Bush back from UN General Assembly empty-handed

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, September 26, 2003

Bush back from UN General Assembly empty-handed

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Despite winning with meanness the smiling treatment by leaders of various countries, US President George W. Bush left the venue of the New York-based UN General Assembly on September 24 for home empty-handed. Under the circumstance in which the United Nations did not pass the new resolution on the Iraq issue, no country was willing to promise all-out support for stabilizing the situation in Iraq.

In face of the international community's continuous voice of opposition, the mounting discontent of the public at home and the rising number of casualties of US troops in Iraq, although at the General Assembly Bush still refused to show the least regrets at his unilateral act of bypassing the United Nations, nevertheless, the three goals he set in the new resolution still show a delicate change in his attitude: He did not mention US earlier demand for military and financial assistance, but instead he only asked for UN help in Iraqi constitutionalism, supervision over the general election and training of public servants.

During the period of his attending the UN General Assembly, Bush expressed his wishes to mend US relations with France, Germany and Russia, which was damaged due to the Iraq war. The expression of these wishes was especially explicit in his meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Bush took the initiative to say: We did have differences, but all this has gone by. However, because UN's important role in Iraqi affairs failed to get the due acknowledgement from the US government, Bush's effort gained in return was only Germany's promise of help in the organization of an Iraqi security force.

French President Jacques Chirac indicated that if the UN role in Iraqi affairs could be expanded, France would not veto the new resolution on the Iraq issue submitted by the United States even if America was unwilling to return sovereignty to Iraq as soon as possible.

Although the various parties do not hope to see an intensified contradiction on the Iraq question, the huge difference in principled stand, however, makes the future of the new resolution remain undecided. A senior official with the Bush administration indicated that perhaps it would still take one month's time for various parties to approve of the new resolution. The official gave his own explanations on the time limit: Nobody is anxious to reach an agreement, because we have to make a correct decision.

In a certain sense, the predicament now facing the Bush administration is exactly a price it pays for its unilateral act taken on the issue of the Iraq war. When Bush listed a huge budget worth US$87 billion to the Congress, demanding that US taxpayers pay for the "anti-terrorist wars" in Iraq, Afghanistan and other regions, the lack of support from the international community is a major hurt to Bush which he cannot avoid in his effort for re-election. According to the budget, a sum of US22 billion will be put into Iraq's postwar reconstruction, but this sum is still a far cry from the fund of US$65-75 billion expected by the Iraqi provisional government.

The Bush administration's predicament appears more pronounced before US 2004 budgetary financial deficit of US$500 billion. In relevance to this is that in a poll released by US Newsweek on September 20, the rate of public support for the Bush administration's policy toward Iraq fell below 50 percent for the first time.

Different voices have begun to be heard even within the Republican Party. A Republican senator said on September 24: Now we need to consider various kinds of details, how to get our allies to make their investment, and how shall we share the heavy burdens and responsibilities.

This special article, written by Li Chuantao, is published on page 3 of People's Daily (Overseas Edition) September 26.

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