NEW YORK — President Obama urged world leaders Tuesday to condemn the recent deadly attacks against U.S. diplomats and missions in Libya and Egypt, suggesting that now is a key moment in the struggle for democratic freedom in the Muslim world.
Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly, Obama told his audience that “it is the obligation of all leaders, in all countries, to speak out forcefully against violence and extremism.” He also made clear that the United States would “do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
“It is time to marginalize those who — even when not resorting to violence — use hatred of America, or the West, or Israel as a central principle of politics,” Obama said in the fourth such address of his presidency. “For that only gives cover, and sometimes makes excuses, for those who resort to violence.”
Obama used his address to defend the U.S. role in the Middle East and North Africa to an extent he has not done before, calling for help from those diplomats gathered in ensuring that the unpredictable political transition underway ends in democratic government and economic opportunity. He cited the violent war for Syria, the Palestinian national movement and other regional struggles to reaffirm American support for those seeking freedom.
But Obama also acknowledged what he described as “the tensions between the West and an Arab World moving to democracy,” which he said have surfaced again in the recent attacks on Americans in Libya and Egypt.
He said they must be “honestly addressed,” then presented a strong defense of such democratic values as free speech that he said should not be sacrificed despite the new challenges presented to governments and beliefs in the information age.
“Just as we cannot solve every problem in the world, the United States has not, and will not, seek to dictate the outcome of democratic transitions abroad, and we do not expect other nations to agree with us on every issue,” Obama said.
The attacks on Sept. 11 killed four American diplomats in Benghazi, Libya, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, whom Obama described in his Tuesday address as the embodiment of the values the United States and the United Nations must defend.
The assault that killed him appeared organized, and it came amid a broader protest across much of the Muslim world against a made-in-the-U.S. Internet video disparaging Islam. Obama called the video “crude and disgusting” in his speech.
As the presidential campaign enters a decisive phase, Republican nominee Mitt Romney has used the attacks to launch a wider criticism of Obama’s foreign policy — and the outreach to the Muslim world that has been a key part of it. Obama has sought to downplay the unrest, calling it a “bump in the road” in a weekend interview with “60 Minutes.”
Obama has often used his annual address to the U.N. General Assembly to outline longer-term ambitions and U.S. policy goals for the year ahead.
It is a large stage he has sought to fill in the past, and his roughly 30-minute speech this year looked more back than forward, presenting a broad inventory of the changes taking place in countries long locked up in dictatorship.
Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly, Obama told his audience that “it is the obligation of all leaders, in all countries, to speak out forcefully against violence and extremism.” He also made clear that the United States would “do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
“It is time to marginalize those who — even when not resorting to violence — use hatred of America, or the West, or Israel as a central principle of politics,” Obama said in the fourth such address of his presidency. “For that only gives cover, and sometimes makes excuses, for those who resort to violence.”
Obama used his address to defend the U.S. role in the Middle East and North Africa to an extent he has not done before, calling for help from those diplomats gathered in ensuring that the unpredictable political transition underway ends in democratic government and economic opportunity. He cited the violent war for Syria, the Palestinian national movement and other regional struggles to reaffirm American support for those seeking freedom.
But Obama also acknowledged what he described as “the tensions between the West and an Arab World moving to democracy,” which he said have surfaced again in the recent attacks on Americans in Libya and Egypt.
He said they must be “honestly addressed,” then presented a strong defense of such democratic values as free speech that he said should not be sacrificed despite the new challenges presented to governments and beliefs in the information age.
“Just as we cannot solve every problem in the world, the United States has not, and will not, seek to dictate the outcome of democratic transitions abroad, and we do not expect other nations to agree with us on every issue,” Obama said.
The attacks on Sept. 11 killed four American diplomats in Benghazi, Libya, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, whom Obama described in his Tuesday address as the embodiment of the values the United States and the United Nations must defend.
The assault that killed him appeared organized, and it came amid a broader protest across much of the Muslim world against a made-in-the-U.S. Internet video disparaging Islam. Obama called the video “crude and disgusting” in his speech.
As the presidential campaign enters a decisive phase, Republican nominee Mitt Romney has used the attacks to launch a wider criticism of Obama’s foreign policy — and the outreach to the Muslim world that has been a key part of it. Obama has sought to downplay the unrest, calling it a “bump in the road” in a weekend interview with “60 Minutes.”
Obama has often used his annual address to the U.N. General Assembly to outline longer-term ambitions and U.S. policy goals for the year ahead.
It is a large stage he has sought to fill in the past, and his roughly 30-minute speech this year looked more back than forward, presenting a broad inventory of the changes taking place in countries long locked up in dictatorship.