Bush unveils new sanctions against Myanmar

updated 8:07 a.m. ET Sept. 26, 2007

UNITED NATIONS - President Bush announced new sanctions Tuesday against the military dictatorship in Myanmar, accusing it of imposing “a 19-year reign of fear” that denies basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship.

“Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma,” the president said in an address to the U.N. General Assembly. The military junta renamed the Asian country Myanmar, but the United States does not recognize the change.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a bitter foe of the United States, sat in the chamber and checked his watch during Bush’s remarks. First lady Laura Bush, also present for the president’s speech, walked right by the seated Iranian president. The two had no contact.

Bush urged other nations to support the struggle for democracy in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon.

“The people of Lebanon and Afghanistan and Iraq have asked for our help, and every civilized nation has a responsibility to stand with them,” Bush said.

“Every civilized nation also has a responsibility to stand up for the people suffering under dictatorship,” the president said. “In Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Iran, brutal regimes deny their people the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration” of the United Nations.

While the war in Iraq continues, Bush made scant mention of it. Similarly, he barely mentioned Iran, a nation the United States accuses of terrorism, pursuit of a nuclear weapon and assistance for insurgents who are killing U.S. troops in Iraq.

Challenging the world body
Instead, Bush focused his remarks elsewhere, challenging the United Nations to uphold its pledge to fight for freedom in lands of poverty and terror.

“The nations in this chamber have our differences, yet there are some areas where we can all agree,” Bush said. “When innocent people are trapped in a life of murder and fear, the declaration is not being upheld. When millions of children starve to death or perish from a mosquito bite, we’re not doing our duty in the world. When whole societies are cut off from the prosperity of the global economy, we’re all worse off.”

“Changing these underlying conditions is what the declaration calls the work of larger freedom and it must be the work of every nation in this assembly,” he said. “This great institution must work for great purposes: to free people from tyranny and violence, hunger and diseases, illiteracy and ignorance and poverty and despair.”

Bush looked ahead to a Cuba no longer ruled by Fidel Castro, the ailing 81-year-old leader of the communist-run government.

“In Cuba, the long rule of a cruel dictator is nearing its end,” Bush said. “The Cuban people are ready for their freedom. And as that nation enters a period of transition, the United Nations must insist on free speech, free assembly and, ultimately, free and competitive elections.”

Cuba’s foreign minister walked out of the gathering in protest of Bush’s speech. The Cuban delegation later said Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque’s move was a “sign of profound rejection of the arrogant and mediocre statement” by Bush.

Pushing for change
Bush urged the United Nations to reform its Human Rights Council, created to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission. But Bush criticized the new body for ignoring abuses in places like Iran “while focusing its criticism excessively on Israel.”

“The American people are disappointed by the failures of the Human Rights Council,” Bush said. “The United Nations must reform its own Human Rights Council.”

But the president’s call for change came with the suggestion of a deal: the United States’ support for the highly contentious issue of expanding the Security Council, the United Nations’ most powerful body. Bush suggested that Japan is “well-qualified” to be an additional member and said “other nations should be considered as well.”

The council has 10 rotating members elected for two-year terms and five permanent members with veto power — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. Bush said the United States would listen to all “good ideas.”

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