Still a World Bully Not A World Leader

Bush proved beyond a doubt that he is still a bully, not a leader with his speech at the UN on Tuesday. President Bush's Lead Balloon at the UN would have been well received at the Republican Convention but did not impress the world.

We did not expect President Bush to come before the United Nations in the middle of his re-election campaign and acknowledge the serious mistakes his administration has made on Iraq. But that still left plenty of room for him to take advantage of this one last chance to appeal to an increasingly antagonistic world to help the Iraqis secure and rebuild their shattered nation and prepare for elections in just four months. Instead, Mr. Bush delivered an inexplicably defiant campaign speech in which he glossed over the current dire situation in Iraq for an audience acutely aware of the true state of affairs, and scolded them for refusing to endorse the American invasion in the first place.

Even when he talked about issues of common agreement, like the global fight against AIDS and easing the crushing third-world debt, Mr. Bush seemed more interested in praising his own policies than in assuming the leadership of an international effort. The speech would have drawn cheers at an adoring Republican National Convention, but it seemed to fall flat in a room full of stony-faced world leaders.

So the US will remain alone in the world, spilling American blood and spending American resources to clean up George Bush's mess. That's what we get for electing a bully rather than a leader.