WASHINGTON, Jan 29: In his final State of the Union address, President George W. Bush on Monday night included Pakistan among countries where, he said, extremists were fighting to deny the people their right to choose.
Pakistan also figured in his description of places that have been sending sobering images to the world.
The speech depicting the agenda for the final year of his eight-year tenure focused on his unfinished war in Iraq, declaring that his new policy of sending more troops to the Arab state had brought new gains for America.
But Mr Bush devoted very little of his 53-minute speech to the issue that is the top concern of American voters during this election year: America’s unstable economy which is threatening to go out of control.
He said that last year he introduced a new policy of troop surges in Iraq which, according to him, has already brought success that were impossible to imagine a year ago.
While the enemy is still dangerous and more work remains ę high-profile terrorist attacks are down, civilian deaths are down, sectarian killings are down, claimed Mr Bush.
Afghanistan, another front in Mr Bush’s war against terror, was presented as a place where US policies succeeded in bringing a nation from the brink of total disaster to the road to democracy.
While looking back at his seven-year rule over the world’s only remaining superpower, Mr Bush acknowledged that in the past seven years, we’ve also seen images that have sobered us.
And he counted the assassination of popular leaders in Pakistan and Lebanon among those sobering events. We’ve watched throngs of mourners in Lebanon and Pakistan carrying the caskets of beloved leaders taken by the assassin’s hand, he said.
Mr Bush also recalled the events of September 11, 2001, that catapulted him to a position of unprecedented power from the winner of a controversial presidential election in 2000.
On a clear September day, we saw thousands of our fellow citizens taken from us in an instant, he said. These horrific images serve as a grim reminder: The advance of liberty is opposed by terrorists and extremists.
He described the extremists as evil men who despise freedom, despise America, and aim to subject millions to their violent rule.
And to achieve this goal, said Mr Bush, the terrorists were fighting to deny this choice (of freedom) to the people in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Palestinian Territories.
Mr Bush, who is staking his foreign policy legacy on an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, said that the security of every nation in the Middle East would improve if Israel and the Palestinian Authority could sign a peace agreement this year.
He said that continued US involvement will help the two sides reach a deal that would create a Palestinian state and provide increased security for Israel.
But it is not clear how hard Mr Bush will push for the creation of a Palestinian state if Israel refuses to allow it to happen. Former President Bill Clinton also sought a similar accord in his last year in power but failed.
While speaking on the US economy, Mr Bush urged Congress to pass the $150 billion stimulus package quickly and then focus on making the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent. He also urged lawmakers to eliminate or reduce more than 150 ‘wasteful’ or ‘bloated’ programmes.
The stimulus plan, however, may not be large enough to affect the economy, and tax rebates that arrive in spring or summer may be too late.
Another issue that is agitating American voters is healthcare. In October, Mr Bush vetoed a legislation which sought to ensure that poor children get healthcare.
Mr Bush proposed a cap on tax-free health benefits, coupled with a new standard deduction for everyone who buys insurance.
Democrats say that such a plan would help the rich and cause some employers to drop coverage.
Mr Bush also spoke on an issue that may help his Republican Party in the election year. The other pressing challenge is immigration, he said. America needs to secure our borders — and with your help, my administration is taking steps to do so. We are increasing work-site enforcement; we are deploying fences and advanced technologies to stop illegal crossings.
Addressing the issue of global warming, Mr Bush called for an international agreement to slow, stop and eventually reverse the growth of greenhouse gases.
In December, the Bush administration signed on a United Nations agreement calling for further world action to cut the production of greenhouse gases linked to global warming. The agreement is vague, and Mr Bush has stopped short of endorsing mandatory limits on gas emissions. Meanwhile, US emissions of greenhouse gases continue to rise each year.
The president also urged Americans to reduce their dependence on oil to protect the environment and the economy and to keep the country secure.
Oil prices that earlier this month topped $100 a barrel for the first time have put greater focus on alternative sources of energy. Late last year Mr Bush signed a bill into law that mandates increased production of alternative fuels such as corn-based ethanol.
But the move caused large increases in prices of commodities used for making fuel and led to rising food costs worldwide.
