United Nations: Much Better Speech Than Bush
This morning I flipped on C-SPAN a little bit early to hear President Bush's address to the General Assembly of the United Nations. To my benefit, I got to hear Brazil's President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, give his speech, who went right before Bush. As I listened to his words, I couldn't help but feel inspired. He painted a sad but true picture of the world and the problems we faced.
He addressed terrorism, but he did not focus on it, invoking the words of FDR, "The only thing we need to fear is fear itself." Instead he focused on the true issues that face the world at the beginning of the Third Millennium: world hunger, the widening gap between the rich and poor, increased poverty, decreasing life expectancy in the third world, global epidemics. Indeed, it is a sad picture, but his speech was not particularly depressing. As I said, his words were inspiring. He made me believe that we can do something about these problems. He made me believe there is a better path for the world, one from which we have strayed, but not so far as that we can not find it once again. In short, he gave me hope.
Then, George W. Bush took the podium. Bush invoked fear at every moment possible. I am not going to say it is bad to point out where there is danger and evil in the world. To the contrary, it is important to do so. But President Bush did not offer the hope that da Silva offered. Instead, he offered a picture of fear, one that seemed to suggest that without Bush's leadership, we'd all be dead or imprisoned by tyrants. It was clear that rather than using ideas and hope to overcome fear, Bush was using fear to justify actions--to justify failures in cooperation and peace. He is right to point out the failures, but to be a true leader he must also paint the possibility of success.
Indeed, he attempted to paint a masterpiece. But his strokes were erratic, nervous, and at their best glossy. Where he talked of international cooperation, imminent democracy in Iraq, and the advancements of human rights and dignity, it was obvious that his painting did not even vaguely resemble the landscape from which he worked. His actions have caused division both within the United Nations and even the United States itself--not just on Iraq, but with Kyoto, Doha, Cancun, and other sites where international agreement was attempted but failed. This records gleam not of cooperation, but of division. His failures to provide security in Iraq, where it is still so dangerous that the United Nations refused to operate, have made democracy in Iraq seem like a long shot. His failure of leadership has seen under his watch scandals at Abu Ghraib prison and other locations that have nothing of the gleam of human dignity. I felt myself asking, How can he say these great things about human dignity while still maintaining self dignity and a straight face?
To this patron of the world's galleries, it was clear that da Silva gave us a deep, complex, yet beautiful masterpiece, while Bush simply tried to unfoolingly cover a broken, black canvas with neon acrylics and shellac. See for yourself:
General Assembly
United Nations
21 September 2004
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's Speech:
Through Foreign Minister Jean Ping, of Gabon, I greet the representatives of all peoples gathered here today.
I fraternally salute Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has been guiding the work of the United Nations with wisdom and devotion.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
For the second time I address this universal assembly on behalf of Brazil.
I have a life-long commitment to those silenced by inequality, hunger and hopelessness.
To them, in the powerful words of Franz Fanon, the colonial past has bestowed a common legacy:"If you so desire, take it: the freedom to starve to death".
Today, we are 191 Nation-States.
In the past, 125 of us were subjected to the oppression of a few powers, which originally occupied less than 2% of the globe.
The end of colonialism confirmed, in the political arena, the right of peoples to self-determination.
This Assembly is the highest expression of an international order based on the independence of nations.
Political transformation, however, has not been transposed to the economic and social fields. And history shows this will not happen spontaneously.
In 1820, the per capita income of the richest nation in the world was five times greater than that of the poorest one. Today, this disparity reaches 80 to 1.
The former subjects have become perpetual debtors in the international economic system.
Protectionist barriers and other obstacles to balanced trade, aggravated by the concentration of investments, knowledge and technology, have followed colonial domination.
A powerful and all-encompassing invisible cogwheel runs the system from afar. It often revokes democratic decisions, shrivels the sovereignty of States, and imposes itself to elected governments.
It demands that legitimate national development projects be renounced.
The perverse logic of draining the needy to irrigate the bountiful still stands.
In the past decades, an ill-inclusive and asymmetric globalization has deepened the devastating legacy of poverty and social regression, which now bursts into the agenda of the 21st Century.
Today, in 54 countries the per capita income is lower than what it was ten years ago.
In 34 countries, life expectancy has decreased.
In 14, a greater number of children starve to death.
In Africa, where colonialism resisted until the twilight of the twentieth century, 200 million people are caught in an existence marked by hunger, disease and neglect, to which the world has become oblivious, numbed by the routine of the distant suffering of others.
Lack of basic sanitation has killed more children in the past decade than all military conflicts since the end of World War II.
Love cannot spring from cruelty. Peace will never rise from poverty and hunger.
The hatred and senselessness that spread throughout the world feed on despair, on the absolute lack of hope for many peoples.
This year alone, more than 1,700 people have died as a consequence of terrorist attacks around the world; in Madrid, Baghdad, Jakarta...
Those are tragedies that must be added to so many others: in India, in the Middle East, in the United States, and, more recently, the barbaric slaughter of children in Beslan.
Mankind is losing the fight for peace.
Only the enlightened values of Humanism, applied with clarity of mind and determination, will be able to counter barbarism.
The situation imposes on peoples and leaders of the world, a new sense of collective and individual responsibility.
If peace is our goal, it is our task to build it.
If we wish to eliminate violence, we must address its deep-rooted origins with the same resolve employed against the agents of hatred.
The path to lasting peace must encompass a new political end economic international order; one that extends to all countries real opportunities for economic and social development.
It therefore requires a reform of the global development model, as well as international institutions that are effectively democratic, based on multilateralism and on the acknowledgment of the rights and aspirations of all peoples.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The tortured look in the eyes of the outcast should do more to stir our conscience than the no less dramatic statistics on social inequality.
Their gaze calls upon us for a future of hope.
Just as our destinies are now intertwined, every conflict gives rise to global effects.
As the sky is shown to us from within iron bars, let us not mistake the cage for freedom.
We have the scientific knowledge and the productive scale necessary for resolving the global economic and social challenges.
Today, nature and progress can be reconciled by means of development models that are ethically and environmentally sustainable.
Nature is not a museum of untouchable relics; but neither should it be further degraded by human and environmental exploitation in search for wealth at any price.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen
A generation is remembered not only for what it accomplished, but also for what it failed to accomplish.
If resources are so much greater than our achievements, how can we explain to the generations to come why we did so little, when so much was within our reach?
A neglectful civilization is condemned to wither like a body without a soul.
The exhortations from the great "New Deal" leader Franklin Delano Roosevelt still resonate with inescapable pertinence.
What is needed today is "bold, persistent experimentation".
"The only thing we need to fear is fear itself".
Such boldness does not stem from instinct, but rather from political courage. Not from irresponsible willfulness, but rather from daring ability to reform.
What sets civilization apart from barbarism is the political architecture that promotes peaceful change and advances social and economic life by means of democratic consensus.
If we fail against hunger and poverty, what else could bring us together?
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
I believe the time has come to clearly state that for just and sustainable development to return, there is need for an important shift in the financial flows from international multilateral organisms.
Such organisms were created to provide for solutions, but, by adopting excessive rigor, sometimes they themselves become part of the problem.
The issue is to adjust their focus to development, thus restoring their original objective.
The International Monetary Fund should be able to provide the guarantee and the liquidity which are necessary for productive investments - especially in infrastructure, housing and sanitation – and
which can also restore the poor countries' capacity to pay.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Brazilian foreign policy, in all its dimensions, seeks to join other nations in efforts aimed at the establishment of a world of justice and peace.
Yesterday, in a historic meeting, more that 60 world leaders gathered to give new impetus to international action against hunger and poverty.
I firmly believe that the process launched will heighten the level of the fight against world poverty.
As we advance in this new alliance, we shall have better means to attain the Millennium Development Goals, especially with regard to the eradication of hunger.
It was in this same spirit of contributing to the reduction of poverty that Brazil, India and South Africa established, last year, the IBSA Fund for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation. Our first project will be implemented in Guinea Bissau.
HIV/AIDS and its nefarious connection to hunger and poverty, is also a priority. Our International Cooperation Program with other developing countries in combating HIV/AIDS is now operational in six countries, and will soon be extended to another three.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am fully aware of the serious security problems that pose a threat to international stability.
There seems to be no perspective for improvement in the critical situation in the Middle East.
In this and in other conflicts, the international community cannot allow violence – whether sponsored by States or other actors – to prevail over democratic dialogue.
The Palestinian people are still far from achieving the self-determination they are entitled to.
The profound causes of our insecurity are complex. The necessary fight against terrorism cannot be conceived strictly in military terms.
We must develop strategies that encompass both solidarity and firmness, while strictly respecting international law.
On this basis, Brazil and other Latin-American countries have responded to the call of the United Nations and engaged in the stabilization efforts in Haiti. If we seek new paradigms in international
relations, we cannot shirk from addressing the concrete situations that emerge.
The promotion of equitable development is crucial to addressing the centuries-old causes of Haitian instability.
In spite of its grave social and economic problems, a culture of peace prevails in our region. Our continent is undergoing a period of democratic coming of age, with increasing involvement of a vibrant civil society.
We have learned that development and social justice must be sought with determination and openness to dialogue.
Instability bouts in our region have been dealt with in strict respect of institutions.
Whenever requested, and within its means and capabilities, Brazil has given its contribution to help friendly countries overcome crises that have threatened their constitutional order and stability.
We do not stand for interference in domestic affairs, but neither can we condone omission and indifference in face of situations that affect our neighbors.
Brazil is committed to the establishment of a politically stable, prosperous and united South America, on the basis of strengthening MERCOSUL and of its strategic relationship with Argentina.
Thanks to decisive initiatives in structural, economic, commercial, social and cultural integration, the possibility of a Community of South-American States is no longer a distant dream.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Brazil is at work in multilateral negotiations with a view to reaching just and equitable agreements.
At the last meeting of the World Trade Organization, we took a fundamental step towards the elimination of abusive restrictions that hamper developing countries.
Coordination among countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America in the G-20 was decisive for keeping the Doha Round on the right track of trade liberalization with social justice.
A successful Doha Round could take more than 500 million people out of poverty.
It is essential to carry on building a new world economic and commercial geography which, while maintaining the vital ties to developed countries, allows for the establishment of solid bridges among the countries of the South, which have remained isolated from one another for too long.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Brazil is committed to the success of the International Climate Change Regime. We are developing renewable sources of energy. That is why we shall continue to actively strive for the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol.
South America contains around 50% of world biodiversity. We stand for combating biopiracy as well as for the negotiation of an international regime for sharing the benefits derived from the utilization of genetic resources and traditional knowledge.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I reiterate what I stated from this very rostrum last year: only an international order based on multilateralism can promote peace and the sustainable development of nations.
It must be based on a constructive dialogue among different cultures and world visions.
No organ is better suited than the UN for ensuring the world's convergence towards common goals.
The Security Council is the only source of legitimate action in the field of international peace and security.
But its composition must reflect today's reality – not perpetuate the post-World War II era.
Reform proposals that simply dress the current structure in new clothes and do not provide for an increase in the number of permanent members are manifestly insufficient.
The difficulties inherent to any reform process must not make us lose sight of its urgency.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
There will be neither security nor stability in the world until a more just and democratic order is established.
The community of nations must give a clear and urgent response to this challenge.
We can find such a response in the wise words of the Prophet Isaiah: "The fruit of righteousness will be peace".
Thank you.
George W. Bush's Speech
Mr. Secretary-General, Mr. President, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the honor of addressing this General Assembly.
The American people respect the idealism that gave life to this organization. And we respect the men and women of the U.N., who stand for peace and human rights in every part of the world. Welcome to New York City and welcome to the United States of America.
During the past three years, I've addressed this General Assembly in a time of tragedy for my country and in times of decision for all of us. Now we gather at a time of tremendous opportunity for the U.N. and for all peaceful nations.
For decades, the circle of liberty and security and development has been expanding in our world. This progress has brought unity to Europe, self-government to Latin America and Asia, and new hope to Africa. Now we have the historic chance to widen the circle even further, to fight radicalism and terror with justice and dignity, to achieve a true peace founded on human freedom.
The United Nations and my country share the deepest commitments. Both the American Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaim the equal value and dignity of every human life. That dignity is honored by the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women, protection of private property, free speech, equal justice, and religious tolerance. That dignity is dishonored by oppression, corruption, tyranny, bigotry, terrorism, and all violence against the innocent. And both of our founding documents affirm that this bright line between justice and injustice, between right and wrong, is the same in every age and every culture and every nation.
Wise governments also stand for these principles for very practical and realistic reasons. We know that dictators are quick to choose aggression, while free nations strive to resolve differences in peace. We know that oppressive governments support terror, while free governments fight the terrorists in their midsts. We know that free peoples embrace progress in life instead of becoming the recruits for murderous ideologies.
Every nation that wants peace will share the benefits of a freer world, and every nation that seeks peace has an obligation to help build that world.
Eventually there is no safe isolation from terror networks or failed states that shelter them or outlaw regimes or weapons of mass destruction. Eventually there is no safety in looking away, seeking the quiet life by ignoring the struggles and oppression of others.
In this young century, our world needs a new definition of security. Our security is not merely found in spheres of influence or some balance of power; the security of our world is found in the advancing rights of mankind. These rights are advancing across the world, and across the world the enemies of human rights are responding with violence.
Terrorists and their allies believe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the American Bill of Rights and every charter of liberty ever written are lies, to be burned and destroyed and forgotten. They believe that dictators should control every mind and tongue in the Middle East and beyond. They believe that suicide and torture and murder are fully justified to serve any goal they declare, and they act on their beliefs.
In the last year alone, terrorists have attacked police stations and banks and commuter trains and synagogues and a school filled with children. This month in Beslan, we saw once again how the terrorists measure their success: in the death of the innocent and in the pain of grieving families. Svetlana Dzebisov was held hostage, along with her son and her nephew. Her nephew did not survive. She recently visited the cemetery and saw what she called the little graves. She said, "I understand that there is evil in the world, but what have these little creatures done?"
Members of the United Nations, the Russian children did nothing to deserve such awful suffering and fright and death. The people of Madrid and Jerusalem and Istanbul and Baghdad have done nothing to deserve sudden and random murder. These acts violate the standards of justice in all cultures and the principles of all religions. All civilized nations are in this struggle together, and all must fight the murderers.
We're determined to destroy terror networks wherever they operate, and the United States is grateful to every nation that is helping to seize terrorist assets, track down their operatives, and disrupt their plans. We're determined to end the state sponsorship of terror, and my nation is grateful to all that participated in the liberation of Afghanistan. We're determined to prevent proliferation and to enforce the demands of the world, and my nation is grateful to the soldiers of many nations who have helped to deliver the Iraqi people from an outlaw dictator.
The dictator agreed in 1991, as a condition of a cease-fire, to fully comply with all Security Council resolutions, then ignored more than a decade of those resolutions. Finally, the Security Council promised serious consequences for his defiance. And the commitments we make must have meaning. When we say "serious consequences," for the sake of peace there must be serious consequences. And so a coalition of nations enforced the just demands of the world.
Defending our ideals is vital, but it is not enough. Our broader mission as U.N. members is to apply these ideals to the great issues of our time. Our wider goal is to promote hope and progress as the alternatives to hatred and violence. Our great purpose is to build a better world beyond the war on terror.
Because we believe in human dignity, America and many nations have established a global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. In three years, the contributing countries have funded projects in more than 90 countries, and pledged a total of $5.6 billion to these efforts. America has undertaken a $15 billion effort to provide prevention and treatment and humane care in nations afflicted by AIDS, placing a special focus on 15 countries where the need is most urgent. AIDS is the greatest health crisis of our time, and our unprecedented commitment will bring new hope to those who have walked too long in the shadow of death.
Because we believe in human dignity, America and many nations have joined together to confront the evil of trafficking in human beings. We're supporting organizations that rescue the victims, passing stronger anti-trafficking laws, and warning travelers that they will be held to account for supporting this modern form of slavery. Women and children should never be exploited for pleasure or greed anywhere on earth.
Because we believe in human dignity, we should take seriously the protection of life from exploitation under any pretext. In this session, the U.N. will consider a resolution sponsored by Costa Rica calling for a comprehensive ban on human cloning.
I support that resolution and urge all governments to affirm a basic ethical principle: no human life should ever be produced or destroyed for the benefit of another.
Because we believe in human dignity, America and many nations have changed the way we fight poverty, curb corruption and provide aid. In 2002 we created the Monterrey Consensus, a bold approach that links new aid from developed nations to real reform in developing ones. And through the Millennium Challenge Account, my nation is increasing our aid to developing nations that expand economic freedom and invest in the education and health of their own people.
Because we believe in human dignity, America and many nations have acted to lift the crushing burden of debt that limits the growth of developing economies and holds millions of people in poverty. Since these efforts began in 1996, poor countries with the heaviest debt burdens have received more than $30 billion of relief. And to prevent the buildup of future debt, my country and other nations have agreed that international financial institutions should increasingly provide new aid in the forms of grants, rather than loans.
Because we believe in human dignity, the world must have more effective means to stabilize regions in turmoil and to halt religious violence and ethnic cleansing. We must create permanent capabilities to respond to future crises. The United States and Italy have proposed a global peace operations initiative. G-8 countries will train 75,000 peacekeepers, initially from Africa, so they can conduct operations on that continent and elsewhere. The countries of the G-8 will help this peacekeeping force with deployment and logistical needs.
At this hour, the world is witnessing terrible suffering and horrible crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan -- crimes my government has concluded are genocide. The United States played a key role in efforts to broker a cease-fire, and we're providing humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people. Rwanda and Nigeria have deployed forces in Sudan to help improve security, so aid can be delivered.
The Security Council adopted a new resolution that supports an expanded African Union force to help prevent further bloodshed and urges the government of Sudan to stop flights by military aircraft in Darfur. We congratulate the members of the council on this timely and necessary action. I call on the government of Sudan to honor the cease-fire it signed and to stop the killing in Darfur.
Because we believe in human dignity, peaceful nations must stand for the advance of democracy.
No other system of government has done more to protect minorities, to secure the rights of labor, to raise the status of women, or to channel human energy to the pursuits of peace.
We've witnessed the rise of democratic governments in predominantly Hindu and Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish and Christian cultures. Democratic institutions have taken root in modern societies and in traditional societies. When it comes to the desire for liberty and justice, there is no clash of civilizations. People everywhere are capable of freedom and worthy of freedom.
Finding the full promise of representative government takes time, as America has found in two centuries of debate and struggle. Nor is there only one form of representative government, because democracies, by definition, take on the unique character of the peoples that create them. Yet this much we know with certainty: the desire for freedom resides in every human heart. And that desire cannot be contained forever by prison walls or martial laws or secret police. Over time and across the Earth, freedom will find a way.
Freedom is finding a way in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we must continue to show our commitment to democracies in those nations. The liberty that many have won at a cost must be secured. As members of the United Nations, we all have a stake in the success of the world's newest democracies.
Not long ago, outlaw regimes in Baghdad and Kabul threatened the peace and sponsored terrorists. These regimes destabilized one of the world's most vital and most volatile regions. They brutalized their peoples in defiance of all civilized norms.
Today the Iraqi and Afghan people are on the path to democracy and freedom. The governments that are rising will pose no threat to others. Instead of harboring terrorists, they're fighting terrorist groups. And this progress is good for the long-term security of all of us.
The Afghan people are showing extraordinary courage under difficult conditions. They're fighting to defend their nation from Taliban holdouts and helping to strike against the terrorist killers. They're reviving their economy. They've adopted a constitution that protects the rights of all while honoring their nation's most cherished traditions. More than 10 million Afghan citizens, over 4 million of them women, are now registered to vote in next month's presidential election. To any who still would question whether Muslim societies can be democratic societies, the Afghan people are giving their answer.
Since the last meeting of this General Assembly, the people of Iraq have regained sovereignty. Today in this hall, the prime minister of Iraq and his delegation represent a country that has rejoined the community of nations. The government of Prime Minister Allawi has earned the support of every nation that believes in self- determination and desires peace. And under Security Council Resolutions 1511 and 1546, the world is providing that support.
The U.N. and its member nations must respond to Prime Minister Allawi's requests and do more to help build an Iraq that is secure, democratic, federal and free.
A democratic Iraq has ruthless enemies because terrorists know the stakes in that country. They know that a free Iraq in the heart of the Middle East will be a decisive blow against their ambitions for that region. So a terrorist group associated with al Qaeda is now one of the main groups killing the innocent in Iraq today, conducting a campaign of bombings against civilians, and the beheadings of bound men.
Coalition forces now serving in Iraq are confronting the terrorists and foreign fighters so peaceful nations around the world will never have to face them within our own borders. Our coalition is standing beside a growing Iraqi security force. The NATO alliance is providing vital training to that force. More than 35 nations have contributed money and expertise to help rebuild Iraq's infrastructure. And as the Iraqi interim government moves toward national elections, officials from the United Nations are helping the Iraqis build the infrastructure of democracy. These selfless people are doing heroic work and are carrying on the great legacy of Sergio de Mello.
As we've seen in other countries, one of the main terrorist goals is to undermine, disrupt and influence election outcomes. We can expect terrorist attacks to escalate as Afghanistan and Iraq approach national elections. The work ahead is demanding, but these difficulties will not shake our conviction that the future of Afghanistan and Iraq is a future of liberty. The proper response to difficulty is not to retreat, it is to prevail. The advance of freedom always carries a cost paid by the bravest among us. America mourns the losses to our nation and to many others. And today I assure every friend of Afghanistan and Iraq and every enemy of liberty: We will stand with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes of freedom and security are fulfilled.
These two nation will be a model for the broader Middle East, a region where millions have been denied basic human rights and simple justice. For too long, many nations, including my own, tolerated, even excused oppression in the Middle East in the name of stability. Oppression became common, but stability never arrived. We must take a different approach. We must help the reformers of the Middle East as they work for freedom and strive to build a community of peaceful democratic nations.
This commitment to democratic reform is essential to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. Peace will not be achieved by Palestinian rulers who intimidate opposition, tolerate corruption, and maintain ties to terrorist groups. The long-suffering Palestinian people deserve better. They deserve true leaders, capable of creating and governing a free and peaceful Palestinian state.
Even after the setbacks and frustrations of recent months, goodwill and hard effort can achieve the promise of the road map to peace. Those who would lead a new Palestinian state should adopt peaceful means to achieve the rights of their people and create the reformed institutions of a stable democracy. Arab states should end incitement in their own media, cut off public and private funding for terrorism, and establish normal relations with Israel. Israel should impose a settlement freeze, dismantle unauthorized outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people, and avoid any actions that prejudice final negotiations. And world leaders should withdraw all favor and support from any Palestinian ruler who fails his people and betrays their cause.
The democratic hopes we see growing in the Middle East are growing everywhere. In the words of the Burmese democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi, "We do not accept the notion that democracy is a Western value. To the contrary, democracy simply means good government rooted in responsibility, transparency and accountability."
Here at the United Nations, you know this to be true. In recent years, this organization has helped create a new democracy in East Timor, and the U.N. has aided other nations in making the transition to self-rule.
Because I believe the advance of liberty is the path to both a safer and better world, today I propose establishing a democracy fund within the United Nations. This is a great calling for this great organization. The fund would help countries lay the foundations of democracy by instituting the rule of law and independent courts, a free press, political parties and trade unions. Money from the fund would also help set up voter precincts and polling places, and support the work of election monitors.
To show our commitment to the new democracy fund, the United States will make an initial contribution. I urge all other nations to contribute as well.
Today, I've outlined a broad agenda to advance human dignity and enhance the security of all of us: the defeat of terror, the protection of human rights, the spread of prosperity, the advance of democracy. These causes -- these ideals -- call us to great work in the world.
Each of us alone can only do so much. Together we can accomplish so much more.
History will honor the high ideals of this organization. The charter states them with clarity: to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.
Let history also record that our generation of leaders followed through on these ideals, even in adversity. Let history show that in a decisive decade, members of the United Nations did not grow weary in our duties or waver in meeting them.
I'm confident that this young century will be liberty's century. I believe we will rise to this moment, because I know the character of so many nations and leaders represented here today. And I have faith in the transforming power of freedom.
May God bless you.