Obama to United Nations: U.S. urges end to extremism

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama told the 69th session of United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday the United States would remain a presence in the Middle East.

He outlined four of what he termed "challenges," leading with "ISIL (the Islamic State) must be degraded and ultimately destroyed ... No God condones this terror."

"Those who have joined ISIL should leave the battlefield while they can. We will neither tolerate terrorist safe-havens, nor act as an occupying power. We will take action against threats to our security, and our allies, while building an architecture of counterterrorism cooperation."

Obama also urged the Muslim world to "explicitly, forcefully and consistently reject" IS and al-Qaida, and to "declare war on war." Thirdly, he pressed for an end to "sectarian conflict that creates conditions terrorists prey upon." And lastly, speaking to the young people in the Arab world, Obama suggested nations rely on the "potential of their people."

The president began his eagerly-awaited speech by grouping the spreading Ebola virus in West Africa, "Russian ambition" in Crimea and Ukraine, and terrorist brutality in Syria and Iraq into the same problem -- the "failure of our international system to keep pace" with consequences that threaten "to move across borders."

Obama called out Russia for its aggression, mentioning a vacuum created in Ukraine by the removal of a "corrupt president," the annexation of Crimea, defiance in the face of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, and a reference to how Russia "moved troops across border." He then reinforced the United States' support of Ukraine and of NATO.

He referred to Russia's actions as "a vision of the world in which might makes right, a world in which one nation's borders can be redrawn by another, and civilized people are not allowed to recover the remains of their loved ones because of the truth that might be revealed."

However, Obama also pointed out that Russia, in the past, has been a cooperative ally in reducing nuclear stockpiles, cooperating in the maintenance of the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and aiding in the reduction of chemical weapons in Syria.

Obama also revealed the United States would train moderate forces in Syria in opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

Of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, Obama said "America will not give up" on the peace process, noting "the status quo is not sustainable."

The larger theme of his address was that of freedom, and Obama's opposition to countries and militant groups bullying entire populations. "The cancer of violent extremism" must end, he said.