united nations general assembly Obama: Dismantle ‘network of death’

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS

Confronted by the growing threat of Middle East militants, President Barack Obama implored world leaders at the United Nations on Wednesday to rally behind his expanding military campaign to stamp out the violent Islamic State group and its “network of death.”

“There can be no reasoning, no negotiation, with this brand of evil,” Obama told the General Assembly. In a striking shift for a president who has been reluctant to take military action in the past, Obama declared that force is the only language the militants understand. He warned those who have joined their cause to “leave the battlefield while they can.”

The widening war against the Islamic State was just one in a cascade of crises that confronted the presidents, prime ministers and monarchs at the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. Also vying for attention was Russia’s continued provocations in Ukraine, a deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the plight of civilians caught in conflicts around the world.

“Not since the end of the Second World War have there been so many refugees, displaced people and asylum seekers,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said as he opened Wednesday’s session.

In a rare move, Obama also chaired a meeting of the U.N. Security Council in which members unanimously adopted a resolution requiring all countries to prevent the recruitment and transport of would-be foreign fighters preparing to join terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State group.

The American-led military campaign in the Middle East was at the center of much of the day’s discussions. After weeks of airstrikes in Iraq, U.S. planes began hitting targets in Syria this week, joined by an unexpected coalition of five Arab nations: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

There were more U.S. and coalition airstrikes Wednesday on both sides of the Syria-Iraq border. U.S. and allied planes and drones hit a dozen targets in Syria that included small-scale oil refineries that have been providing millions of dollars to the Islamic State, the U.S. Central Command said. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates took part in addition to U.S. aircraft.

France also has taken part in strikes in Iraq, and British Prime Minister David Cameron’s office announced that Parliament was being recalled to London to debate whether to join the campaign, too.

The Islamic State has made lightning gains in Iraq this year and now moves freely across the increasingly blurred border with Syria. The group has claimed responsibility for the beheading of two American journalists and a British aid worker, sparking outrage in the West and contributing to an increase in public support for military action.

Shortly after Obama’s remarks, France confirmed that Algerian extremists allied with the Islamic State group had beheaded one of its citizens after the French ignored demands to stop airstrikes in Iraq. French President Francois Hollande, who was in New York for the U.N. meetings, said the killing underscored why “the fight the international community needs to wage versus terrorism knows no borders.”

U.S. officials say they are concerned that foreigners with Western passports could return to their home countries to carry out attacks. And even as Obama welcomed support for the resolution to deter foreign fighters, he said more must be done.

“The words spoken here today must be matched and translated into action,” he said.