Bush says ‘frustrated’ with UN over Darfur crisis

Sept 15, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — Striking a sour note days before addressing the United Nations, U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday voiced frustration with the world body and urged “robust action” to curb the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Bush said the United Nations had not done enough in the face of what he called “genocide” in Darfur, and that it should consider sending in U.N. peacekeepers even without the consent of Sudan’s government, which has objected to their deployment.

Bush, who bypassed the United Nations with a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and has at times drawn fire for a go-it-alone foreign policy, scolded the world body for its response to Darfur as well as its handling of U.S. funding.

“A lot of Americans are frustrated with the United Nations,” Bush told a news conference. “I’m frustrated with the United Nations in regards to Darfur.”

Bush, who will address the 192-member U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, launched into his criticism after a reporter asked about his relationship with Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has sometimes been at odds with U.S. policies. “I like him. We’ve got a good personal relationship,” he said.

But he said he was troubled by escalating violence in Darfur and urged stronger U.N. action in the region, where the United Nations has warned of a humanitarian catastrophe.

In a sign that U.S. patience may be running thin, Bush suggested a tougher, new resolution telling Sudan “we’re coming in with a U.N. force in order to save lives.”

Khartoum has resisted last month’s Security Council resolution for deploying more than 20,000 peacekeeping troops.

While U.S. officials say the resolution technically allows a force in without Sudan’s permission, countries contributing troops are unlikely to authorize such a move. Washington is promising only logistical support. “We’d much rather do it with (Sudan’s) consent,” an administration official said.

The conflict erupted in 2003 when non-Arab villagers took up arms because of lack of resources. The government mobilized Arab militias, which have conducted a campaign of murder, rape and looting. Fighting, disease and hunger have killed some 200,000 people and driven 2.5 million into squalid camps.

The African Union has some 7,000 troops in Darfur but is overstretched and its mandate expires on Sept. 30.

“I can understand the desperation people feel for women being pulled out of these refugees centers and raped. And now is the time for the U.N. to act,” Bush said.

Bush also said the United Nations, which depends on Washington as its largest financial backer, “can do a better job spending … our taxpayers’ money.”

Previewing his U.N. address, he said it would carry a “strong message” about spreading freedom. An administration official said Iran, the target of a U.S.-led campaign to rein in its nuclear program, would also figure into the speech.

(Reuters)