BATTLE AGAINST ISLAMIC STATE WILL TAKE TIME, OBAMA TELLS UN
U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged all possible tools — military, intelligence and economic — to defeat the Islamic State group, but acknowledged the extremist group has taken root in Syria and Iraq, is resilient and continues to expand.
Obama spoke as chairman of a UN gathering of world leaders working to expand the battle against terrorism, a day after he and the leaders of Russia, China and Iran addressed the General Assembly on its 70th anniversary. The fight against terrorism, particularly in Syria, has seized the attention of top officials, but there has been no overall agreement on how to end the conflict.
“I have repeatedly said that our approach will take time. This is not an easy task,” Obama cautioned, while adding that he was “ultimately optimistic” the brutal organization would be defeated because it has nothing to offer but suffering and death.
“This is not a conventional battle. This is a long-term campaign — not only against this particular network, but against its ideology,” he said.
The meeting also heard from the Iraqi leader, who sought more help against ISIS in his country, and heard from Obama that three more countries were added to the coali- tion fighting the group.
Also, Obama opened talks with Cuban President Raul Castro, the second time the leaders of the once-estranged nations have met this year. Guyana’s president, David Granger, used his UN address to accuse Venezuela of being a bully as the two countries brought their long-running border dispute to the world body. And South Sudan’s rivals addressed a high-level meeting and blamed each other for violations of a fragile ceasefire.
On the central issue, leaders were dealing with an extremist group that is attracting fighters from around the world, prompting fears they will return to their home countries to launch attacks.
The fight has been complicated by a Russian military buildup in Syria in support of President Bashar Assad. Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Monday that Russia could launch airstrikes against the militants in Syria, if sanctioned by the United Nations or requested by Damascus.
One by one, speakers at Tuesday’s meeting spoke of the need to confront the extremism which Jordan’s King Abdullah II described as the “greatest collective threat of our time.”
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the UN’s most recent data show a 70-per-cent increase in foreign terrorist fighters from more than 100 countries to regions in conflict.