E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
THE UNITED NATIONS -- President Barack Obama today urged Arab nations undergoing radical changes to commit to democracy and tolerance, which he said were not exclusively American or Western values but ones to which all successful nations must adhere.
He made his speech here at the United Nations General Assembly against a backdrop of spiking violence in the Middle East and a domestic election with a newfound focus on foreign policy.
On Tuesday, President Obama spoke to the United Nations general assembly in an emotional speech about the recent violence against Americans. NBC's Chuck Todd reports.
Standing in front of the Assembly's familiar green marble, the president condemned the violent reaction across several Arab nations to a video featuring the prophet Mohammed that led to the deaths of U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three others.
But he said that in order to end such bloodshed, new leaders must support the principles of freedom and self-determination, which Obama called “universal values” -- no matter how tempting the thought of clamping down on protests or funneling anger towards a foreign target.
President Obama addresses the United Nations General Assembly, spotlighting the Arab Spring's impact while calling on world leaders to resist the temptations of cracking down on dissidence and harboring extremists.
“True democracy -- real freedom -- is hard work,” he said. “Those in power have to resist the temptation to crack down on dissent. In hard economic times, countries may be tempted to rally the people around perceived enemies, at home and abroad, rather than focusing on the painstaking work of reform.”
The president, who has been criticized by Republican presidential opponent Mitt Romney for not responding to the protests against the video forcefully enough, noted that real change would not come just through putting “more guards in front of an embassy or to put out statements of regret.”
He added that leaders must respect freedom of speech, noting that while millions of Americans took offense to the anti-Muslim video, censuring such expression would be futile in today’s information age, and responding with violence was unacceptable.
“In 2012, at a time when anyone with a cell phone can spread offensive views around the world with the click of a button, the notion that we can control the flow of information is obsolete. The question, then, is how we respond. And on this we must agree: There is no speech that justifies mindless violence."
Former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is a Romney campaign surrogate, joins The Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd to talk about foreign policy and the differing views between Obama and Romney on it.
And Obama said that just as all nations should respect Muslim traditions, the inverse must also be true.
“The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. Yet to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see when the image of Jesus Christ is desecrated, churches are destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied.”
He continued, quoting Gandhi: ‘Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit,’” he said, garnering applause at the last line.
Don Emmert / AFP - Getty Images
President Barack Obama delivers his address during the 67th United Nations General Assembly meeting August 25 at the United Nations in New York.
As he prescribed broad solutions for the entire Middle East, the president also gave his vision for specific conflict-ridden countries, though he did not offer any new policies or changes to existing ones.
Obama said he was committed to stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. “The United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” he said.
And he repeated his call for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down, one year after he stood before the same assembly to urge U.N. Security Council sanctions against the country, which members China and Russia are still blocking.
He also reaffirmed his vision for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: “The road is hard but the destination is clear -- a secure, Jewish state of Israel; and an independent, prosperous Palestine.”
While the president shied away from overtly political rhetoric, he did tout what he perceives as his accomplishments in foreign policy, an area seen as his strong suit but one which Romney has been increasingly critical.
“The war in Iraq is over, and our troops have come home. We have begun a transition in Afghanistan, and America and our allies will end our war on schedule in 2014. Al Qaeda has been weakened and Osama bin Laden is no more. Nations have come together to lock down nuclear materials, and America and Russia are reducing our arsenals.”
And the president urged listeners to put aside “political debates” and focus not on what divides the world but unites it.
“When you strip that all away, people everywhere long for the freedom to determine their destiny; the dignity that comes with work; the comfort that comes from faith; and the justice that exists when governments serve their people -- and not the other way around,” he said.
“The United States of America will always stand up for these aspirations, for our own people, and all across the world.”
Leave a Comment:
Soft diplomacy hasn't,doesn't and will not work in this arena.
Pull out or commit to win at ALL costs. There is no middle ground. It's naive and extremely dangerous to think so.
Has never worked.
If a Democrat suggested that we leave the demons from hell would be let loose because they would say we were abandoning Israel.
Looks like we are.
President Obama has very little patience for checks and balances inherent in the republican form of government. He has called dissenters 'obstructionists' and would be more comfortable as king rather than merely president (someone who must share power with the other two branches of government). So it is ironic that Obama is preaching to the Arab nations about tolerance, and democracy and rule of law when those governments have been following Obama's lead on how to rule (well, less the violence but the verbal warfare has been no less intense).
Come on Obama call it what it is. Islamist terrorist attack!
Instead of name calling, and making immature remarks. We must solve the problem ourselves. People forget that each one of us is the government. That has been taken from us by both parties. America must get it's act together or it will be too late. We have 700 plus military bases around the world. We are seen as occupiers like the Romans's. We spend 3 trillion just to keep the bases open. That does not include weapons. The Pentagon will not release that figure. Just like they will not let anyone audit Fort Knox. Let's pull all the troops and with the money saved we could put everyone to work, reclaiming our factories, rebuilding are roads and not let the corporations who took our jobs overseas sell their goods in America. This way we can build are way back to the way we once where. We made the best products. Now we can't build a Yugo unless China and Japan give us the parts.
History teaches that you cannot reason with a conservative and they can't accept any change that they perceive as a threat.
The corporations will bring back to America the products they built over-sea's because of the cheap labor. Now they will come back and pay people $6.00 an hour because they know we need jobs. I know people who have to sleep in their car even though they had a job, but could not afford rent and gas. Also, Home Depot asked us to bring Christmas gifts in for the employees who could not afford them on their pay. The money corporations saved was put into the pockets of the CEO's. That is why they do not want unions. Unions where great at one time but greed got the best of them. CEO's do not fear them. If someone tries to form a union like we tried at the Electric Co. where I worked they spent millions of dollars to threaten us with being fired. They knew that the union's are dead. Nothing is going to work until everyone comes to their senses and thinks of America first instead of their own greed. Where talking ruin and people are upset with Chic fil a or however it is spelled. People are more selfish then ever. We cannot fix America if everyone wants to bicker about stupid things instead of how do we as a nation save ourselves before we are annihilated. The greed has got to stop. Both from corporation, union and the me, me, me people.
Conservatives have a huge problem acknowledging that they are wrong and that is why they cannot acknowledge that George W. was bad for this country.
Bush was bad...obama is worse.
There I admitted it...Can you?
Very cute and a good laugh so I appreciate that but it isn't factual.
I'd hate to have to live on the difference between them.
Obama is not only "bad". He is a disaster. Do you eat? drive? heat or cool your home? actually have to use health care?
If you do your cost for those luxuries rose by 30,000 dollars since Obama the Fool took office. Yay?
Why doesn't Obama send all the illegal immigrants he loves so much over to the Middle East......they can finally earn their citizenship and American servicemen won't die protecting THEIR rights.
Dear Carl: Good luck at trying to get most posters on these forums to stop the insults, name calling, and immature remarks. Unfortunately, if you disagree with those who revere the current president (messiah? savior? graven idol?), you are a racist, a repuke, a communist, an idiot, a moron, or all of the above. Logic has very little value here - the usual post writer sticks to his/her ideology regardless of intelligent thought and/or facts. After all, President Bush is responsible (they say) for all the ills of modern society, and Obama is a god who, despite having done nothing worthwhile, and in fact having been extremely destructive to many facets of what America represents and stands for, is to be worshiped and glorified.
Hopefully, enough people capable of rational thought will, as I always say,
Remember in November!
It is not one of the presidents but the last 4. We vote Dem. or Rep. but in the end they are the same. Look how chummy Bush senior is with Clinton. Most leaders are in the Yale secret racoon lodge. Bush's sr. grandfather helped dig up the bones of, I think, Crazy Horse and bring them back to Yale. The Indians went to court but the case was thrown out.
These leaders are controlled by people in higher places. If you believe in God. He will put in power the one who will destroy the nation or help it. It depends on how the nation behaves. But going there is going to open up a whole new can of worms.
NEWSFLASH
Gov. Romney Campaign Reboot!!!
Is this due to the hurl of insults on the 47% of Americans, or is it because of Mr. Legitimate Rape....Rep. Todd Akin???
Your answer is just as good as mine......
OBAMA/BIDEN 2012
I didn't see in the article where he denounced anything - what a limp dick!
Interesting. He words this carefully. At first glance one assumes he is denouncing the violence of the muslims. He givers the impression he believes they must not allow "blasphemers" to rile their sensitivities. Not so. When one couples it with the earlier statements of him and cankles one realizes they believe freedom of speech is a bother and should be controlled.
Not fit to hold the office of President.
“The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam." (Religious hate speech and inciteful videos)
Yet to be credible, those who condemn that slander (extremists and terrorists)
must also condemn the hate we see when the image of Jesus Christ is desecrated, churches are destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied.” (by extremists, terrorists and Israel haters)
Obama knew...
CNN's discovery of Ambassador Steven's diary in Libya is beginning to look like the door way to Obama's Watergate...
Initial reveal appears the Whitehouse was much more aware of the danger and risk than originally portrayed.
Barack's cover-up may have met it's worst enemy....
There was no actionable intelligence about a specific attack.
Ostrich, get your head back in the sand.
Please link us to the actionable intelligence about a specific attack.
Watching too much NCIS?
Please get head out of obamas ass and think of your country, not bragging rights on which party wins an election.
Quit embarrassing yourself...you sound like that pimple faced punk jay carney.
So being worried about security threats and a rise in Islamic extremists not to mention the anniversary of 9/11 wasn't enough to warrant heightened security measures?
Really? Personally I would think common sense would be enough reason to add additional security to a volatile region. Whether or not Ambassador Stevens requested additional support or not, the State Department and this Administration should have added security to our embassies to deter violence. Logically, given the internal turmoil in Libya (specifically) and other Middle Eastern countries having additional security until things are settled should have been standard operating proceedure to ensure American safety, wouldn't you agree?
Excerpt from email between CNN and State Department Aide
Actually, it's not CNN, its a correspondent from BuzzFeed.
Sounds like Bibi was Barack's speech writer on Iran. If the President really wanted to promote American interests instead of those of a foreign warmongering power he would have told Israel it is entirely on its own after it launches a military strike against Iran. Why must America be dragged into a another war on behalf of Israel? Aren't the two (Iraq, Afghanistan) and their colossal damage to America enough?
Why wasn't he calling for tolerance while the riots were going on about a the film last week. Why did he apologize for it rather than tell the Muslims to respect an American's right to free speech?
RALPH, FYI buddy, your boy Dubya repeatedly APOLOGIZED to Muslims for numerous instance of our troops shoot copies of the Koran and other incidents. Evidently when your crowd does it it's perfectly acceptable but not when Obama does it. You're not too much of a partisan hack, now are you???
The Egyptian Embassy called for tolerance before the Libya attack happened.
Try your own philosophy on yourself intrepid.
" Bush did it so we can too"...nice, you're a real patriot...they are both idiots but your idiot is better..
Embarrassing yourself.
There's hardly any point in reading half of these comments. They consist of name calling, vague generalizations, and many of them concentrate on particular words or phrases that some enemy used -- "bump in the road", eg.
The genuinely dangerous -- as opposed to the simply stupid -- are not so common. "Let's nuke 'em." "Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out." "Commit ourselves fully or get out."
That kind of binary thinking makes us feel good, like real men. John Wayne has probably said it in the movies dozens of times. Or, from a real example, "You're either with us or you're with the terrorists," as G. W. Bush informed the rest of the world.
And negotiations? Compromise? "Talkin' words is fer wimmin," said John Wayne.
How many of us could find Aghanistan on a map? If we keep it up, we can not only stay on top of the heap but become the globe's foremost Rogue Nation, eclipsing North Korea by miles.
ROBERT, Depressing, ain't it??? And these morons represent a large slice of America.
And just so you know, The Duke, tough talking, John Wayne, arch conservative and big supporter of the GOP was a draft dodger in WWII. He used his pull in Hollywood to weasel out of service. But hey, the Right has a long tradition in this, Cheney, Bush and now Willardo. But man are they ever good at talking tough, I'll give em that much.
Wrong! He had a bad knee from playing football. This is why he was rejected.
Wow, intrepid sounds so tough, yet he voted for sissy boy obama...ha,ha,ha. the laughing stock of the world ...nice choice.
The Duke was exempt from the draft because he was 34 and had three kids. He tried to wangle a commission in the Marine Corps but when it failed he figured he could do more for the country making movies than picking up cigarette butts (as he put it).
RP -- you're a good example of what I was getting at.
At this point I don't think that the Palestinian people would be satisfied if the Isrealis lived up to thier UN resolution obligations. And it's clear that the Isrealis are going to do whatever they feel is necessary to protect themselves. Too much pain has been inflicted on both sides, and diplomacy on our part may keep those people from killing each other in the short term, but it won't really solve anything. Those people are PISSED at each other.
Each has a legitimate claim on that land, and untill they begin to find some common ground, and purpose they will continue to destroy each other no matter what we do. This along with the fact that Isreali's live so much more prosperously than Palestinians presents an opportunity for them to come together.
It will require the Isreali's; however, to acknowledge that much of thier prosperity is only possible because they are living on land forcibly taken from the Palestinians. That part of the world is a VERY big tourist destination. The Israeli's make a lot of money on tourism. It is this tourism industry that is the real target of every palestinian attack. By making it a dangerous place they limit tourism, and isreali profit. It is also the real target of every Isreali attack. By pushing the Palestinians further away they limit thier ability to affect tourists.
By simply being fair, and acknowledging that much of thier prosperity is due to thier use of something that was forcibly taken from someone else, and paying the Palestinians for the use of thier property much like a landlord/tennant, or leasing arrangement they would make the Palestinians partners in business which would raise the Palestinians standard of living, and destroy thier incentive to damage tourism.
They would in effect be business partners with a vested interest in the welfare of the business. Business partners may not like each other, but they put up with each other for the sake of the bottom line.
The ball is in the Isrealis court.
The middle east is scared to death of democracy. They could end up voting another Obama into power. Maybe the original one.
Romney/Ryan 2012 by a 7% margin ! Don't believe the 61% DemoCraps to 39% Rebublican Polls put out by this Liberal Mainstream Media.
The Liberal Media is just as corrupt as this WEAK President is about the Libya Terrorism Attack. Lies-lies and more lies that's ALL they know. Never the TOUGH questions to Obummer just the silly: "Do you believe what Romney just didn't say". Obummer: "what kind of music on your ipad or what do you think about the replacement ref's".
This Moron Incompetent President is in stealth mode, not wanting to talk to anyone except "The View". just consider me eye candy! "Yeah, a piece of BAD CANDY!" What a Leader!!!
Throw BACON at this Islamic President !
The Palestinians on average want peace. They got along fine in Israel. They worked side by side. There was no tension. But the other Arabs use them as pawns. The Arab nations want the Jew's exterminated from the earth. At one time they interviewed a Palestinian mayor in one of the Jewish towns in Israel. There was no problems. He loved being mayor and loved the Jews. Palestinians had a chance for the best peace package ever. The Jew where going to give back a lot of land. But in steps the PLO and wrecks everthing. Everyone worked together and got along. Sadat signed a peace agreement and was assinated by his own troops. So all the blame is not with the Palestinians or Jew's but with the Taliban and other Arab leaders.
Exactly whose side is Obama on??
On Saturday, a Pakistani government minister announced a $100,000 bounty for the killing of an American citizen.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the piece of filth who made that moronic film, is described as an "Egyptian-American Copt". I guess that means he is a US citizen (I truly hope I am wrong about that). If so though, I think that the President has to respond to this foreign threat against a US citizen, and soon. The longer he dithers, the worse it looks for US commitment to our individual liberties.
It's been almost four days now. What is he waiting for? Is he hoping that if he ignores it long enough, people will just forget? We desperately need a President, like Mitt Romney, who has a clear idea of what this country stands for, and is willing to express it. Romney would never have let this much time go by without responding to a death threat against any US citizen. Obama is a coward.
Because they hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America by Brigitte Gabriel
Every American should read this book. She will give you some facts. I've seen her do a few interviews and her view of Obama is interesting.