reminder of the foreign policy challenges he faces. U.S. forces remain bogged down in Iraq, a war increasingly unpopular with Americans, as Baghdad's nascent government struggles with bloody sectarian strife.
Lebanon's fragile coalition government, once hailed by Bush as a success story, was weakened by the Israel-Hizbollah war.
Critics say Bush's democracy campaign backfired in the Palestinian territories, where the Islamist group Hamas won elections and is now under U.S.-led diplomatic isolation.
The Bush administration's tough treatment of foreign terrorism suspects has hurt America's image abroad.
Bush meets Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Tuesday. He holds talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday amid U.S. opposition to emerging guidelines for a unity government with Hamas. He met on Monday with leaders of Malaysia, El Salvador, Honduras and Tanzania.
Reuters via Swissinfo 19 September 2006 |
Tuesday, 19 September 2006
USA
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