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| Obama, at U.N., Urges Allies to Join Fight Against ISIS | Obama, at U.N., Urges Allies to Join Fight Against ISIS |
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| UNITED NATIONS — President Obama laid out a forceful new blueprint on Wednesday for deeper American engagement in the Middle East, telling the United Nations General Assembly that the Islamic State understood only “the language of force” and that the United States would “work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death.” | UNITED NATIONS — President Obama laid out a forceful new blueprint on Wednesday for deeper American engagement in the Middle East, telling the United Nations General Assembly that the Islamic State understood only “the language of force” and that the United States would “work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death.” |
| In a much-anticipated address two days after he expanded the American-led military campaign against the group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, into Syria, Mr. Obama said, “Today, I ask the world to join in this effort,” declaring, “We will not succumb to threats, and we will demonstrate that the future belongs to those who build, not those who destroy.” | In a much-anticipated address two days after he expanded the American-led military campaign against the group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, into Syria, Mr. Obama said, “Today, I ask the world to join in this effort,” declaring, “We will not succumb to threats, and we will demonstrate that the future belongs to those who build, not those who destroy.” |
| “Those who have joined ISIL should leave the battlefield while they can,” Mr. Obama said in a blunt declaration of his intentions. | “Those who have joined ISIL should leave the battlefield while they can,” Mr. Obama said in a blunt declaration of his intentions. |
| The president also said: “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.” | The president also said: “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.” |
| Toward that end the Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday calling on all countries to adopt laws making it a serious crime for their citizens to join a militant group like the Islamic State or the Nusra Front. | |
| Mr. Obama’s efforts to forge a strong coaltion to fight the Islamic State received another lift Wednesday from Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, who recalled Parliament to meet on Friday and vote on whether to join U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq after Baghdad requested help, the British government said. France has already taken part. | |
| A little over a year ago, Mr. Cameron lost a vote in Parliament when he sought approval for bombing Syria alongside the United States to punish the government of Bashar al-Assad for its use of chemical weapons. But with Mr. Cameron seeming to limit British involvement to Iraq, whose government has asked for assistance, Parliament is expected to go along this time. | |
| The military campaign against the Islamic State, Mr. Obama said, is only the most urgent of a raft of global challenges in which the United States has had no choice but to play a leadership role. These include resisting Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, coordinating a response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, from brokering a new unity government in Afghanistan, and marshaling a new push to confront climate change. | The military campaign against the Islamic State, Mr. Obama said, is only the most urgent of a raft of global challenges in which the United States has had no choice but to play a leadership role. These include resisting Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, coordinating a response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, from brokering a new unity government in Afghanistan, and marshaling a new push to confront climate change. |
| Mr. Obama delivered a searing critique of Russia’s incursions into Ukraine and promised to impose a rising cost on the government of President Vladimir V. Putin for what he called its aggression. He was particularly critical in describing the downing of a Malaysian commercial airliner over eastern Ukraine in July by what the United States and its allies have said was a Russian-made missile system, and he denounced the subsequent efforts to block recovery teams to investigate. All 298 people aboard were killed. | Mr. Obama delivered a searing critique of Russia’s incursions into Ukraine and promised to impose a rising cost on the government of President Vladimir V. Putin for what he called its aggression. He was particularly critical in describing the downing of a Malaysian commercial airliner over eastern Ukraine in July by what the United States and its allies have said was a Russian-made missile system, and he denounced the subsequent efforts to block recovery teams to investigate. All 298 people aboard were killed. |
| “This is a vision of the world in which might makes right,” he said, “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.” | “This is a vision of the world in which might makes right,” he said, “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.” |
| Mr. Obama also said the United States would train and equip moderate opposition forces in Syria to counter the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and he repeated calls for a political settlement to end a civil war that has killed more than 200,000 people. | Mr. Obama also said the United States would train and equip moderate opposition forces in Syria to counter the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and he repeated calls for a political settlement to end a civil war that has killed more than 200,000 people. |
| “Cynics may argue that such an outcome can never come to pass,” he said. “But there is no other way for this madness to end — whether one year from now or 10. I can promise you America will remain engaged in the region, and we are prepared to engage in that effort.” | “Cynics may argue that such an outcome can never come to pass,” he said. “But there is no other way for this madness to end — whether one year from now or 10. I can promise you America will remain engaged in the region, and we are prepared to engage in that effort.” |
| Still, on the Syrian civil war and Iran — issues that Mr. Obama identified last year as two of his top priorities — he struck a markedly different tone. He mentioned Iran only in a cursory fashion, asking its leaders not to let the opportunity for a nuclear agreement slip by. American officials have privately expressed deep skepticism about the likelihood of reaching a deal with Tehran, and Mr. Obama’s remarks suggested that he shared that pessimism. | Still, on the Syrian civil war and Iran — issues that Mr. Obama identified last year as two of his top priorities — he struck a markedly different tone. He mentioned Iran only in a cursory fashion, asking its leaders not to let the opportunity for a nuclear agreement slip by. American officials have privately expressed deep skepticism about the likelihood of reaching a deal with Tehran, and Mr. Obama’s remarks suggested that he shared that pessimism. |
| The president also did not single out the Syrian president for criticism, as he did last year, over the use of chemical weapons, though he spoke of the brutality of the civil war. Mr. Assad has voiced support for the American-led strikes in Syria, and his air force has not interfered with American war planes entering Syrian air space. | The president also did not single out the Syrian president for criticism, as he did last year, over the use of chemical weapons, though he spoke of the brutality of the civil war. Mr. Assad has voiced support for the American-led strikes in Syria, and his air force has not interfered with American war planes entering Syrian air space. |
| In Mr. Obama’s substance and tone, he conveyed a starkly different president than the one who addressed skeptical world leaders at the General Assembly last year, weeks after calling off a threatened missile strike on Syria over the use of chemical weapons. Hespoke with the urgency of a wartime president, seeking to rally allies for what he said would be a momentous struggle against the forces of Islamic extremism in the Middle East. | In Mr. Obama’s substance and tone, he conveyed a starkly different president than the one who addressed skeptical world leaders at the General Assembly last year, weeks after calling off a threatened missile strike on Syria over the use of chemical weapons. Hespoke with the urgency of a wartime president, seeking to rally allies for what he said would be a momentous struggle against the forces of Islamic extremism in the Middle East. |
| Still, it remained unclear whether Mr. Obama’s speech represented a fundamental reconsideration of his policy or a reluctant response to the threat posed by the Islamic State, which took on emotional resonance for the American public after the militants posted videos of American hostages who were beheaded. | Still, it remained unclear whether Mr. Obama’s speech represented a fundamental reconsideration of his policy or a reluctant response to the threat posed by the Islamic State, which took on emotional resonance for the American public after the militants posted videos of American hostages who were beheaded. |
| Mr. Obama made clear that the United States would act only if surrounded by a broad coalition. He dwelled on his success in signing up five Arab nations to take part in the airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, casting it as a historic moment in which the Sunni Arab world was united to fight the scourge of Sunni extremism. | Mr. Obama made clear that the United States would act only if surrounded by a broad coalition. He dwelled on his success in signing up five Arab nations to take part in the airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, casting it as a historic moment in which the Sunni Arab world was united to fight the scourge of Sunni extremism. |
| In an echo of his speech to the Islamic world in 2009, Mr. Obama addressed young Muslims directly, appealing to them to resist the blandishments of violent jihadist ideology. Foreign fighters are one of the most immediate threats from the rise of the Islamic State. | In an echo of his speech to the Islamic world in 2009, Mr. Obama addressed young Muslims directly, appealing to them to resist the blandishments of violent jihadist ideology. Foreign fighters are one of the most immediate threats from the rise of the Islamic State. |
| “You come from a great tradition that stands for education, not ignorance; innovation, not destruction; the dignity of life, not murder,” Mr. Obama said. “Those who call you away from this path are betraying this tradition, not defending it.” | “You come from a great tradition that stands for education, not ignorance; innovation, not destruction; the dignity of life, not murder,” Mr. Obama said. “Those who call you away from this path are betraying this tradition, not defending it.” |
| While Mr. Obama emphasized the new threat from the Islamic State, he also touched on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has flagged badly, despite the energetic diplomacy of Secretary of State John Kerry. The 50-day war in Gaza this summer hardened the differences even further. | While Mr. Obama emphasized the new threat from the Islamic State, he also touched on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has flagged badly, despite the energetic diplomacy of Secretary of State John Kerry. The 50-day war in Gaza this summer hardened the differences even further. |
| “The violence engulfing the region today has made too many Israelis ready to abandon the hard work of peace,” the president said. “That’s something worthy of reflection within Israel. Because let’s be clear: the status quo in the West Bank and Gaza is not sustainable. “ | |
| The president, as he has in previous speeches to this international audience, acknowledged that the United States is wrestling with its own demons when it comes to racial and ethnic tensions. “In a summer marked by instability in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, I know the world also took notice of the small American city of Ferguson, Mo., where a young man was killed, and a community was divided,” he said. | The president, as he has in previous speeches to this international audience, acknowledged that the United States is wrestling with its own demons when it comes to racial and ethnic tensions. “In a summer marked by instability in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, I know the world also took notice of the small American city of Ferguson, Mo., where a young man was killed, and a community was divided,” he said. |
| To some extent, Mr. Obama’s remarks seemed designed to get past months in which the president appeared openly conflicted about the proper use of American military force in the Middle East — an ambivalence that opened him to criticisms of being irresolute. | To some extent, Mr. Obama’s remarks seemed designed to get past months in which the president appeared openly conflicted about the proper use of American military force in the Middle East — an ambivalence that opened him to criticisms of being irresolute. |
| The speech was the centerpiece of a hectic three days of diplomacy for Mr. Obama, who met on Tuesday with the five Arab leaders to thank them for supporting the Syria operation. | The speech was the centerpiece of a hectic three days of diplomacy for Mr. Obama, who met on Tuesday with the five Arab leaders to thank them for supporting the Syria operation. |
| Later Wednesday, he was scheduled to lead a Security Council meeting at which he would be seeking approval of counterterrorism resolution. He also was planning to meet with Iraq’s new prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, and with Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, whom American officials hope will make fresh commitments to the military campaign. | Later Wednesday, he was scheduled to lead a Security Council meeting at which he would be seeking approval of counterterrorism resolution. He also was planning to meet with Iraq’s new prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, and with Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, whom American officials hope will make fresh commitments to the military campaign. |