Bush Delivers Powerful Speech For UN General Assembly

I am afraid that I did not get to watch Bush's speech live. That is why I waited a (short) while to post on it: wanted to read the transcript first and think about it (only a little bit of course, you all know me).

Quotes:

Five years ago I stood at this podium and called on the community of nations to defend civilization and build a more hopeful future. This is still the great challenge of our time.

BUSH: It is the calling of our generation.

This morning I want to speak about the more hopeful world that is within our reach, a world beyond terror, where ordinary men and women are free to determine their own destiny, where the voices of moderation are empowered, and where the extremists are marginalized by the peaceful majority.

This world can be ours, if we seek it and if we work together.
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The principles of this world beyond terror can be found in the very first sentence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document declares that, "The equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom and justice and peace in the world."
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The words of the Universal Declaration are as true today as they were when they were written.

As liberty flourishes, nations grow in tolerance and hope and peace. And we're seeing that bright future begin to take root in the broader Middle East.

He also, accurately, dealt with some of the criticism he, the US and its allies, have been facing:

Some have argued that the democratic changes we're seeing in the Middle East are destabilizing the region.

BUSH: This argument rests on a false assumption: that the Middle East was stable to begin with.

The reality is that the stability we thought we saw in the Middle East was a mirage.

For decades, millions of men and women in the region had been trapped in oppression and hopelessness. And these conditions left a generation disillusioned and made this region a breeding ground for extremism.

Indeed, the Middle East was not stable at all. It might have seemed to be stable, but just below the surface the ugly face of extremism was already visible for those who cared enough to look.

The Middle East has been a breeding ground for extremism. The extremism we are confronted with today, is not the result of the last couple of years. Instead, it is, at least, the result of the last couple of decades.

Imagine what it's like to be a young person living in a country that is not moving toward reform. You're 21 years old, and while your peers in other parts of the world are casting their ballots for the first time, you are powerless to change the course of your government.

While your peers in other parts of the world have received educations that prepare them for the opportunities of a global economy, you have been fed propaganda and conspiracy theories that blame others for your country's shortcomings.

BUSH: And everywhere you turn, you hear extremists who tell you that you can escape your misery and regain your dignity through violence and terror and martyrdom.

For many across the broader Middle East this is the dismal choice presented every day.

And that is one of the main problems here. In the GWOT, 'we' must be one step ahead of the extremists who try to influence young men and women, and try to transform them into (future) terrorists.
We have failed in that for far too long. For decades and decades, extremists have been one step ahead of those who love freedom.

Bush also addressed the Iraqi people, Afghan people, Iranian people and Syrian people directly. Read that yourselves as well, it provides for a great read, in which Bush words the opinion of us, who want to achieve freedom for all mankind, marvelously.

Lastly, President Bush finished with an appeal to the UN:

And the nations gathered in this chamber must make a choice as well. Will we support the moderates and reformers who are working for change across the Middle East, or will we yield the future to the terrorists and extremists?

America has made its choice. We will stand with the moderates and reformers.

Recently, a courageous group of Arab and Muslim intellectuals wrote me a letter. In it, they said this: "The shore of reform is the only one on which any lights appear, even though the journey demands courage and patience and perseverance."

The United Nations was created to make that journey possible. Together, we must support the dreams of good and decent people who are working to transform a troubled region. And by doing so, we will advance the high ideals on which this institution was founded.

An absolutely tremendous speech, that struck the right 'tone'. It was important for the US and its allies who actively fight extremism (among whom the Netherlands), to deliver a clear message to the UN. The UN is build on a human rights, on freedom for all. The UN has forsaken its duty for far too long. The UN must make a choice: choose for fake stability which will give extremists all the room they turn more and more people into (future) terrorists or choose to fight extremism, confront regimes that encourage / actively support terrorism and defend and spread the belief that human rights are not just rights for those living in the West, but for every single person on this entire planet.