NICE CATCH

David Frum reviews the President's speech to the UN.

The press is disappointed because Bush neither apologized to the UN for ignoring it in Iraq, nor pleaded for its support. Instead, he vigorously defended American actions, and gently chided the UN for betraying its own stated principles.

“As an original signer of the U.N. Charter, the United States of America is committed to the United Nations. And we show that commitment by working to fulfill the U.N.'s stated purposes, and give meaning to its ideals.”

The press is covering the speech as if it should have been headlined, “No News Here.” Wrong! The headline is: “No Surrender, No Turning Back. The War Goes On.”

The two most remarkable things about the speech to my ear were each contained in a single sentence. One was Bush’s characteristically unillusioned message about the Arab-Israeli war: “The advance of democratic institutions in Iraq is setting an example that others, including the Palestinian people, would be wise to follow.” He made clear that a Palestinian state is not an entitlement, to be carved out of Israel no matter how atrociously the Palestinians behave. Rather, “The Palestinian people deserve their own state, and they will gain that state by embracing new leaders committed to reform, to fighting terror, and to building peace.” Few ears will have missed the word that was implied but diplomatically omitted: “[T]hey will gain that state only by embracing new leaders committed to reform, to fighting terror, and to building peace.”