19 September 2008

Bush Makes Eighth and Final U.N. Appearance

Will assess accomplishments, look ahead to what can be achieved

Secretary Rice, second from right, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Khalilzad, center, and National Security Advisor Hadley attend the U.N.

By Merle D. Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington — When President Bush steps into the cavernous U.N. General Assembly Hall for his eighth and final time as the leader of the United States, he will take a moment to look back and assess what has been accomplished and also look forward to what still needs to be achieved.

He will reflect on the accomplishments in humanitarian relief, spreading freedom and democracy around the world, securing against the spread of weapons of mass destruction, providing life-saving treatments for people suffering from HIV/AIDS and malaria, and doing everything possible to address international threats to peace and security, said Assistant Secretary of State Brian Hook in a recent interview with America.gov.

Bush addresses the 192-member General Assembly September 23 in his final appearance before the international body as president. The United States helped establish the United Nations in the aftermath of World War II and at the beginning of the nearly half-century Cold War.

“I think, particularly, Georgia will be on people’s minds during this convening of the 63^rd U.N. General Assembly,” Hook said.  “It’ll be the first time that the international community has assembled since Russia’s invasion of Georgia.”

Russian forces crossed into South Ossetia, a breakaway region in Georgia that borders Russia, August 8 after Georgian military forces attempted to reassume control over the region the day before.  After a five-day war, Russia had segregated both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a second breakaway region, from the internationally recognized Georgian sovereignty, and now plans to station 7,600 permanent troops in the two regions despite international protests.

“The United States is doing everything it can to protect Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.  We are working urgently to deploy observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe [OSCE] and from the European Union,” Hook said.  “There are observers from the United Nations that are in Abkhazia, though none are in South Ossetia.  Their mandate expires on October 15.  So the Security Council will face a decision whether to renew the mandate of the U.N. observers in Abkhazia or let it expire.”

The United States believes that the United Nations can play a useful role in this post-conflict situation, but much of this will be up to Russia since it has veto power over Security Council decisions, Hook said.

Hook, who heads the State Department’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs, said Bush also will hold meetings with the Iraqi delegation to thank partners for their services in Iraq and to encourage them to continue their contributions in other missions.  “And we expect high-level attendance at this event.  And it’s a real chance to reiterate our commitment to helping the Iraqi people achieve a democratic state and prosperous Iraq,” he said.

The president will also discuss conditions in the Darfur region of Sudan.  “The president has spoken … with great moral clarity about the genocide in Darfur,” Hook said.  “And it’s imperative that we deploy as quickly as possible the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission to help stop the violence there.”

As part of a comprehensive cease-fire agreement in Sudan, the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force — 26,000 peacekeepers and security police officers — is expected to reach full strength next year, according to U.N. humanitarian affairs officials.  The force is also seeking five critical elements to become fully operational — attack helicopters, surveillance aircraft, transport helicopters, military engineers and logistical support.

FOOD SECURITY, IRAN SANCTIONS

Food security will also be a major agenda item.  While the United States remains the largest donor of aid in the world, “we have emphasized immediate relief for those who are without food.  We are enhancing the agricultural capacities of countries who are suffering so that they don’t have to always rely on food aid [relief],” Hook said.

“And we’re also working to try to liberalize trade, which we think would have a long-term benefit to avoiding future food security crises.”

Iran is a priority for the 63^rd General Assembly, and the United States likely will see a resolution in the General Assembly that spotlights human rights abuses that Iran continues to commit, he said.  “Last year, the General Assembly passed a resolution expressing its concern for the human rights violations there.  These include flogging and amputations, public executions, stoning, violent repression of women [and] restrictions on freedom of speech,” he said.

And because Iran has been uncooperative with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over Tehran’s nuclear weapons development program, it is very likely that a fourth set of sanctions will be levied against Iran through the U.N. Security Council, Hook said.

“This week [September 16], the IAEA issued yet another report on Iran’s nuclear program.  And again the Iranian government is not complying with its Security Council obligations; it’s not complying with its IAEA obligations,” Hook said.  “And the director-general of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency [Mohamed ElBaradei] said that the unanswered questions about [Iran’s] weaponization are of serious concern to him.”

Efforts to offer an incentive package to Iran in return for full disclosure and cooperation have been rebuffed.  “The permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany offered a very generous and enhanced package of incentives to Iran which we think reflects a kind of carrot’s approach to achieve a negotiated solution to the nuclear challenges that we see in Iran.  Iran has not accepted this incentives package, which really leaves the council with no choice but to seek a fourth sanctions resolution against Iran,” he said.

VOTING OUTCOMES

Hook said the United States also will be seeking to improve voting outcomes within the General Assembly.  “In 2002, the overall rate of voting agreement with the United States was 31 percent.  In 2007, it was 18 percent.  This shows a trend of great concern to us because the voting coincidence with the United States has been falling steadily for the last 10 years," he said.

Every effort will be made to change voting patterns and to increase the rate of agreement with the United States in General Assembly votes.  Hook cited “a curious circumstance where countries with whom we have very strong bilateral relationships and agree on a range of issues, but when we walk into the halls of the General Assembly we find more disagreement than we do agreement in our bilateral relationships.”

The United States believes that in these multilateral settings it is important to be in as much harmony with the international community as possible and improving voting outcomes will contribute to that harmony, he said.