United States, 2004

Thank you for the honour of

addressing the General Assembly. The American

people respect the idealism that gave life to this

Organization. And we respect the men and women of

the United Nations, who stand for peace and human

rights in every part of the world. Welcome to New

York City, and welcome to the United States of

America.

During the past three years, I have addressed the

General Assembly in a time of tragedy for my country,

and in times of decision for all of us. Now we gather at

a time of tremendous opportunity for the United

Nations and for all peaceful nations. For decades, the

circle of liberty, security and development has been

expanding in our world. This progress has brought

unity to Europe, self-government to Latin America and

Asia and new hope to Africa. Now we have the historic

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chance to widen the circle even further, to fight

radicalism and terror with justice and dignity and to

achieve a true peace, founded on human freedom.

The United Nations and my country share the

deepest commitments. Both the American Declaration

of Independence and the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights proclaim the equal value and dignity of

every human life. That dignity is honoured by the rule

of law, limits on the power of the State, respect for

women, protection of private property, free speech,

equal justice and religious tolerance. That dignity is

dishonoured by oppression, corruption, tyranny,

bigotry, terrorism and all violence against the innocent.

Both our founding documents affirm that this bright

line between justice and injustice — between right and

wrong — is the same in every age, every culture and

every nation.

Wise Governments also stand for these principles

for very practical and realistic reasons. We know that

dictators are quick to choose aggression, while free

nations strive to resolve differences in peace. We know

that oppressive Governments support terror, while free

Governments fight the terrorists in their midst. We

know that free peoples embrace progress and life,

instead of becoming the recruits for murderous

ideologies.

Every nation that wants peace will share the

benefits of a freer world. And every nation that seeks

peace has an obligation to help build that world.

Eventually there is no safe isolation from terror

networks, or failed States that shelter them, or outlaw

regimes or weapons of mass destruction. Eventually

there is no safety in looking away, seeking the quiet

life by ignoring the struggles and oppression of others.

In this young century our world needs a new

definition of security. Our security is not merely found

in spheres of influence or some balance of power. The

security of our world is found in the advancing rights

of mankind.

Those rights are advancing across the world. And

across the world, the enemies of human rights are

responding with violence. Terrorists and their allies

believe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and

the United States Bill of Rights and every charter of

liberty ever written are lies to be burned and destroyed

and forgotten. They believe that dictators should

control every mind and tongue in the Middle East and

beyond. They believe that suicide and torture and

murder are fully justified to serve any goal they

declare. And they act on their beliefs.

In the last year alone terrorists have attacked

police stations and banks and commuter trains and

synagogues and a school filled with children. This

month in Beslan we saw once again how the terrorists

measure their success in the death of the innocent and

in the pain of grieving families. Svetlana Dzebisov was

held hostage along with her son and her nephew. Her

nephew did not survive. She recently visited the

cemetery and saw what she called the “little graves”.

She said, “I understand that there is evil in the world,

but what have these little creatures done?”

The Russian children did nothing to deserve such

awful suffering and fright and death. The people of

Madrid and Jerusalem and Istanbul and Baghdad have

done nothing to deserve sudden and random murder.

Those acts violate the standards of justice in all

cultures and the principles of all religions. All civilized

nations are in this struggle together and all must fight

the murderers.

We are determined to destroy terror networks

wherever they operate, and the United States is grateful

to every nation that is helping to seize terrorist assets,

track down their operatives and disrupt their plans. We

are determined to end the State sponsorship of terror,

and my nation is grateful to all that participated in the

liberation of Afghanistan. We are determined to

prevent proliferation and to enforce the demands of the

world, and my nation is grateful to the soldiers of many

nations who have helped to deliver the Iraqi people

from an outlaw dictator.

The dictator agreed in 1991, as a condition of a

ceasefire, to fully comply with all Security Council

resolutions, then ignored more than a decade of those

resolutions. Finally, the Security Council promised

serious consequences for his defiance. The

commitments we make must have meaning. When we

say “serious consequences”, for the sake of peace there

must be serious consequences. So a coalition of nations

enforced the just demands of the world.

Defending our ideals is vital, but it is not enough.

Our broader mission as United Nations Members is to

apply those ideals to the great issues of our time. Our

wider goal is to promote hope and progress as the

alternatives to hatred and violence. Our great purpose

is to build a better world beyond the war on terror.

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Because we believe in human dignity, the United

States and many other nations have established a

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

In three years the contributing countries have funded

projects in more than 90 countries, and pledged a total

of $5.6 billion to those efforts. America has undertaken

a $15 billion effort to provide prevention and treatment

and humane care in nations afflicted by AIDS, placing

a special focus on 15 countries where the need is most

urgent. AIDS is the greatest health crisis of our time,

and our unprecedented commitment will bring new

hope to those who have walked too long in the shadow

of death.

Because we believe in human dignity, the United

States and many other nations have joined together to

confront the evil of trafficking in human beings. We

are supporting organizations that rescue the victims,

passing stronger anti-trafficking laws and warning

travellers that they will be held to account for

supporting this modern form of slavery. Women and

children should never be exploited for pleasure or

greed, anywhere on Earth.

Because we believe in human dignity, we should

take seriously the protection of life from exploitation

under any pretext. In this session, the General

Assembly will consider a draft resolution sponsored by

Costa Rica calling for a comprehensive ban on human

cloning. I support that draft resolution and urge all

Governments to affirm a basic ethical principle: no

human life should ever be produced or destroyed for

the benefit of another.

Because we believe in human dignity, the United

States and many other nations have changed the way

we fight poverty, curb corruption and provide aid. In

2002 we created the Monterrey Consensus, a bold

approach that links new aid from developed nations to

real reform in developing ones. And through the

Millennium Challenge Account, my nation is

increasing our aid to developing nations that expand

economic freedom and invest in the education and

health of their own people.

Because we believe in human dignity, the United

States and many other nations have acted to lift the

crushing burden of debt that limits the growth of

developing economies and holds millions of people in

poverty. Since those efforts began in 1996, poor

countries with the heaviest debt burdens have received

more than $30 billion of relief. And to prevent the

build-up of future debt, my country and other nations

have agreed that international financial institutions

should increasingly provide new aid in the form of

grants rather than loans.

Because we believe in human dignity, the world

must have more effective means to stabilize regions in

turmoil and to halt religious violence and ethnic

cleansing. We must create permanent capabilities to

respond to future crises.

The United States and Italy have proposed a

Global Peace Operations Initiative. Group of Eight

(G-8) countries will train 75,000 peacekeepers —

initially from Africa — so they can conduct operations

on that continent and elsewhere. The countries of the

G-8 will help that peacekeeping force with deployment

and logistical needs.

At this hour, the world is witnessing terrible

suffering and horrible crimes in the Darfur region of

the Sudan, crimes my Government has concluded are

genocide. The United States played a key role in efforts

to broker a ceasefire, and we are providing

humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people.

Rwanda and Nigeria have deployed forces in the Sudan

to help improve security so that aid can be delivered.

The Security Council adopted a new resolution that

supports an expanded African Union force to help

prevent further bloodshed and that urges the

Government of the Sudan to stop flights by military

aircraft in Darfur. We congratulate the members of the

Council on this timely and necessary action. I call on

the Government of the Sudan to honour the ceasefire it

signed, and to stop the killing in Darfur.

Because we believe in human dignity, peaceful

nations must stand for the advance of democracy. No

other system of government has done more to protect

minorities, to secure the rights of labour, to raise the

status of women or to channel human energy to the

pursuits of peace. We have witnessed the rise of

democratic Governments in predominantly Hindu and

Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish and Christian cultures.

Democratic institutions have taken root in modern

societies and in traditional societies. When it comes to

the desire for liberty and justice, there is no clash of

civilizations. People everywhere are capable of

freedom and worthy of freedom.

Finding the full promise of representative

Government takes time, as America has found in two

centuries of debate and struggle. Nor is there only one

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form of representative Government, because

democracies by definition take on the unique character

of the peoples that create them. Yet this much we know

with certainty: the desire for freedom resides in every

human heart, and that desire cannot be contained

forever by prison walls or martial laws or secret police.

Over time and across the Earth, freedom will find a

way.

Freedom is finding a way in Iraq and

Afghanistan, and we must continue to show our

commitment to democracies in those nations. The

liberty that many have won at a cost must be secured.

As Members of the United Nations, we all have a stake

in the success of the world’s newest democracies. Not

long ago, outlaw regimes in Baghdad and Kabul

threatened the peace and sponsored terrorists. Those

regimes destabilized one of the world’s most vital and

most volatile regions. They brutalized their peoples in

defiance of all civilized norms.

Today, the Iraqi and Afghan peoples are on the

path to democracy and freedom. The Governments that

are rising will pose no threat to others. Instead of

harbouring terrorists, they are fighting terrorist groups.

And this progress is good for the long-term security of

all of us. The Afghan people are showing extraordinary

courage under difficult conditions. They are fighting to

defend their nation from Taliban hold-outs and helping

to strike against the terrorist killers. They are reviving

their economy. They have adopted a Constitution

that protects the rights of all, while honouring their

nation’s most cherished traditions. More than 10

million Afghan citizens — over four million of them

women — are now registered to vote in next month’s

presidential election. To any who still would question

whether Muslim societies can be democratic societies,

the Afghan people are giving their answer.

Since the last general debate of this General

Assembly, the people of Iraq have regained

sovereignty. Today, in this Hall, the Prime Minister of

Iraq and his delegation represent a country that has

rejoined the community of nations. The Government of

Prime Minister Allawi has earned the support of every

nation that believes in self-determination and desires

peace. And under Security Council resolutions 1511

(2003) and 1546 (2004), the world is providing that

support. The United Nations and its Member nations

must respond to Prime Minister Allawi’s request and

do more to help build an Iraq that is secure,

democratic, federal and free.

A democratic Iraq has ruthless enemies because

terrorists know the stakes in that country. They know

that a free Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will be a

decisive blow against their ambitions for that region.

So a terrorist group associated with Al Qaeda is now

one of the main groups killing the innocent in Iraq

today, conducting a campaign of bombings against

civilians and the beheadings of bound men. Coalition

forces now serving in Iraq are confronting the terrorists

and foreign fighters so that peaceful nations around the

world will never have to face them within our own

borders.

Our coalition is standing beside a growing Iraqi

security force. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization

is providing vital training to that force. More than 35

nations have contributed money and expertise to help

rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure and, as the Iraqi Interim

Government moves towards national elections,

officials from the United Nations are helping Iraqis

build the infrastructure of democracy. Those selfless

people are doing heroic work and are carrying on the

great legacy of Sergio Vieira de Mello.

As we have seen in other countries, one of the

main terrorist goals is to undermine, disrupt and

influence election outcomes. We can expect terrorist

attacks to escalate as Afghanistan and Iraq approach

national elections. The work ahead is demanding, but

those difficulties will not shake our conviction that the

future of Afghanistan and Iraq is a future of liberty.

The proper response to difficulty is not to retreat — it

is to prevail.

The advance of freedom always carries a cost,

paid by the bravest among us. America mourns the

losses to our nation and to many others, and today I

assure every friend of Afghanistan and Iraq, and every

enemy of liberty: We will stand with the people of

Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes of freedom and

security are fulfilled.

These two nations will be a model for the broader

Middle East, a region where millions have been denied

basic human rights and simple justice. For too long,

many nations, including my own, tolerated and even

excused oppression in the Middle East in the name of

stability. Oppression became common, but stability

never arrived. We must take a different approach. We

must help the reformers of the Middle East as they

work for freedom and strive to build a community of

peaceful, democratic nations.

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That commitment to democratic reform is

essential to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. Peace

will not be achieved by Palestinian rulers who

intimidate opposition, tolerate corruption and maintain

ties to terrorist groups. The long-suffering Palestinian

people deserve better. They deserve true leaders

capable of creating and governing a free and peaceful

Palestinian State.

Even after the setbacks and frustrations of recent

months, good will and hard effort can achieve the

promise of the road map to peace. Those who would

lead a new Palestinian State should adopt peaceful

means to achieve the rights of their people and create

the reformed institutions of a stable democracy. Arab

States should end incitement in their own media, cut

off public and private funding for terrorism, and

establish normal relations with Israel. Israel should

impose a settlement freeze, dismantle unauthorized

outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian

people, and avoid any actions that prejudice final

negotiations. And world leaders should withdraw all

favour and support from any Palestinian ruler who fails

his people and betrays their cause.

The democratic hopes we see growing in the

Middle East are growing everywhere. In the words of

the Burmese democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi:

“We do not accept the notion that democracy is a

Western value. To the contrary, democracy simply

means good Government rooted in responsibility,

transparency and accountability.”

Here at the United Nations, Members know this to be

true. In recent years, this Organization has helped

create a new democracy in East Timor and the United

Nations has aided other nations in making the

transition to self-rule.

Because I believe that the advance of liberty is

the path to both a safer and better world, today I

propose establishing a democracy fund within the

United Nations. This is a great calling for this great

Organization. The fund would help countries lay the

foundations of democracy by instituting the rule of law,

independent courts, a free press, political parties and

trade unions. Money from the fund would also help set

up voter precincts and polling places and support the

work of election monitors. To show our commitment to

the new democracy fund, the United States will make

an initial contribution, and I urge all other nations to

contribute as well.

Today I have outlined a broad agenda to advance

human dignity and enhance the security of all of us.

The defeat of terror, the protection of human rights, the

spread of prosperity, the advance of democracy —

these causes, these ideals, call us to great work in the

world. Each of us alone can only do so much. Together

we can accomplish so much more.

History will honour the high ideals of this

Organization. The Charter states them with clarity: “to

save succeeding generations from the scourge of war ...

to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights ... to

promote social progress and better standards of life in

larger freedom”.

Let history also record that our generation of

leaders followed through on these ideals, even in

adversity. Let history show that in a decisive decade,

members of the United Nations did not grow weary in

our duties, or waver in meeting them. I am confident

that this young century will be liberty’s century. I

believe we will rise to this moment, because I know the

character of so many nations and leaders represented

here today. And I have faith in the transforming power

of freedom.

May God bless you.