US President George Bush preached to the converts in his annual State of the Union speech, leaving a few people impressed with his performance, Khaled Dawoud reports from Washington After two months of preparation and 10 drafts, US President George Bush's long-awaited State of the Union address carried no new bold initiatives or threats of war against members of the "Axis of Evil" that marked his previous addresses. Instead, Bush delivered what observers saw as the opening speech in his campaign to win re-election to the White House later this year amidst strong opposition from eight Democratic candidates and a deeply divided nation. As in all his recent speeches, Bush reiterated his deep belief that he was a leader of a "nation on a mission" and insisted that his decisions to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq were the right ones in light of the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. But he stepped back noticeably from claims he made a year ago in his last State of the Union address that the now ousted Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction that posed an imminent threat to the US and world security. Missing too were claims that the former Saddam regime had links with the terrorist Al-Qa'eda group led by Osama Bin Laden. After learning a hard lesson in the price of issuing promises that are hard to fulfil, the US president did not even mention Al-Qa'eda's leader, nor did he renew his threat to capture Bin Laden "dead or alive". As for the volatile situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and the near-total collapse of the peace process resulting from the disengagement of the present administration, Bush did not even bother to utter a single word, much to the pleasure of his strong ally and "man of peace", Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The deep division in supporting Bush's foreign and domestic policy was obvious as Republican members of the Congress tried unsuccessfully to set a new record in standing ovations for the president as a way of trying to show national support for his policies. Members of Congress interrupted Bush's State of the Union address last year 77 times with a standing ovation, while this year's speech, delivered to a prime-time television audience on Tuesday, mustered only 69 interruptions. Moreover, when the cameras carrying the live address to Americans moved across Congress' giant hall, it was obvious that it was only Republicans who were up on their feet cheering their president. Democrats barely even stood up to greet the president and as President Bush spoke for nearly an hour, senior Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy was caught on camera several times shaking his head in disagreement and disappointment. Emphasising what many analysts described as the main strength in his campaign to win re- election in November, Bush affirmed his image as a leader whose main priority is to defend US security. "Twenty-eight months have passed since 11 September 2001; over two years without an attack on American soil; and it is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us," Bush said at the beginning of his address. "That hope is understandable, comforting and false. The terrorists continue to plot against America and the civilised world. And by our will and courage, this danger will be defeated," he stressed. Adding to the anger of his critics, Bush surprised observers by declaring early in his speech his strong support for the ill-reputed Patriot Act, which civil rights groups and Americans of Arab and Muslim origin have strongly opposed as a major violation of basic civil rights. Noting that the Patriot Act was up for renewal by Congress next year, Bush said, "the terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule," and asked legislators "to renew the Patriot Act". Thanks to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Bush also claimed that his policy of using force against Iraq for repeatedly defying United Nations resolutions calling for its disarmament was effective. "Because of American leadership and resolve, the world is changing for the better," Bush said in reference to Gaddafi's surprise decision last month to disclose and dismantle his alleged arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. "Nine months of intense negotiations involving the United States and Great Britain succeeded with Libya, while 12 years of diplomacy with Iraq did not. And one reason is clear: for diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible, and no one can now doubt the word of America," he said. The perceived victory the Bush administration achieved by capturing the ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was also highlighted in the president's speech. "The once all-powerful ruler of Iraq was found in a hole, and now sits in a prison cell," he said amid cheers from his Republican loyalists. After acknowledging that "some in this chamber, and in our country, did not support the liberation of Iraq," Bush confirmed he made the right decision and that the world was definitely better without Saddam Hussein. Referring to the findings of the head of the US team in Iraq seeking to hunt its alleged arsenal of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), David Kay, the US president refused to concede that he hyped up the evidence to make the case for war against Iraq. "Already the Kay report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction- related programme activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations. Had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons of mass destruction programmes would continue to this day." But the US president, unsurprisingly, neglected to mention Kay' main finding: that there have been no actual WMDs found so far in Iraq even after 10 months of extremely costly inspection. Refuting accusations that the US was leading a unilateral policy that has placed it in opposition to the rest of the world, Bush again highlighted the participation of 32 world countries in the so-called US mission in Iraq. But with or without a coalition, Bush stressed that "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our people." Bush also failed to respond to critics that the so-called US-led coalition was mainly made up of the US and Britain, with symbolic participation by other nations, whose troops are mostly funded by US taxpayers' money. Bush also vowed to continue pressing for democracy in the Middle East. "As long as the Middle East remains a place for tyranny, despair and anger, it will continue to produce men and movements that threaten the safety of America and our friends," Bush declared. He pointed to a new television channel funded by the US government, Al-Hora, which will start its broadcast by the end of this month "to cut through the barriers of hateful propaganda [and begin] providing reliable news and information across the region.". He also announced that he would send a proposal to Congress to double the budget of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), "to focus its new work on the development of free elections, free markets, free press and free labour unions in the Middle East". Former US President Ronald Reagan established the NED in the early 1980s as part of his propaganda campaign against communism.
