Mideast press, officials slam Bush over UN speech
(Updated at 2200 PST)
BEIRUT: The Middle East press and officials Wednesday slammed US
President George W. Bush's speech at the United Nations as a diktat
and a smokescreen for the crisis facing the US-led coalition in Iraq.
"Bush has transformed his speech at the United Nations into an
occasion to spell out the demands of his administration to other
countries of the world," said the Al-Mustaqbal newspaper, owned by
Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
In a front-page editorial commenting on Bush's address to the annual
UN General Assembly on Tuesday, the leading Lebanese daily An-Nahar
said: "President Bush remains in one valley and the world in another.
"He stood in the General Assembly as if he did not come to the United
Nations to ask for help. He addressed world leaders and
representatives in a sermon, listing his achievements in Afghanistan
and Iraq as if the world does not know what is happening in those two
countries."
In Damascus, the Syrian ruling party's newspaper, Al-Baath, also said
the speech was a cover for the almost daily attacks on and regular
killing of US troops in Iraq. "The American president tried to
conceal the difficulties behind a vague and general language so as
not to speak of the crisis facing the occupation forces," it said.
In the Gulf, the press also voiced regional fears that Washington's
attack on Iraq could set a precedent for the invasion of other
countries and accused him of ignoring the plight
of the Palestinians.
http://jang.com.pk/thenews/