UNGA 62: USUAL SUSPECTS CRITICAL OF U.S. IN THE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000861

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM UNGA
SUBJECT: UNGA 62: USUAL SUSPECTS CRITICAL OF U.S. IN THE
GENERAL DEBATE

REF: (A) USUN 840 (B) USUN 820

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Sensitive But Unclassified; Protect Accordingly.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. During the United Nations General
Debate, several member states praised the United States on a
variety of issues, including peacebuilding, reconstruction,
debt relief, and democracy. Several heads of state were
outspoken in their harsh criticism of the United States,
primarily on Iraq and Iran policy. Countries that went out
of their way to compliment U.S. policy included Afghanistan,
Albania, Colombia, Liberia, Niger, Malawi, Mauritius, and
Papau New Guinea. Critical countries were the usual suspects
-- Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Iran, Syria, and
Zimbabwe. The negative comments have had no traction except
as fodder for USG responses to candidacies of these nations
for various UN committees and other subgroups. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) This year's General Debate of the United Nations
General Assembly (UNGA) took place over the period Seprtember
25 to October 3 and featured 191 presentations, 70 of them
delivered by heads of state. Reftel summarizes significant
comments on major themes. This message summarizes positve
and negative comments on the U.S. Copies of all speeches can
be viewed at un.org/webcast/ga/62/. Per ref A, USDEL was not
present during the speeches by representatives of Burma,
Venezuela, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Syria, Lebanon (President Lahoud),
Iran, and Belarus, leaving only a notetaker at the desk. The
notetaker also walked out during the Cuba and Zimbabwe
interventions.

Kudos to U.S. Policy and Initiatives
--------------


3. (U) Several leaders expressed appreciation for U.S.
efforts to assist developing countries. President Karzai of
Afghanistan thanked the United States and others for the
support they have given to his country's reconstruction
effort. Albania echoed President Bush's "message of hope ...
to all the peoples of the world still living under tyrannical
regimes" and thanked the U.S. for its valuable financial and
technical assistance for disarmament. Colombia praised the
"positive willingness" of the U.S. to facilitate dialogue
between GOC and the FARC.


4. (U) Several African countries also praised the United
States, with Niger stating that President Bush's initiative
in the Middle East could constitute a "precious opportunity"
and help Lebanon. (Note: this point was not delivered but was
included in the official text of Niger's speech. End Note).
Malawi's President spoke favorably of the U.S. several times,
highlighting that President Bush's Malaria Initiative enables
his country to distribute 23 million mosquito nets. Liberia
thanked the U.S. and other partners for support toward
national reconstruction programs and their active steps
toward debt relief.

Negative Interventions From the Usual Suspects
-------------- -


5. (SBU) As in past years, a handful of countries used the
General Debate forum to lambaste U.S. policy. Leaders using
the harshest language against the U.S. came from Bolivia,
Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, Syria, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.
Summaries of their interventions follow.

-- Bolivia: President Evo Morales alluded to the
"superpower" engaging in "military intervention (and)
demonization." President Evo Morales commented that the U.S.
"doesn't send in troops to liberate" peoples.

-- Cuba: Foreign Minister Perez Roque spoke primarily on

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behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM),but ended his
statement with a pointed attack against the U.S., referring
to the President's earlier address as giving orders with a
"bossiness never ever before seen" in the General Assembly.
He called the U.S. "a strange warrior" that sent people to
die thousands of miles away and was responsible for the
deaths of 60,000 Iraqis.

-- Iran: President Ahmadinejad alluded to "certain powers"
that "set up secret prisons, abduct persons, have secret
punishments without any regard to due process" and that "lie
openly, level baseless charges against others, act contrary
to legal norms ... (and) abandon morality." He said the
"rights and the dignity of American people are being
sacrificed for the selfish desires of those holding power."

-- Nicaragua: In a rambling screed, President Ortega
repeatedly criticized the evils of "global imperialist
capitalism." He began by remembering what he called "the
millions of victims ... of the policies of colonialism and
neo-colonialism, ... the empire fighting against terrorism,
... the genocide perpetrated by global capitalism, ... (and
the) discrimination and apartheid brought on by ... the
developed countries." He criticized the "brutal and inhumane
blockade" of Cuba by the U.S. and asked what right President
Bush had to question North Korea on its nuclear capabilities
or Iran on its peaceful nuclear energy when the U.S. is the
only country to "launch atomic bombs on innocent people."

-- Syria: Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moualem claimed that the
U.S. fabricated news to justify Israel's recent "act of
aggression" against Syria and said, "by distorting the facts
(the U.S. has) become Israel's accomplice in this act." He
questioned whether Israel or Americans still have the will to
make peace when "actions and realities suggest otherwise" and
said that "the occupying power spends hundreds of billions of
dollars on military operations inside Iraq but fails to
allocate any resources to assist Iraqis who have been forced
out of Iraq as a result of occupation and its concomitant
repercussions."

-- Venezuela: Foreign Minister Moros delivered a highly
critical rant against U.S. foreign policy and called for a
multilateral system to replace "17 years of unipolar
domination." While brimming with fiery rhetoric, Moros'
remarks were less confrontational than those delivered by
Hugo Chavez at last year's UNGA. Moros accused the U.S. of
misleading the people of Iraq in order to justify the war,
calling Iraq's occupation an example of the "war mongering
madness" the U.S. seeks to impose upon the world. Moros also
charged the U.S. with orchestrating an international media
campaign to "demonize" the people of Iran.

-- Zimbabwe: President Mugabe directed numerous inflammatory
comments toward the U.S. during his 20-minute diatribe. He
stated that the President "stands for this 'civilization',
which occupied, which colonized, which incarcerated, which
killed." He described the President's hands as, "drip(ping)
with innocent blood of many nationalities" and asserted, "He
still kills. He kills in Iraq. He kills in Afghanistan.
And this is supposed to be our master on human rights?"


6. (SBU) Virtually none of our interlocutors has referred to
any of these anti-U.S. comments since they were made. Post
has filed away the references for possible use as the nations
involved launch bids for membership in UN councils,
commissions, and other subgroups.
KHALILZAD