Bush seeks $87bn, UN aid

2003-09-08 07:48

Washington - United States President George W Bush on Sunday urged the United Nations to overcome bitter "past differences" over the US-led invasion of Iraq, appealing even to opponents of the war for troops and money.

"Members of the United Nations now have an opportunity, and the responsibility, to assume a broader role in assuring that Iraq becomes a free and democratic nation," he said in a rare prime-time speech to the nation.

Speaking from the White House's Cabinet Room, Bush somberly warned the US public that rebuilding Iraq "will take time, and require sacrifice," and said he would seek $87bn for policing and rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan over the next year.

"Iraq is now the central front" of the global war on terrorism, said Bush, who launched that campaign after the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre two years ago.

Essential victory

"We will do what is necessary, we will spend what is necessary, to achieve this essential victory in the war on terror, to promote freedom, and to make our own nation more secure," he said in the 18-minute speech.

Washington, battered by a rising price tag and a post-war death toll that has surpassed that of the original invasion, now seeks a new UN resolution creating a multinational force for Iraq.

Bush cemented the policy about-face, appealing for help to UN Security Council members like France, Russia and Germany, whose opposition deprived the March 19 attack of the council's explicit endorsement.

"I recognise that not all our friends agreed with our decision to enforce the Security Council resolutions and remove Saddam Hussein from power, yet we cannot let past differences interfere with present duties," he said.

"Terrorists in Iraq have attacked representatives of the civilised world and opposing them must be the cause of the civilised world," he said, an apparent reference to the devastating bombing of the UN's Baghdad headquarters.

Bush's portrayal of Iraq stood in stark contrast to the triumphal tone of his last speech to the nation, on May 1, when he declared the war "one victory" in the struggle against terrorism in front of "Mission Accomplished" banner.

Dashed hopes

On Sunday, he seemed to dash hopes of a quick return of US troops and rebuff calls for sending more American soldiers to Iraq, saying that "the current number of American troops, nearly 130 000, is appropriate to their mission."

But he also said that commanders there sought a third multinational division, to join two others led by Britain and Poland.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Colin Powell told NBC television the new UN resolution might result in the deployment of just 10 000 to 15 000 more soldiers from US allies.

Powell will meet representatives of other nations this month to discuss contributions to the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan, followed by a similar conference on Iraq in October, said Bush.

"Europe, Japan, and states in the Middle East will all benefit from the success of freedom in these two countries and they should contribute to that success," he said.

The US leader said $66bn of his new funding request would go towards military and intelligence operations in Iraq and Afghanistan over the next year. The rest would go towards reconstruction.

No exit plan

With no precise exit strategy for iraq, Bush noted that Washington's new UN resolution sought to encourage Iraqi Governing Council to submit a plan and timetable for drafting a constitution and for free elections.

"From the outset, I have expressed confidence in the ability of the Iraqi people to govern themselves. Now they must rise to the responsibilities of a free people, and secure the blessings of their own liberty," he said.

Bush made no mention of the inability of US troops to locate the unconventional weapons he said Baghdad possessed, or their failure to locate Saddam Hussein or terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

He also made no specific allusion to the battered Middle East peace process, saying only that the region stood to benefit from a democratic and prosperous Iraq.

- AFP