Military

DATE=11/08/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-282866

TITLE=BUSH / U-N (L)

BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT:

VOICED AT:

INTRO: President Bush will speak to the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday. V-O-A's Scott Stearns at the White House reports administration officials say Mr. Bush will press member nations to take action against terrorist training and finances.

TEXT: National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice says President Bush views his U-N speech as an opportunity to urge what she called "all civilized countries" to deal responsibly with terrorist threats.

/// RICE ACT 1 ///

He will reaffirm the U-S and allied commitment to fighting terrorism and the regimes that harbor it. He will urge every U-N member to live up to both the letter and the spirit of U-N resolutions against terror. And he will pledge U-S support for helping developing nations build capacity to fight terror and address humanitarian cases.

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Mr. Bush says he understands not all nations in the anti-terrorism coalition can contribute troops, but he said there must be action to break-up terrorist financial networks and sharing intelligence information.

During his trip to New York, Mr. Bush also will meet with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf who has called on the U-S-led alliance to stop bombing Afghanistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Ms. Rice says the important thing is to complete the mission in what she called "as timely a fashion as possible."

/// RICE ACT 2 ///

Let me just remind everybody that the United States was attacked on September 11th. What we are engaged in now is an act of self-defense to try to root-out al-Qaida to try to deny them safe harbor. We are working with many, many governments in the world to try to root-out cells that are still sitting out there planning attacks. I think it is understandable that the pace of those operations has to be dictated by getting to the end of the mission as quickly as possible having completed the mission. It's the completion of the mission that is at stake here.

/// END ACT ///

Following his trip to New York, Mr. Bush will hold his fourth round of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They will meet at the White House and the president's ranch in Texas. Ms. Rice says those talks will focus on U-S plans to build a missile defense system that would violate the 1972 Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty with the former Soviet Union. (Signed)

NEB/SKS/JWH