By Kenneth J. Theisen
On Tuesday, September 25, 2007 President George W. Bush
delivered a speech to the United Nations General Assembly that was dripping
with hypocrisy. He called the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights “a landmark achievement in the history of human
liberty.” He went on to say, “the
standards of the declaration must guide our work in this world.” What a
hypocrite? For six plus years this
president and his regime has done everything possible to violate human rights.
The Bush regime has invaded two countries, killing hundreds
of thousands as a result. It has ignored
international law and instituted torture as national policy. It kidnaps and
imprisons its “enemies” and strips them of all their legal rights. Regime policies contribute to global warming
and other environmental damage that could wipe out human life on this planet.
Women’s rights, academic freedom, press rights, freedom of speech, due process,
and various other rights are constantly under attack by this regime. And
despite this, Bush can give a speech about human rights with a straight face.
Of course Bush does believe in some rights. He believes in
the divine right of kings. He believes
that god chose him to be president and that he can do no wrong. He believes the rich should have the right to
get richer at the expense of the world and that they should pay as little in
taxes as possible. He believes in the
right of the U.S. to
dominate the Middle East and control the rest
of the world. These are the rights his
regime has mobilized to protect.
In his speech Bush says, “When innocent people are trapped
in a life of murder and fear, the declaration is not being upheld.” Is he referring to the hundreds of thousands
killed in Iraq and the millions
of Iraqi refugees, all as a direct result of the U.S. invasion?
He goes on to say, “When millions of children starve to
death or perish from a mosquito bite, we’re not doing our duty in the
world.” He must mean the sanctions that
he and other U.S.
presidents supported that killed half-a-million or more Iraqi children between
the 1990 war and the 2003 invasion. Or maybe he is referring to the current
cholera epidemic in Iraq
that is killing children because the U.S. destroyed the infrastructure
that delivered safe drinking water. But
no, Bush is not admitting to these U.S. crimes.
He states that, “First, the mission of the United Nations
requires liberating people from tyranny and violence.” But Bush is selective in how he defines
“tyranny and violence.” He says “The truth is denied by terrorists and
extremists who kill the innocent with the aim of imposing their hateful vision
on humanity.” But isn’t that what the Bush regime is doing around the
world. He says, “The followers of this
violent ideology are a threat to civilized people everywhere.” Isn’t the pursuit of world-wide hegemony by U.S.
imperialism a violent ideology and a threat to the people of the world?
But Bush stands reality on its head and pretends that the U.S. is the
world’s savior. In Bush’s world the U.S. military
brings “liberty.” In his speech he lists
the following countries as brutal regimes: Belarus,
North Korea, Syria and Iran that “deny their people the
fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration.” But he leaves out Pakistan, Israel,
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and many other U.S. allies that do the same. In
his speech he also confers pariah status on Venezuela,
Burma, Cuba, Zimbabwe,
and Sudan.
In his speech he talks about Article 25 of the Universal
Declaration which states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living
adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including
food and clothing and housing and medical care.” Notice the words, “medical care.” In the last week, Bush has threatened to veto
a bill extending medical care to millions of children in the U.S. If he does so, several million children will
be without health care coverage. Also
tens of millions of Americans have no medical insurance at all and Bush opposes
affordable health care coverage for these people. Can you spell hypocrite Mr. President?
Bush in his speech talks about poverty when he states, “In
the long run, the best way to lift people out of poverty is through trade and
investment. A nation that is open in trading with the world will create
economic rewards that far exceed anything they could get through foreign aid.” But for Bush these are just code words for U.S.
imperialism to break down any local barriers that interfere with imperialist
penetration and domination of various national economies. He says, “The world’s
largest trading nations, including major developing countries, have a special
responsibility to make the tough political decisions to reduce trade barriers. America has the
will and flexibility to make those necessary decisions.”
Without mentioning Iran
by name, the President took a verbal swipe at Iran when he stated, “Together,
we’re working to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.” The U.S.
has been using the excuse that Iran
may be using its nuclear program to hide a nuclear weapon development program
to beat the drums for war with Iran.
There is no credible evidence to back the U.S. charge.
Bush said, “I appreciate the discussions on climate change
led by the secretary general last night” and yet he flagrantly avoided
attending the U.N. meeting on climate change even though he was in New York at the time of
the meeting.
There is an old joke that goes, “How can you tell when
George W. Bush is lying?” Answer:
“Whenever he is moving his lips.” In his
speeches, he always lends truth to the joke.