Bush seated before the United Nations General Assembly today with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, above left, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim, center, and Egyptian Ambassador Muhammad Shaaban. (AP Photo by Mary Altaffer)
by Bay Fang
President Bush identified a new axis of evil in his opening speech to the UN General Assembly, replacing Iraq with Belarus and Syria in his list of dictatorships
"In Belarus, North Korea, Syria, and Iran, brutal regimes deny their people the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration'' of human rights, the president said.
But while he announced new economic sanctions against Burma and mentioned the UN's responsibility in Cuba, Zimbabwe and Sudan, he did not speak more about Iran, the country on which the US has been most focused throughout the week.
"The president wanted this speech to focus on many other issues that are facing the world; issues that people in Sudan and Zimbabwe and Burma are... dealing with, in which the United Nations could bring its force and its weight in order to help," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sat quietly at Iran's place in the assembly chamber while Bush spoke, and there was no contact between him and any of the American entourage.
Ahmadinejad could be seen watching Bush, looking at least once at his watch near the end of Bush’s remarks, squeezing his lower lip with two fingers, and several times turning to speak to the person next to him. If he was hearing a translation of the speech, no earpiece was visible.
Before the speech, First Lady Laura Bush, on her way to her seat, walked directly past the Iranian president, putting her right hand on his desk at the far right of the delegate section, 14 rows from the rostrum.) Ahmadinejad appeared to glance toward her.
The White House press corps' print pool reporter contributed to this report.




Comments
Ahhh, cannot wait to hear all the Loony Lefties sing the praises of Syria, Belarus and any other despotic regime and country, and spew their spittle of hate at Bush.
It used to be at one time liberals and those on the Left hated dictators. Today, the Loony Lefties want to make whoopee with evil dictators and serve them cookies and crumpets.
Posted by: John D | September 25, 2007 2:06 PM
"BUSH SPEAKS OF A UNIVERSAL DECLARATION, THEN VETOES SCHIP" NO UNIVERSAL MEDICAL CARE FOR AMERICANS OR THEIR CHILDREN.
Meanwhile in America, The Axis of Evil continues to turn, its not the Democrats, its not the GAY GOP, its not the Criminal GOP, its not Alberto Gonzales, its not Obama, Its not Hillary Clinton, ITS YOU. ITS YOU AMERICA, YOU ARE THE NEW AXIS OF EVIL BUSH UNVEILS.
It must be us, we are the a true nation in great dispair. We are a true nation that is of great concern. We are a true nation of secular laws and a culture of corrupted leadeship so bad that we simply just skip the reality of our day by justifying anything that GEORGE BUSH has to say.
JOKES ON US TODAY AGAIN!
Long Live Nancy Pelosi!
Posted by: Roger Morris | September 25, 2007 2:15 PM
"Bush Names New Evils, Downplays Iran and Iraq"
Sounds like Republican Prez 29% still thinks the real world is the same as the comic books he was reading at Yale while he was ditching classes.
The Republican Party is falling victim to their own uninformed old talking points.
Here's David Shuster making Republican Rep Marsha Blackburn wish she had never started spiting out Republican talking points in the first place,
Petraeus or Betray Us, which is it, Marsha?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OgEOOgu1EQ
Posted by: John E | September 25, 2007 2:19 PM
..."Ahhh, cannot wait to hear all the Loony Lefties sing the praises of Syria, Belarus and any other despotic regime and country, and spew their spittle of hate at Bush.
It used to be at one time liberals and those on the Left hated dictators. Today, the Loony Lefties want to make whoopee with evil dictators and serve them cookies and crumpets.
Posted by: John D | September 25, 2007 2:06 PM"...
...y...a...w...n...
Posted by: The Original BZ | September 25, 2007 2:23 PM
John D.,
Please post a link to a photo of yourself. It'll be the hands down favorite for the "whack job" definition on Wikipedia.
Your posts are so over the top that they're simply buffoonable.
Thanks for the laughs!
Posted by: Doug Zook | September 25, 2007 2:27 PM
John D....was that really a post from you? Thats got to be the worst......
Posted by: bill r. | September 25, 2007 2:36 PM
Like I said the equation goes terrorist activities WMD interest and human rights. Go pull out a map and see wherever there are human rights violations you will find terrorism and WMD interests (hostile nations goe-politically tied to other of interest hostile nations) identified as an imminent threat to the US worthy of "preemptive" action; convenient ehh. He's just setting up the seen for the conservative Republicans bc the neo-conservative foreign policy they are following(neither realist nor idealist; combines both) is dependent upon identifying those threats in order to exist. Take it this way without using the UN as a blackbook to get the numbers to black list half the world in their grim world view they wouldn't have a cause. Therefore they are always dependent on its existence and continue identifying it; without any real concern about how to carry out those actions to truly secure and centralize resources to ensure they will be implemented (freedom); but hey freedom to Bush is political and capitalistic freedom all other "human rights" get little stage time (other then help set up justifications for any military action). Unbeknown to him (not) the Democrats would not mind exploiting such zesty international activism either -- not exactly new to "air humanitarianism" or bombing.
Posted by: Dante's Inferno | September 25, 2007 2:37 PM
Per the article:
Before the speech, First Lady Laura Bush, on her way to her seat, walked directly past the Iranian president, putting her right hand on his desk at the far right of the delegate section.
Was she signaling Ahmadinejad? Propositioning him? Is she angry about her husbands illicit affair with Condi? Maybe she wants to have an affair of her own, just for vengenace...
Of course she would have to lower her intake of valium before she could entertain the Iranian President, but that would be a small price to pay.
Posted by: nisleib | September 25, 2007 2:40 PM
Bush can't speak without que cards so why should ANYONE in the world listen to anything he says?
He's all war - all the time. His tired old Cheeneeeey written speech is getting REAL old.
Posted by: RB | September 25, 2007 2:58 PM
President Bush identified a new axis of evil in his opening speech to the UN General Assembly, replacing Iraq with Belarus and Syria in his list of dictatorships.
Enemies on every corner. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Stalin would be proud.
The dark sordid underbelly of the American dream. The Bush administration and the neo-cons.
Posted by: Logic Prisoner | September 25, 2007 3:54 PM
Truth hurt, Doug and Bill R? Sorry, to inform you folks, but the Left has become the biggest apologists for all the despotic dictatorships in the world. Kucinich and Pelosi making nice-nice with Assad. Madeline Aldim singing and dancing with Kim Jong Il. Facts are facts.
Posted by: John D | September 25, 2007 4:08 PM
John D:
Please restrain yourself a little bit. First of all, I don't hear any Lefties singing the praise of dictators except for Cindy Sheehan's support of Chavez. But Sheehan is an anomaly. She doesn't even like the Democrats.
And before we go throwing stones on the subject, it might be a good idea to reflect on whether Republicans favored dictators at any time in recent history. Unfortunately, a cursory review of history will show that Republicans did, in fact, support a whole slew of dictators all over the world. The Republican support of dictators was derived from the flawed principle that "our enemies' enemy is our friend."
In the name of the aforesaid errant principle, Republican administrations backed such losers as Samosa in Nicaragua, Marcos in the Philippines, The Shah of Iran, and, yes, even Saddam Hussein - and this is not and exhaustive list. Add to it, if you will, all those tin horn dictators in Central and South America, Africa and Asia that we backed during the Cold War simply because they were supposedly the enemy of International Communism. Only God knows how much innocent blood they shed in support of our policies. Now, I don't know about you, but I think our support of bloody dictators tends to take away any bragging rights Republicans think they might have to throw rocks at the sometimes loyal opposition.
Having said so, I should, in all fairness, point out that Kennedy, Johnson and Carter, either overtly or inadvertently, supported many of the same shameless dictators mentioned above. No one is clean on this subject, and all are due for a good deal of repentance.
Posted by: John W. | September 25, 2007 4:37 PM
John D, guess I must be a loony lefty since I have no use for the wannabe dictator from the U.S., george bush. I guess georgie must have been talking to God again and God inspired him to denounce some new country's because everyone was getting tired of the old retoric. I don't hate bush but I sure am tire of him and his tenure.
You know John D, you and bush have something in common, both of you are wind bags and have little creditable in anything that you say. I sure wish both of you would shut up and go home.
Posted by: Ken | September 25, 2007 5:55 PM
The photo captures the little man essence of Bush perfectly.
Posted by: Rick/Sneads Ferry, NC | September 25, 2007 6:23 PM
Why are Republicans AFRAID OF EVERYTHING? I thought you guys were the tough-guy, wanted dead-or-alive types, no?
New GOP Mantra: "There is nothing to fear but the lack of fear itself."
As for anti-Semitic buffoon John Dyslin's "who supports the biggest losers" argument, I'd say that Republican support for the Shah of Iran (overthrew a democratic government to install a puppet dictator friendly to Western oil interests who was subsequently ousted in the dawning of the Islamic Revolution), Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein wreaks pretty badly.
Posted by: Distrust and Verify | September 25, 2007 6:33 PM
Alt. Cap;
'...Turd Blossom, where art thou?!'
Posted by: C.Morris | September 25, 2007 6:46 PM
I should add that General Pervez Musharaf belongs on the list of lousy dictators supported by Republican Administrations.
Posted by: Distrust and Verify | September 25, 2007 7:10 PM
Voice of America and Fiasco at Persian Service.
Millions of dollars are spent in Persian Service of Voice of America but the end result is nothing but scandalous way of cockamamie management and programming.
It is hard to believe but the Persian Service which supposed to be an organization to convey the policy of the U.S. has become a free platform for hard-line terrorist group of communists who attack the United Sates!
I have the documents in writings to prove that these were done with the full knowledge of the management.
I used to work there and as I said before, I have all the documents in writings.
The manager is a woman called Sheila Gandji who can not read and write Persian. Therefore, in order to hide this shortcoming from the higher management, she has hired an eighty something man called Kambiz Mahmoudi who has a lengthy background as crook and in charlatanism.
You expect a doctor to be in charge of a medical clinic. You expect an engineer to be in charge of an engineering department. You expect a plumber to fix your plumbing.
So why do you expect a person who has no education in Iran and doesn't know the language of that country should be in charge of publicity, literature or politic for such position?
Sheila Gandji falsely pretended and presented herself as educated with background in journalism. These are absolute fabrications. Nobody in Iranian communities inside of the country or outside has any knowledge about her being a journalist, then and now.
Her partner, Kambiz Mahmoudi is a hateful and despicable person whose activities as crook are widely known through out Iran. Can't the U.S. government appoint somebody without such shameful background and baggage?
Don’t think that this is a personal vendetta.
Let me quote you a view from another media:
"The Iran Steering group concluded that much of the anti-American perspective that is broadcast is the result of decisions made by station managers in Washington D.C. and Prague. Sheila Gandji, the manager of Persian service has faced sharp criticism, particularly for her decision to stop VOA shortwave radio program in July, 2006 in order to focus on television broadcasts, which are more susceptible to censorship, since the government regularly confiscates satellites dishes in order to prevent the infiltration of foreign broadcasts."
This is not the only one. The mismanagement at the Persian Service of Voice of America is the subject of hundreds of sites and articles indicative of disgusts and ridicules in the world.
The bizarre situation at the Persian Service of Voice of America caused even the Republican Senator Coburn to write a long letter to President Bush about the fiasco there.
It is only in America where the government pays to be insulted. Really, why Voice of America is doing this harm to our nation?
Posted by: Kian Kiani | September 25, 2007 7:38 PM
KK,
Sounds like a typical Bush success.(Failure)
Posted by: C.Morris | September 25, 2007 9:05 PM
John W., you are correct, Republicans in the past have sided with some dictators, many of whom were not good people. However, you and I both know there are times in which you have to sleep with devil or pick one because he is better than the alternative. For instance, the U.S. under Jimmy Carter sided with Hussein in his war with Iran and Reagan continued with that policy. At that time, Iran was the greater problem.
During WWII, we allied with Communist Russia because it was better than Nazi Germany.
But in the past decade or so, there is no doubting that the Democratic party and those on the Left have gone soft on many dictators, from Kim Jong Il to Hugo Chavez (just in the past couple of months Kevin Spacey, Sean Penn and Danny Glover all have gone to Venezuala to kiss Chavez's hand).
And an FYI, and this is supposed to be a secret, some of my comments are meant to tweak the Loony Lefters. If you think anyone or any group needs restraint, though, it is largely by those on the Left.
Posted by: John D | September 25, 2007 11:24 PM
And an FYI, and this is supposed to be a secret, some of my comments are meant to tweak the Loony Lefters. If you think anyone or any group needs restraint, though, it is largely by those on the Left.
Posted by: John D | September 25, 2007 11:24 PM
I think all your comments do is prove your a very close minded, angry individual. One who seems to be completely rigid with limited ideas. Vacant and vacuous.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 26, 2007 10:00 AM
Alternate caption:
"...And make sure you set the VCR to record 'Pokemons' for me."
Posted by: BC | September 26, 2007 2:13 PM