Military

DATE=9/24/03

TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP

NAME=BUSH'S U-N SPEECH

NUMBER=6-130103

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Assignments

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: Newspapers throughout the world are voicing their opinions of President Bush's address on Iraq at the United Nations. We get a sense of how the speech was received now from V-O-A's ___________ in this extra World Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: Depending on the paper's political orientation, the president either showed determination, diplomacy and defiance or insufficient contrition. Some Arab and African dailies wanted to see more "studied humbleness" than they detected.

We begin with our allies in Iraq, the British. In London, The Times suggests:

VOICE: No country wants the instability in Iraq to continue. Mr. Bush was therefore speaking from strength. [He] faced his critics with a judicious mix of determination, diplomacy and defiance.

TEXT: But for The Guardian, "Olive branches were in short supply as Mr. Bush, eschewing any genuine effort at consensus-building, resurrected his old black and white view of a planet devoid of neutral ground."

In France, the Paris daily Le Figaro is disappointed at the failure of the French and U-S presidents to even come close to compromise. "Yesterday, another opportunity for dialogue was again wasted," it laments.

However in Liberation, one columnist suggests: "In spite of their differing positions on Iraq the U-S and France have no other solution but to reach a compromise, no matter how difficult.

TEXT: To Germany's financial capital where the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung suggests:

VOICE: The basic problem [is]: unease about America's power and the way in which it is administered, [and] about distrust that is turning into a burden for President Bush.

TEXT: Moving Eastward, Russia's Vremya Novostey proposes:

VOICE: The president's address did not sound like a triumphant proclamation. In fact, the audience greeted him with silence and was restrained in applauding his speech. ...at times his statements were befuddling.

TEXT: On to the Middle East, where Jordan's English-language Jordan Times in Amman writes in part:

VOICE: It's bad enough for the U-S that it must go back to the U-N and ask for assistance, after ignoring [it] back in March when it could not secure the mandate for war. It's worse that most of the countries are not very anxious to rescue the U-S from its Iraqi predicament.

TEXT: In Lebanon, Beirut's An-Nahar was unhappy:

VOICE: Apparently [Mr.] Bush cannot understand the international atmosphere despite the fact it was clarified by Secretary General Kofi Annan who sharply criticized the strategy of preventive attacks and unilateral policies.

TEXT: However, across the city, the English-language Daily Star says the speech" was not nearly as discouraging as some had feared."

In Asia, Australia's Sydney Morning Herald feels the speech: "is a welcome confirmation that the world's sole superpower cannot truly go it alone."

As for India, where the Bush administration is pressuring New Delhi to help out with troops, we read in the Urdu-language Inquilab: "Although certain elements within the country [India] are more than willing to send troops, the government must keep itself away from the American quagmire in Iraq.

TEXT: On to Africa, where Mr. Bush gets some support in the east, from Kenya's Nation in Nairobi, which says despite his "disrespect" for the United Nations a year ago:

VOICE: Despite the poignance of this irony, we believe the U-N should respond positively to the S-O-S [call for help].

TEXT: However the Kenyan daily adds it would like to see more "studied humbleness" from the American president.

On that note from East Africa, we conclude this sampling of early reaction to President Bush's speech at the U-N on Iraq.

NEB/ANG/RH