President Biden Delivers Flaccid Address to the UN General Assembly

President Joe Biden addressed the United Nations General Assembly on September 19th as world leaders met for their annual UN High-Level Week gabfest in New York. He made a lame attempt to project U.S. leadership of the free world against the forces of autocracy. However, actions speak louder than words. The Biden administration’s decision to allow the transfer of $6 billion to the ruthless Iranian regime as part of a prisoner exchange, announced shortly before both President Biden and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi delivered their UN speeches, completely undermined his message. This action is just the latest example of how far President Biden is willing to go in buckling under to the demands of aggressive, oppressive dictatorships like Iran.

Much of President Biden’s speech consisted of globalist generalities

Much of President Biden’s speech consisted of globalist generalities. He called for more multilateral cooperation and partnerships, declaring at one point to the UN’s 193 member states’ representatives that America’s “future is bound to yours.” Joe Biden, the president and commander in chief of the United States, has replaced America First with an America tied down by Lilliputians.

During his speech, President Biden said that he favored working through the United Nations “and other international bodies and directly with leaders around the world, including our competitors, to ensure we harness the power of…artificial intelligence for good, while protecting our citizens from its most profound risk.”

Tell that to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, whose past record foreshadows their flouting of international rules governing the use of artificial intelligence in favor of weaponizing it.

While giving examples of over-the-top U.S. contributions to various global causes at American taxpayers’ expense, President Biden said nothing about enacting verifiable measures to ensure accountability by the recipients. In fact, he wants to give these recipient developing countries more say in the governance of the International Monetary Fund.

President Biden boasted that “in the Western Hemisphere, we united 21 nations in support of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, launching a region-wide approach to a region-wide challenge to better uphold laws and protect — protect the rights of migrants.” It is an obvious failure. Record numbers of illegal immigrants continue to pour over the U.S.-Mexico border and are released to go wherever they want in the country, pending their amnesty hearings that could be years away. President Biden sidestepped completely the need to tighten the grounds for a legitimate amnesty claim, which is necessary to avoid the wholesale abuse of international and U.S. amnesty law that we have seen on Biden’s watch.

“Seventy-five years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights captured a remarkable act of collective hope — and I say that again — collective hope — drafted by a committee representing different regions, faiths, philosophies, and adopted by the entire General Assembly,” President Biden said. “The rights contained in the declaration are elemental and enduring.” Yet he devoted only one sentence in his speech to specific bad actors, which strung together glancing references to China, Iran, and Sudan. President Biden made no mention at all of the Taliban’s repression of women and girls in Afghanistan.

Support Canada Free Press

President Biden should have expressed empathy and support for the victims of the Iranian regime’s brutal treatment of its own citizens who have been peacefully protesting the rogue state’s gross human rights abuses. He should have done the same for the victims of the Chinese Communist dictatorship, which has imprisoned and tortured the Uyghurs living in Xinjiang. Instead, he simply said that “We cannot turn away from abuses, whether in Xinjiang, Tehran, Darfur, or anywhere else.” But that is precisely what President Biden has done in providing the Iranian regime with a windfall to help pay for its repression of its own people and to finance the terrorists it sponsors.

President Biden did devote some time to Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine. He said that “for the second year in a row, this gathering dedicated to peaceful resolution of conflicts is darkened by the shadow of war — an illegal war of conquest, brought without provocation by Russia against its neighbor, Ukraine.”

“We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow,” President Biden added. “That’s why the United States, together with our allies and partners around the world, will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom.” This was one of the only lines in his speech that was applauded.

Since the United States is bearing much of the financial burden for Ukraine’s defense, it would have been nice if Biden had appealed for more cost-sharing among all the countries, including in Europe, that have voiced support for Ukraine’s defense.

President Biden warned of “what awaits us if we fail to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and begin to climate-proof the world.” He boasted that he signed into law “the largest investment ever, anywhere in the history of the world to combat the climate crisis.” And President Biden said that his administration is “working with the Congress to quadruple our climate financing to help developing countries reach their climate goals and adapt to climate impacts.” Fortunately, that will not happen so long as the Republicans control the House of Representatives.

President Biden’s solutions to the climate change challenge include pouring more money into subsidizing green energy, transferring more wealth to developing countries to fund their climate initiatives, and hobbling fossil fuel production that has led to much higher energy prices for ordinary Americans.

President Biden received tepid applause

Finally, President Biden once again characterized China as a competitor that needs to be managed, not as a dangerous adversary. He said that his policy was “de-risking, not decoupling with China.” At the same time, Biden wanted to convince his audience that he could be tough when he thought it was necessary.

“We will push back on aggression and intimidation and defend the rules of the road,” President Biden said, “from freedom of navigation to overflight to a level economic playing field that have helped safeguard security and prosperity for decades.”

Again, actions mean more than mere words. President Biden has shown weakness towards the Chinese regime in virtually every realm.

President Biden received tepid applause at the conclusion of his speech. He was lucky to get even that. The speech sounded more like a presentation at a high school model UN forum than an address by the leader of the free world on the global stage at the UN’s annual meeting of world leaders.

VIEW Comments