In battle of speeches at UN, my man Chavez beats Bush hands down, and not only because he says Bush is the devil whose sulfur he can smell

1. Iran Who? Venezuela Takes the Lead in Battle of Anti-U.S. Sound Bites – by HELENE COOPER

UNITED NATIONS — In the end, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran lost the much-hyped war of words waged against President Bush at the General Assembly . A stealth opponent swooped in and took the prize.

Speaking on Wednesday from the same lectern Mr. Bush had occupied the day before, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela announced, to gasps and even giggles: “The devil came here yesterday, right here.

“It smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of,” he said.

Just hours before, Mr. Ahmadinejad took issue with the great Satan, too. But what a difference. Where Mr. Chávez was Khrushchevian, waving around books and stopping just short of shoe-banging, Mr. Ahmadinejad was flowery, almost Socratic in his description of behavior that only the devil would condone.

“By causing war and conflict, some are fast expanding their domination, accumulating greater wealth, while others endure poverty,” Mr. Ahmadinejad lectured. “Some seek to rule the world relying on weapons and threats while others live in poverty. Some occupy the homelands of others, interfering in their affairs and controlling their oil and resources, while others are bombarded daily in their own homes, their children murdered in the streets.”

Mr. Ahmadinejad, who has been known for inflammatory language in his sound bites at home, suggesting that Israel should be wiped off the map and denying the Holocaust, was much less direct in his United Nations speech, asking question after question.

An example: “The question needs to be asked: if the governments of the United States or the United Kingdom, who are permanent members of the Security Council, commit aggression, occupation and violation of international law, which of the organs of the U.N. can take them to account? Can a Council in which they are privileged members address their violations? Has this ever happened?”

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s speech received all the buildup beforehand, particularly since he was scheduled on Tuesday, the same day as Mr. Bush. At the end of his speech, Mr. Ahmadinejad, as Mr. Bush did before him, received polite, diplomatic-style applause from the assembled officials, junior note-takers and various United Nations bureaucrats.

And for Mr. Chávez?

The gasps. The horrified giggles. The loud applause that lasted so long that the organization’s officials had to tell the cheering group to cut it out.

President Bush’s defenders noted that at least the United States had let Mr. Chávez and Mr. Ahmadinejad come here and say whatever they pleased without being thrown in jail. John R. Bolton , the American ambassador to the United Nations, who said that someone at the “junior note-taker” level was chronicling Mr. Chávez’s speech for the United States, offered: “You know, it’s a phenomenon of the United States that not only can he say those things in the General Assembly, he could walk over to Central Park and exercise freedom of speech in Central Park, too, and say pretty much whatever he wanted. Too bad President Chávez doesn’t extend the same freedom of speech to the people of Venezuela.”

For her part, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Mr. Chávez’s comments were “not becoming of a head of state.”

But compared with Mr. Ahmadinejad, Mr. Chávez was just more colorful. He brandished a copy of Noam Chomsky’s “Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance” and recommended it to members of the General Assembly to read. Later, he told a news conference that one of his greatest regrets was not getting to meet Mr. Chomsky before he died. (Mr. Chomsky, 77, is still alive.)

At that same news conference, just after his speech, he made eyes at a pretty Colombian journalist who asked him why he went around calling President Bush names. “Are you Colombian?” Mr. Chávez asked, performing a quick merengue move with his upper body and flashing her a grin.

He suggested that Americans read Mr. Chomsky’s book instead of spending all their time “watching Superman and Batman” movies.

Minutes later, at the same news conference, Mr. Chávez offered to double the amount of heating oil Venezuela donates to poor communities in the United States. He reminded reporters that Citgo, which is owned by Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., delivered free and discounted oil to Indian tribal reservations and low-income neighborhoods in the United States, including the Bronx.

“We are ready to double our oil donations,” Mr. Chávez said. “That is a Christian gesture.”

Mr. Ahmadinejad did not offer any Iranian oil to poor United States neighborhoods.


2. Chavez Address to the United Nations
by Hugo Chavez, New York September 20, 2006

Representatives of the governments of the world, good morning to all of you. First of all, I would like to invite you, very respectfully, to those who have not read this book, to read it.

Noam Chomsky, one of the most prestigious American and world intellectuals, Noam Chomsky, and this is one of his most recent books, 'Hegemony or Survival: The Imperialist Strategy of the United States .'" [Holds up book, waves it in front of General Assembly.] "It's an excellent book to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century, and what's happening now, and the greatest threat looming over our planet.

The hegemonic pretensions of the American empire are placing at risk the very survival of the human species. We continue to warn you about this danger and we appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our heads. I had considered reading from this book, but, for the sake of time," [flips through the pages, which are numerous] "I will just leave it as a recommendation.

It reads easily, it is a very good book, I'm sure Madame [President] you are familiar with it. It appears in English, in Russian, in Arabic, in German. I think that the first people who should read this book are our brothers and sisters in the United States, because their threat is right in their own house.

The devil is right at home. The devil, the devil himself, is right in the house.

"And the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the devil came here. Right here." [crosses himself] "And it smells of sulfur still today.

Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.

I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.

An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: "The Devil's Recipe."

As Chomsky says here, clearly and in depth, the American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we cannot allow them to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated.

The world parent's statement -- cynical, hypocritical, full of this imperial hypocrisy from the need they have to control everything.

They say they want to impose a democratic model. But that's their democratic model. It's the false democracy of elites, and, I would say, a very original democracy that's imposed by weapons and bombs and firing weapons.

What a strange democracy. Aristotle might not recognize it or others who are at the root of democracy.

What type of democracy do you impose with marines and bombs?

The president of the United States, yesterday, said to us, right here, in this room, and I'm quoting, "Anywhere you look, you hear extremists telling you can escape from poverty and recover your dignity through violence, terror and martyrdom."

Wherever he looks, he sees extremists. And you, my brother -- he looks at your color, and he says, oh, there's an extremist. Evo Morales, the worthy president of Bolivia, looks like an extremist to him.

The imperialists see extremists everywhere. It's not that we are extremists. It's that the world is waking up. It's waking up all over. And people are standing up.

I have the feeling, dear world dictator, that you are going to live the rest of your days as a nightmare because the rest of us are standing up, all those who are rising up against American imperialism, who are shouting for equality, for respect, for the sovereignty of nations.

Yes, you can call us extremists, but we are rising up against the empire, against the model of domination.

The president then -- and this he said himself, he said: "I have come to speak directly to the populations in the Middle East, to tell them that my country wants peace."

That's true. If we walk in the streets of the Bronx, if we walk around New York, Washington, San Diego, in any city, San Antonio, San Francisco, and we ask individuals, the citizens of the United States, what does this country want? Does it want peace? They'll say yes.

But the government doesn't want peace. The government of the United States doesn't want peace. It wants to exploit its system of exploitation, of pillage, of hegemony through war.

It wants peace. But what's happening in Iraq? What happened in Lebanon? In Palestine? What's happening? What's happened over the last 100 years in Latin America and in the world? And now threatening Venezuela -- new threats against Venezuela, against Iran?

He spoke to the people of Lebanon. Many of you, he said, have seen how your homes and communities were caught in the crossfire. How cynical can you get? What a capacity to lie shamefacedly. The bombs in Beirut with millimetric precision?

This is crossfire? He's thinking of a western, when people would shoot from the hip and somebody would be caught in the crossfire.

This is imperialist, fascist, assassin, genocidal, the empire and Israel firing on the people of Palestine and Lebanon. That is what happened. And now we hear, "We're suffering because we see homes destroyed.'

The president of the United States came to talk to the peoples -- to the peoples of the world. He came to say -- I brought some documents with me, because this morning I was reading some statements, and I see that he talked to the people of Afghanistan, the people of Lebanon, the people of Iran. And he addressed all these peoples directly.

And you can wonder, just as the president of the United States addresses those peoples of the world, what would those peoples of the world tell him if they were given the floor? What would they have to say?

And I think I have some inkling of what the peoples of the south, the oppressed people think. They would say, "Yankee imperialist, go home." I think that is what those people would say if they were given the microphone and if they could speak with one voice to the American imperialists.

And that is why, Madam President, my colleagues, my friends, last year we came here to this same hall as we have been doing for the past eight years, and we said something that has now been confirmed -- fully, fully confirmed.

I don't think anybody in this room could defend the system. Let's accept -- let's be honest. The U.N. system, born after the Second World War, collapsed. It's worthless.

Oh, yes, it's good to bring us together once a year, see each other, make statements and prepare all kinds of long documents, and listen to good speeches, like Abel's yesterday, or President Mullah's . Yes, it's good for that.

And there are a lot of speeches, and we've heard lots from the president of Sri Lanka, for instance, and the president of Chile.

But we, the assembly, have been turned into a merely deliberative organ. We have no power, no power to make any impact on the terrible situation in the world. And that is why Venezuela once again proposes, here, today, 20 September, that we re-establish the United Nations.

Last year, Madam, we made four modest proposals that we felt to be crucially important. We have to assume the responsibility our heads of state, our ambassadors, our representatives, and we have to discuss it.

The first is expansion, and Mullah talked about this yesterday right here. The Security Council, both as it has permanent and non-permanent categories, (inaudible) developing countries and LDCs must be given access as new permanent members. That's step one.

Second, effective methods to address and resolve world conflicts, transparent decisions.

Point three, the immediate suppression -- and that is something everyone's calling for -- of the anti-democratic mechanism known as the veto, the veto on decisions of the Security Council.

Let me give you a recent example. The immoral veto of the United States allowed the Israelis, with impunity, to destroy Lebanon. Right in front of all of us as we stood there watching, a resolution in the council was prevented.

Fourthly, we have to strengthen, as we've always said, the role and the powers of the secretary general of the United Nations.

Yesterday, the secretary general practically gave us his speech of farewell. And he recognized that over the last 10 years, things have just gotten more complicated; hunger, poverty, violence, human rights violations have just worsened. That is the tremendous consequence of the collapse of the United Nations system and American hegemonistic pretensions.

Madam, Venezuela a few years ago decided to wage this battle within the United Nations by recognizing the United Nations, as members of it that we are, and lending it our voice, our thinking.

Our voice is an independent voice to represent the dignity and the search for peace and the reformulation of the international system; to denounce persecution and aggression of hegemonistic forces on the planet.

This is how Venezuela has presented itself. Bolivar's home has sought a nonpermanent seat on the Security Council.

Let's see. Well, there's been an open attack by the U.S. government, an immoral attack, to try and prevent Venezuela from being freely elected to a post in the Security Council.

The imperium is afraid of truth, is afraid of independent voices. It calls us extremists, but they are the extremists.

And I would like to thank all the countries that have kindly announced their support for Venezuela, even though the ballot is a secret one and there's no need to announce things.

But since the imperium has attacked, openly, they strengthened the convictions of many countries. And their support strengthens us.

Mercosur, as a bloc, has expressed its support, our brothers in Mercosur. Venezuela, with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, is a full member of Mercosur.

And many other Latin American countries, CARICOM, Bolivia have expressed their support for Venezuela. The Arab League, the full Arab League has voiced its support. And I am immensely grateful to the Arab world, to our Arab brothers, our Caribbean brothers, the African Union. Almost all of Africa has expressed its support for Venezuela and countries such as Russia or China and many others.

I thank you all warmly on behalf of Venezuela, on behalf of our people, and on behalf of the truth, because Venezuela, with a seat on the Security Council, will be expressing not only Venezuela's thoughts, but it will also be the voice of all the peoples of the world, and we will defend dignity and truth.

Over and above all of this, Madam President, I think there are reasons to be optimistic. A poet would have said "helplessly optimistic," because over and above the wars and the bombs and the aggressive and the preventive war and the destruction of entire peoples, one can see that a new era is dawning.

As Silvio Rodriguez says, the era is giving birth to a heart. There are alternative ways of thinking. There are young people who think differently. And this has already been seen within the space of a mere decade. It was shown that the end of history was a totally false assumption, and the same was shown about Pax Americana and the establishment of the capitalist neo-liberal world. It has been shown, this system, to generate mere poverty. Who believes in it now?

What we now have to do is define the future of the world. Dawn is breaking out all over. You can see it in Africa and Europe and Latin America and Oceanea. I want to emphasize that optimistic vision.

We have to strengthen ourselves, our will to do battle, our awareness. We have to build a new and better world.

Venezuela joins that struggle, and that's why we are threatened. The U.S. has already planned, financed and set in motion a coup in Venezuela, and it continues to support coup attempts in Venezuela and elsewhere.

President Michelle Bachelet reminded us just a moment ago of the horrendous assassination of the former foreign minister, Orlando Letelier.

And I would just add one thing: Those who perpetrated this crime are free. And that other event where an American citizen also died were American themselves. They were CIA killers, terrorists.

And we must recall in this room that in just a few days there will be another anniversary. Thirty years will have passed from this other horrendous terrorist attack on the Cuban plane, where 73 innocents died, a Cubana de Aviacion airliner.

And where is the biggest terrorist of this continent who took the responsibility for blowing up the plane? He spent a few years in jail in Venezuela. Thanks to CIA and then government officials, he was allowed to escape, and he lives here in this country, protected by the government.

And he was convicted. He has confessed to his crime. But the U.S. government has double standards. It protects terrorism when it wants to.

And this is to say that Venezuela is fully committed to combating terrorism and violence. And we are one of the people who are fighting for peace.

Luis Posada Carriles is the name of that terrorist who is protected here. And other tremendously corrupt people who escaped from Venezuela are also living here under protection: a group that bombed various embassies, that assassinated people during the coup. They kidnapped me and they were going to kill me, but I think God reached down and our people came out into the streets and the army was too, and so I'm here today.

But these people who led that coup are here today in this country protected by the American government. And I accuse the American government of protecting terrorists and of having a completely cynical discourse.

We mentioned Cuba. Yes, we were just there a few days ago. We just came from there happily.

And there you see another era born. The Summit of the 15, the Summit of the Nonaligned, adopted a historic resolution. This is the outcome document. Don't worry, I'm not going to read it.

But you have a whole set of resolutions here that were adopted after open debate in a transparent matter -- more than 50 heads of state. Havana was the capital of the south for a few weeks, and we have now launched, once again, the group of the nonaligned with new momentum.

And if there is anything I could ask all of you here, my companions, my brothers and sisters, it is to please lend your good will to lend momentum to the Nonaligned Movement for the birth of the new era, to prevent hegemony and prevent further advances of imperialism.

And as you know, Fidel Castro is the president of the nonaligned for the next three years, and we can trust him to lead the charge very efficiently.

Unfortunately they thought, "Oh, Fidel was going to die." But they're going to be disappointed because he didn't. And he's not only alive, he's back in his green fatigues, and he's now presiding the nonaligned.

So, my dear colleagues, Madam President, a new, strong movement has been born, a movement of the south. We are men and women of the south.

With this document, with these ideas, with these criticisms, I'm now closing my file. I'm taking the book with me. And, don't forget, I'm recommending it very warmly and very humbly to all of you.

We want ideas to save our planet, to save the planet from the imperialist threat. And hopefully in this very century, in not too long a time, we will see this, we will see this new era, and for our children and our grandchildren a world of peace based on the fundamental principles of the United Nations, but a renewed United Nations.

And maybe we have to change location. Maybe we have to put the United Nations somewhere else; maybe a city of the south. We've proposed Venezuela.

You know that my personal doctor had to stay in the plane. The chief of security had to be left in a locked plane. Neither of these gentlemen was allowed to arrive and attend the U.N. meeting. This is another abuse and another abuse of power on the part of the Devil. It smells of sulfur here, but God is with us and I embrace you all.

May God bless us all. Good day to you.


3. Bush UN Speech
What's Wrong With American Foreign Policy?
In a word: Bush
By Justin Raimondo

What's wrong with American foreign policy is actually a lot more complicated than the subhead of this piece would have it, but I just couldn't resist the temptation: besides which, our president is a major cause – albeit not the only cause – of the dysfunction that afflicts us. A grand example of this is his recent speech to the United Nations General Assembly, in which he trotted out every neocon fantasy – and then some – in his effort to promote what he termed, on another occasion, his " global democratic revolution ."

The remnants of the president's conservative fan club over at National Review , in the person of one Mario Loyola , hail Bush's oration as a triumph of "public diplomacy," but this kind of diplomacy is straight out of Bizarro World : it is designed, seemingly , to alienate the world's peoples, instead of drawing to them our banner and cause .

Off-putting right from the beginning, the president immediately launched into a reiteration of the 9/11 terrorist attacks – as if the rest of the world hadn't suffered equally, and then some, in the interim. How many have died in Iraq? They've suffered the equivalent of at least a dozen 9/11s , and probably far more . As if to add insult to injury, the president just had to drag in Lebanon:

"Since then, the enemies of humanity have continued their campaign of murder. Al-Qaeda and those inspired by its extremist ideology have attacked more than two dozen nations. And recently a different group of extremists deliberately provoked a terrible conflict in Lebanon. At the start of the 21st century, it is clear that the world is engaged in a great ideological struggle, between extremists who use terror as a weapon to create fear, and moderate people who work for peace."

Al-Qaeda may indeed have attacked more than two dozen nations, as the president avers, but these attacks pale, in terms of ferocity and casualties , in comparison to those launched by the U.S. We invaded a country – Iraq – that had never attacked us and represented no credible military threat either to us or to our allies . We also invaded Afghanistan, and that's another war we are losing – in part because, as even President Karzai, our ally, points out , we keep brutalizing those we have supposedly come to "liberate."

As for the president's remarks on Lebanon, he doesn't say who or what made the Lebanese conflict so "terrible," but the merciless cruelty of an Israeli assault that left thousands of unexploded cluster bombs in its wake was condemned by nearly every nation on earth – except, naturally , for the United States of America. That he dares even mention the word "extremism," while simultaneously sanctioning the virtual destruction of the Middle East's only Arab democracy on account of the kidnapping of a few Israeli soldiers, is another Bizarro World antic from the clown in chief.

Odder still is the president's conception of the "great ideological struggle" supposedly taking place between advocates of 9th century medievalism hiding in caves and the most powerful, the richest , and arguably still the freest country on earth, one with a combined " defense " budget that equals the budgets of the world's top 10 spenders on military items. Yes, it's true , the psychopathic cult of al-Qaeda and its allies "use terror as a weapon to create fear" – but so, in at least one important sense, does the Bush administration. This, after all, is the same administration that conjured visions of an Iraqi nuclear attack if we didn't invade and occupy that country with dispatch: " we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun, that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud ." The same people bullied Congress into passing the " PATRIOT " Act unread , and now maintain that unless we torture people halfway to death we'll live in the shadow of terror forever. If this isn't using terror as a weapon to create fear, then one wonders what would qualify.

The real howler, however, is the president's description of the other side of the ideological divide in this grand world-historical struggle: the "moderate people who work for peace." That's him and his friends in the War Party , in case you missed it. You know: those famous " moderates " in the White House and the upper civilian reaches of the Pentagon who want to effect a radical transformation of the Middle East, exporting " democracy " – at gunpoint – to a region that has no liberal tradition. Moderation is precisely what the makers of our foreign policy lack, and this is especially true, it seems, when it comes to the president, who, as I have said before , is more neoconish than the most radical neocons . Here, after all, is a man who once proclaimed

"It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

If that is "moderate," then I'm Richard Perle .

This self-designation of Bush and his fellow global revolutionaries as exemplars of moderation is a new tack, and the president tries it on for size with limited success:

"Algeria has held its first competitive presidential election, and the military remained neutral. The United Arab Emirates recently announced that half of the seats in its Federal National Council will be chosen by elections. Kuwait held elections in which women were allowed to vote and run for office for the first time. Citizens have voted in municipal elections in Saudi Arabia, in parliamentary elections in Jordan and Bahrain, and in multiparty presidential elections in Yemen and Egypt."

Let's take at least some of these presidential talking points one-by-one:

Algeria – Although widely touted in advance as a sterling example of the "democratization" trend supposedly inspired by Bush and his fellow ideologues, the sweeping "victory" by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika , longtime strongman and virtual dictator of the country, was viewed by many with deep suspicion, and the opposition immediately charged fraud . Pre-election polls showed El Presidente coming in around fourth place , so his stunning 85 percent vote total came as quite a surprise – although not to those hopeless cynics (er, realist s), such as myself, who don't plan on seeing a Jeffersonian republic arise in the desert sands of North Africa anytime soon.

UAE – The United Arab Emirates is a federation of absolute monarchies , presided over by the emir in chief. The Federal National Council, which will now – yippee! – have half its members elected, instead of appointed by royal decree, is a purely consultative body. All power is safely ensconced in the hands of the emirs, chiefly the emir of Dubai .

Kuwait – So Kuwait held elections in which women were allowed to vote. Welcome to the 20th century , folks – but, hey, didn't the same thing occur in occupied Palestine, without much controversy? In Palestine , 139 women ran for office, with 52 getting elected to the lower branch of the legislature and two elevated to the higher chamber. Bush didn't mention this great advance for democracy, perhaps because Hamas came out the clear winner . And, yes, you could say that the victory of Hamas in Palestine was inspired by American actions in Iraq and elsewhere – albeit not in the way Bush means us to understand.

Which brings me to the utter disconnect between what Bush says and what his actions accomplish in the real world. He claims to champion the forces of "moderation," while launching a "global revolution" that rivals the dreams of Alexander, Napoleon, and Lenin all rolled into one. He claims to be fighting terrorism, even as his foreign policy – indeed, his every pronouncement on the subject – does more to recruit for the terrorist cause than all the propaganda put out by al-Qaeda since its founding. Without the invasion of Iraq ,the occupation of Afghanistan , the blind support for Israel's rape of Lebanon, and the posturing ,threats , and swaggering declarations of unremitting hostility aimed at Iran and Syria, al-Qaeda would be a small worldwide network of sociopathic ideologues, isolated from and largely hated by their Muslim brethren. Instead, bin Laden is a hero to millions of misguided people, due largely to George W. Bush's foreign policy of unrelenting aggression .

I won't go into the presidential hectoring of the various peoples of the region, mostly rhetorical boilerplate of the sort we've come to expect from White House speechwriters, except for this:

"To the people of Lebanon: Last year, you inspired the world when you came out into the streets to demand your independence from Syrian dominance. You drove Syrian forces from your country and you reestablished democracy. Since then, you have been tested by the fighting that began with Hezbollah's unprovoked attacks on Israel. Many of you have seen your homes and communities caught in crossfire. We see your suffering, and the world is helping you to rebuild your country, and helping you deal with the armed extremists who are undermining your democracy by acting as a state within a state. The United Nations has passed a good resolution that has authorized an international force, led by France and Italy, to help you restore Lebanese sovereignty over Lebanese soil. For many years, Lebanon was a model of democracy and pluralism and openness in the region – and it will be again."

Yes, some of the Lebanese people – with some very numerous exceptions – insisted Syrian troops exit, leaving the door wide open for the Israelis to re-invade, as they did about a year and a half later. Bush's blithering about Hezbollah's "unprovoked attack" must have had quite an impact on the Lebanese delegation, which was no doubt wondering about all those unprovoked Israeli attacks on civilian targets in Lebanon, including fuel tanks ,electrical and water facilities , and residential areas (including Christian towns and villages ). They weren't "caught in crossfire," but were deliberately targeted by the Israelis, who sought to make their point to all the peoples of the region by means of terror. And as for that "state within a state" the president denounces – it is Hezbollah , and not the UN or the U.S., that is rebuilding the ruined cities and villages of Lebanon. Finally, if the president is so eager to champion "Lebanese sovereignty over Lebanese soil," then why did he give the green light to Israeli aggression – and even rush military aid to the aggressors? If Lebanon becomes, once again, a model of democracy and pluralism in the region, it will be no thanks to this president and his foreign policy.

There is a distinctly Soviet – i.e., unconsciously comic, albeit sinister – tone to this presidential peroration. It has all the charm and grace of a Stalinist ode to the collective farm's new tractor, and the same respect for facts. Let the president warble on all he likes about the "progress" toward "democracy" being made in, say, Egypt – but anyone who follows these things knows perfectly well that the "elections" held there were a farce. The main rival to President Hosni Mubarak was jailed , and his followers beaten in the streets . Some "democracy"!

In this same spirit, Bush regales us with tales of the great "progress" being made in Iraq and Afghanistan, even as those two countries are ripped apart by rising anti-American insurgencies. It is, frankly, embarrassing to have to listen to an American president utter such nonsense aloud on the world stage, all the while preening and lecturing the assembled delegates as if he were some sort of Universal Hegemon, the Emperor of the Earth. If you're an American, the overweening arrogance of Bush's act is breathtakingly painful to watch. One dares not imagine how the rest of the world takes it.


4. Text of Bush UN Speech

Mr. Secretary General, Madam President, distinguished delegates, and ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for the privilege of speaking to this General Assembly.

Last week America and the world marked the fifth anniversary of the attacks that filled another September morning with death and suffering. On that terrible day, extremists killed nearly 3,000 innocent people, including citizens of dozens of nations represented right here in this chamber.

Since then, the enemies of humanity have continued their campaign of murder. Al Qaeda and those inspired by its extremist ideology have attacked more than two dozen nations. And recently a different group of extremists deliberately provoked a terrible conflict in Lebanon.

At the start of the 21st century, it is clear that the world is engaged in a great ideological struggle between extremists who use terror as a weapon to create fear and moderate people who work for peace.

Five years ago I stood at this podium and called on the community of nations to defend civilization and build a more hopeful future. This is still the great challenge of our time.

It is the calling of our generation.

This morning I want to speak about the more hopeful world that is within our reach, a world beyond terror, where ordinary men and women are free to determine their own destiny, where the voices of moderation are empowered, and where the extremists are marginalized by the peaceful majority.

This world can be ours, if we seek it, and if we work together.

The principles of this world beyond terror can be found in the very first sentence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document declares that, "The equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom and justice and peace in the world."

One of the authors of this document was a Lebanese diplomat named Charles Malik, who would go on to become president of this assembly.

Mr. Malik insisted that these principles applied equally to all people, of all regions, of all religions, including the men and women of the Arab world that was his home.

In the nearly six decades since that document was approved, we have seen the forces of freedom and moderation transform entire continents. Sixty years after a terrible war, Europe is now whole, free and at peace, and Asia has seen freedom progress and hundreds of millions of people lifted out of desperate poverty.

The words of the Universal Declaration are as true today as they were when they were written.

As liberty flourishes, nations grow in tolerance and hope and peace. And we're seeing that bright future begin to take root in the broader Middle East.

Some of the changes in the Middle East have been dramatic, and we see the results in this chamber.

Five years ago, Afghanistan was ruled by the brutal Taliban regime, and its seat in this body was contested.

Now this seat is held by the freely elected government of Afghanistan, which is represented today by President (Hamid) Karzai.

Five years ago, Iraq's seat in this body was held by a dictator who killed his citizens, invaded his neighbors and showed his contempt for the world by defying more than a dozen U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Now Iraq's seat is held by a democratic government that embodies the aspirations of the Iraq people. It is represented today by President (Jalal) Talabani.

With these changes, more than 50 million people have been give a voice in this chamber for the first time in decades.

Some of the changes in the Middle East are happening gradually, but they are real.

Algeria has held its first competitive presidential election, and the military remained neutral.

The United Arab Emirates recently announced that half of its seats in the Federal National Council will be chosen by elections.

Kuwait held elections in which women were allowed to vote and run for office for the first time.

Citizens have voted in municipal elections in Saudi Arabia and parliamentary elections in Jordan and Bahrain and in multiparty presidential elections in Yemen and Egypt.

These are important steps, and the governments should continue to move forward with other reforms that show they trust their people.

Every nation that travels the road to freedom moves at a different pace, and the democracies they build will reflect their own culture and traditions.

But the destination is the same: a free society where people live at peace with each other and at peace with the world.

Some have argued that the democratic changes we're seeing in the Middle East are destabilizing the region.

This argument rests on a false assumption: that the Middle East was stable to begin with.

The reality is that the stability we thought we saw in the Middle East was a mirage.

For decades, millions of men and women in the region had been trapped in oppression and hopelessness. And these conditions left a generation disillusioned and made this region a breeding ground for extremism.

Imagine what it's like to be a young person living in a country that is not moving toward reform. You're 21 years old, and while your peers in other parts of the world are casting their ballots for the first time, you are powerless to change the course of your government.

While your peers in other parts of the world have received educations that prepare them for the opportunities of a global economy, you have been fed propaganda and conspiracy theories that blame others for your country's shortcomings.

And everywhere you turn, you hear extremists who tell you that you can escape your misery and regain your dignity through violence and terror and martyrdom.

For many across the broader Middle East this is the dismal choice presented every day.

Every civilized nation, including those in the Muslim world, must support those in the region who are offering a more hopeful alternative.

We know that when people have a voice in their future, they are less likely to blow themselves up in suicide attacks. We know that when leaders are accountable to their people, they are more likely to seek national greatness in the achievements of their citizens, rather than in terror and conquest.

So we must stand with democratic leaders and moderate reformers across the broader Middle East. We must give them voice to the hopes of decent men and women who want for their children the same thing we want for ours.

We must seek stability through a free and just Middle East, where the extremists are marginalized by millions of citizens in control of their own destinies.

Today I'd like to speak directly to the people across the broader Middle East.

My country desires peace. Extremists in your midst spread propaganda claiming that the West is engaged in a war against Islam.

This propaganda is false, and its purpose is to confuse you and justify acts of terror.

We respect Islam, but we will protect our people from those who pervert Islam to sow death and destruction.

Our goal is to help you build a more tolerant and hopeful society that honors people of all faiths and promotes the peace.

To the people of Iraq, nearly 12 million of you braved the car bombers and assassins last December to vote in free elections.

The world saw you hold up purple ink-stained fingers. And your courage filled us with admiration.

You stood firm in the face of horrendous acts of terror and sectarian violence. And we will not abandon you and your struggle to build a free nation.

America and our coalition partners will continue to stand with the democratic government you elected. We will continue to help you secure the international assistance and investment you need to create jobs and opportunity, working with the United Nations and through the international compact with Iraq endorsed here in New York yesterday.

We will continue to train those of you who step forward to fight the enemies of freedom. We will not yield the future of your country to terrorists and extremists.

In return, your leaders must rise to the challenges your country is facing and make difficult choices to bring security and prosperity.

Working together, we will help your democracy succeed so it can become a beacon of hope for millions in the Muslim world.

To the people of Afghanistan, together we overthrew the Taliban regime that brought misery into your lives and harbored terrorists who brought death to the citizens of many nations.

Since then, we have watched you choose your leaders in free elections and build a democratic government.

You can be proud of these achievements.

We respect your courage and determination to live in peace and freedom. We will continue to stand with you to defend your democratic gains.

Today, forces from more than 40 countries, including members of the NATO alliance, are bravely serving side by side with you against the extremists who want to bring down the free government you've established. We'll help you defeat these enemies and build a free Afghanistan that will never again oppress you or be a safe haven for terrorists.

To the people of Lebanon, last year you inspired the world when you came out into the streets to demand your independence from Syrian dominance.

You drove Syrian forces from your country, and you reestablished democracy.

Since then, you have been tested by the fighting that began with Hezbollah's unprovoked attacks on Israel. Many of you have seen your homes and your communities caught in crossfire.

We see your suffering, and the world is helping you to rebuild your country and helping you deal with the armed extremists who are undermining your democracy by acting as a state within a state.

The United Nations has passed a good resolution that has authorized an international force, led by France and Italy, to help you restore Lebanese sovereignty over Lebanese soil.

For many years, Lebanon was a model of democracy and pluralism and openness in the region. And it will be again.

To the people of Iran, the United States respects you.

We respect your country. We admire your rich history, your vibrant culture and your many contributions to civilization.

You deserve an opportunity to determine your own future, an economy that rewards your intelligence and your talents, and a society that allows you to fulfill your tremendous potential.

The greatest obstacle to this future is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty and to use your nation's resources to fund terrorism and fuel extremism and pursue nuclear weapons.

The United Nations has passed a clear resolution requiring that the regime in Tehran meet its international obligations. Iran must abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.

Despite what the regime tells you, we have no objection to Iran's pursuit of a truly peaceful nuclear power program.

We're working toward a diplomatic solution to this crisis. And as we do, we look to the day when you can live in freedom, and America and Iran can be good friends and close partners in the cause of peace.

To the people of Syria, your land is home to a great people with a proud tradition of learning and commerce. Today, your rulers have allowed your country to become a crossroad for terrorism.

In your midst, Hamas and Hezbollah are working to destabilize the region, and your government is turning your country into a tool of Iran. This is increasing your country's isolation from the world.

Your government must choose a better way forward by ending its support for terror and living at peace with your neighbors and opening the way to a better life for you and your families.

To the people of Darfur, you have suffered unspeakable violence. And my nation has called these atrocities what they are: Genocide.

For the last two years, America joined with the international community to provide emergency food aid and support for an African Union peacekeeping force. Yet your suffering continues.

The world must step forward to provide additional humanitarian aid. And we must strengthen the African Union force that has done good work, but is not strong enough to protect you.

The Security Council has approved a resolution that would transform the African Union force into a blue-helmeted force that is larger and more robust. To increase its strength and effectiveness, NATO nations should provide logistics and other support.

The regime in Khartoum is stopping the deployment of this force. If the Sudanese government does not approve this peacekeeping force quickly, the United Nations must act. Your lives and the credibility of the United Nations is at stake.

So today I'm announcing that I'm naming a presidential special envoy, former USAID administrator Andrew Natsios, to lead America's efforts to resolve the outstanding disputes and help bring peace to your land.

The world must also stand up for peace in the Holy Land. I'm committed to two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.

I'm committed to a Palestinian state that has territorial integrity and will live peacefully with the Jewish state of Israel.

This is the vision set forth in the road map, and helping the parties reach this goal is one of the great objectives of my presidency.

The Palestinian people have suffered from decades of corruption and violence and the daily humiliation of occupation. Israeli citizens have endured brutal acts of terrorism and constant fear of attack since the birth of their nation.

Many brave men and women have made the commitment to peace, yet extremists in the region are stirring up hatred and trying to prevent these moderate voices from prevailing.

The struggle is unfolding in the Palestinian territories.

Earlier this year, the Palestinian people voted in a free election. The leaders of Hamas campaigned on a platform of ending corruption and improving the lives of the Palestinian people, and they prevailed.

The world is waiting to see whether the Hamas government will follow through on its promises or pursue an extremist agenda.

The world has sent a clear message to the leaders of Hamas: Serve the interests of the Palestinian people, abandon terror, recognize Israel's right to exist, honor agreements that work for peace.

President (Mahmoud) Abbas is committed to peace and to his people's aspirations for a state of their own.

Prime Minister (Ehud) Olmert is committed to peace and has said he intends to meet with President Abbas to make real progress on the outstanding issues between them.

I believe peace can be achieved and that a democratic Palestinian state is possible.

I hear from leaders in the region who want to help.

I directed Secretary of State (Condoleezza) Rice to lead a diplomatic effort to engage moderate leaders across the region to help the Palestinians reform their security services and support Israeli and Palestinian leaders in their efforts to come together to resolve their differences.

Prime Minister (Tony) Blair has indicated that his country will work with partners in Europe to help strengthen the governing institutions of the Palestinian administration. We welcome his initiative.

Countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan and Egypt have made clear they're willing to contribute the diplomatic and financial assistance necessary to help these efforts succeed.

I'm optimistic that, by supporting the forces of democracy and moderation, we can help Israelis and Palestinians build a more hopeful future and achieve the peace in the Holy Land we all want.

Freedom, by its nature, cannot be imposed.

It must be chosen.

From Beirut to Baghdad, people are making the choice for freedom.

And the nations gathered in this chamber must make a choice as well. Will we support the moderates and reformers who are working for change across the Middle East, or will we yield the future to the terrorists and extremists?

America has made its choice. We will stand with the moderates and reformers.

Recently, a courageous group of Arab and Muslim intellectuals wrote me a letter. In it, they said this: "The shore of reform is the only one on which any lights appear, even though the journey demands courage and patience and perseverance."

The United Nations was created to make that journey possible. Together, we must support the dreams of good and decent people who are working to transform a troubled region. And by doing so, we will advance the high ideals on which this institution was founded.

Thank you for your time. God bless.


5. Venezuela prez vows more cheap fuel for U.S. needy
Chavez's Oil Gift – by Juan Gonzalez (from New York Daily News)

Hugo Chavez, the fiery president of oil-rich Venezuela, is pumping up the volume - of cheap fuel oil for low-income New Yorkers.

And he's named a Kennedy as head salesman.

Individual homeowners and cooperatives in four of the city's five boroughs will be able to buy cheap fuel this winter from an oil-for-the-poor program, sources have told the Daily News.

CITGO Petroleum, the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, has earmarked 25 million gallons of fuel for low-income New York residents this year at 40% off the wholesale market price.

That's enough fuel to heat 70,000 apartments, covering 200,000 New Yorkers, for the entire winter.

Chavez launched the program last December in the South Bronx and other parts of the Northeast. CITGO delivered 1million gallons of discounted oil to three nonprofit South Bronx housing groups in a pilot project.

This winter's expanded program will be administered by Citizens Energy Corp., the Massachusetts nonprofit company founded by former Rep. Joseph Kennedy. The company ran similar pilot efforts last year in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

This year's program will go beyond the South Bronx to Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens - and now individual homeowners and cooperatives will be eligible, in addition to the nonprofit housing groups, Rep. Jose Serrano (D-Bronx) said.

In order to qualify, the homeowner or co-op members will have to meet the same income eligibility requirements as the federal government's lowincome energy assistance program.

For thousands of fixed-income senior citizens in this town who own their own homes and worry about rising fuel bills, the Chavez program will be an early Christmas gift.

No wonder the Venezuelan leader and his Bolivarian Revolution have become Latin America's biggest headache for the Bush White House and its buddies at ExxonMobil and Chevron.

While the oil companies rake in obscene profits by the hour from the high price of oil, Chavez, who is in town this week for the UN General Assembly, keeps devising new schemes to use Venezuela's oil bonanza to benefit the needy around the world.

Last year, Chavez offered up to 8 million gallons to the South Bronx groups, but only 1 million was actually delivered because of delays in launching the project and a mild winter, Serrano said yesterday.

Still, more than 8,000 residents in 2,800 South Bronx apartments saw big savings in their fuel bills from the pilot effort, Serrano said.

One of those was Patrice White-McGleese, 36, who lives with her husband and three children in a building operated by the Mount Hope Housing Corp.

"We received deductions in our rent each month that totaled $300 for the heating season," White-McGleese said yesterday.

The Bronx program became difficult to launch, Serrano said, because most residents in his district are tenants, not homeowners, and CITGO officials wanted ironclad guarantees that the fuel savings would benefit the residents - and not end up in the pockets of landlords.

So each nonprofit housing group had to sign a lengthy contract with CITGO that promised to pass on 60% of the fuel savings to tenants as rent credits and the rest for buildingwide improvements.

White-McGleese got to personally thank Chavez during a visit to Venezuela in April. She was part of a delegation from the pilot cities, and was flown by CITGO to Caracas to tour the country and meet with local housing groups.

"I wanted to see for myself and not just listen to what our State Department tells us," White-McGleese said. Anyone who is actually helping to reduce her bills deserves to be heard, she figured.


6. President Chavez’s Speech to the 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement
By President Hugo Chavez

I am going to allow myself to read a part of the prologue written in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania by Julias Nyerere in May 1990, fulfilling the mission entrusted to him precisely by NAM (The Challenge to the South: The Report of the South Commission). This is what he said:

“Preface of the President – The commission made up of individuals who participated as private citizens and who came from all Southern continents, emerged from the recognition that, in this part of the world, although the developing countries have many problems and experiences in common, there has not been anyone charged with observing them on a global scale nor extracting from them relevant conclusions and strategies of development.” Later on it says… I am going to skip a few paragraphs to save time… It says, “But, in addition, the South doesn’t know the South, that is to say, what is happening in our countries, what are the ideas of our people, what is our potential and how South-South cooperation can broaden development options for all our countries. Instead we have been compelled to commit our own errors, unable neither to learn from the experience of the others in similar situations nor to benefit from other’s positive experiences.”

Further on it talks about how the commission came to be. The proposal emerged after the NAM Summit in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1986—over here is Mugabe. It was Malaysia who proposed the creation of a South Commission and recommended Nyerere chair it. He accepted. They worked for 3 years and in 1990 they presented this report. Here is the report. Numerous academics of the South, intellectuals, social scientists, economists, historians, men and women of science, popular leaders, and political leaders participated in who knows how many debates, who knows, Mr. President, how many conferences, how many hours of work with forthright hope.

Now, What happened? This is my personal impression from observing recent history… when Julias Nyerere… And I believe there are some of you here who worked on this. I know that my good friend, the Prime Minister of India worked on it because I read it here in the report from which I just recited those wise words. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Now, What happened? When they presented the report—a product of the history of recent decades— because as I commented this morning, I think NAM has gone through various stages, which are stages of the world’s history—in the 60’s we could say, dear friends and colleagues, that the world of the South, the underdeveloped world, the Third World, experienced what we could call the illusion of economic growth, the illusion that economic growth would bring development. Indications of that growth in the 60’s, 50’s, and above all the 70’s exist—an illusion of growth. But world disorder commenced after that, as is summarized here in the first chapter, the disorder of the economic model, the crisis of the 80’s, foreign debt, and recession. The illusion of growth and development came to an end. And we were lost like a pilot without a compass who doesn’t know where he his going and flies into a hurricane, a storm. As a result of that storm, that crisis, the intention of NAM and this commission emerged and the work of this commission and its report.

Now, What happened? At the same time the report was presented, the Soviet Union fell, contributing to a greater world destabilization. The U.S., its allies and world capitalism then rose up to sing of victory and tried to claim the “victory.”

This is when they unleashed, against the people not only of Latin America, but also of Africa, Asia and Oceania, the neo-liberal proposal. The so-called Washington Consensus, structural adjustment packages, privatization, the reduction of State, the elimination of planning. NAM group, fell into a kind of deepfreeze, and this [report] was stillborn. Or to put in a less lugubriously, it was put in a freezer upon birth. I believe that no one even discussed it. There was no time.

Now, after 15 years have passed since the neo-liberal illusion, as well as the Monetary Fund-esc illusion that the world experienced—we have lived illusions within illusions. The Fata Morgana, the vision that lured sailors to their doom. The Fata Morgana. Illusions, like the siren song of capitalism. It has passed; the illusion of the end of history has disappeared. Now we have awoken once again to harsh reality. And as President Raúl Castro said this morning, poverty, hunger, the destruction of the peoples of the land and the destruction of the environment have increased in the world. We are destroying the planet!

Now, Mr. President, I want to submit this proposal to the Assembly, and God willing, this proposal will not end up like many others in recent years. We run around making proposals like crazy, here and there, throwing them to the wind. The majority of our proposals are thrown to the wind. We rush around and we hardly discuss or debate. They remain documents. From these resolutions or manifestations of good wishes, almost nothing materializes. It is a truth that we put our problems, like we put our hopes for solutions, on the North. The solutions are right here, among us. [We must] make decisions and bring them into practice: be capable of making them reality.

What I would like to suggest today, Mr. President, when Cuba assumed the presidency this morning, the assignment of a new commission of the South that would take this book as its jumping off point, since it contains a series of recommendations that I believe few of us are aware of. I had to search for this book. After prison I had lost it. But I found it.

Here for example is a proposal that we have made in Latin America…where it is advancing…with difficulties, but advancing…a Bank of the South. Where are the national reserves of our countries? Where do we have them? Everyone knows where the majority of them are: in banks of the North. The proposal aims to— willfully, intelligently, and resolutely—bring to life the Bank of the South. We mustn’t lose one more day on this. Deposit part of our national reserves and create a powerful bank to finance our development. And not in ways imposed by the IMF and World Bank in exchange for what? Many times in exchange for sovereignty, in exchange for principles, in exchange for the souls and the hopes of millions of human beings. Because they have no souls. Imperialism has no soul. But our people do have souls and sorrow and hope.

Let’s do it, Mr. President, let’s see this commission. I propose that Fidel Castro preside over this new commission, and that it be formed and in the shortest period possible it present a strategy to reactivate South–South cooperation, the integration of the South. In addition to a bank of the South, in here [Venezuela’s proposal] are proposals, for example, for a University of the South, a university system of the south and a World TV network of the South so that we can get to know ourselves. Venezuela has also proposed PetroSur, a petroleum-energy pact for the South. We in the South have the largest reserves of petroleum and gas and gold and precious minerals. So much wealth. It was Símon Bolívar who said it, nearby in Jamaica in 1815. “More than anyone, I desire to see this land fashioned into the greatest nation in the world, greatest not so much by virtue of her area and wealth as by her freedom and glory.” This was in the Carta de Jamaica.

And later he added what I would like to repeat here nearly 200 years later, with this humble recommendation: Let’s truly unite, compañeros and compañeras, let’s truly unite in the South and we will have a future, we will have dignity, our people will have life. Raúl, this morning concluded his speech quoting Fidel from a speech in which he spoke about unity. Quoting Fidel, he said: Let’s unite to demand our right to life, our right to a future.

I would add to that memorable speech of Fidel: Let’s unite to liberate ourselves, to exist, to self-construct the South.

(Transcribed and translated by Dawn Gable)