‘ Only US can galvanise globe’
Washington, Oct. 21: President Barack Obama has said the United States is the only country to galvanise the world community for any major crisis, referring to the formation of two broad international coalitions against ISIS and Ebola.
“The United States is the only country that can galvanise the world community to help do something about it,” Mr Obama said at a Democratic Party fund raiser event in Chicago.
Mr Obama said a few recent events have raised the anxiety level of the people.
“One, internationally, we’re seeing a tumultuous time in West Asia. And although the direct threats against us are not imminent, what is true is, is that what’s happening with ISIS, what’s happening with respect to Iraq, with Syria, has a destabilising effect that we have to pay attention to,” he said.
The Ebola crisis, which has been the only story here in the United States for the last couple of weeks, is not an outbreak and epidemic here, he said.
“We’ve had one case of a person dying from Ebola that brought it in from outside; two nurses who, thankfully, seem to be doing better. To give you some sense of perspective, around 20,000 to 30,000 people die of flu every year. So far we’ve got one person dying of Ebola. But people are understandably concerned, in part because they’ve seen what’s happened in Africa,” he said.
“And this is a virulent disease and it is up to us, once again, to mobilise the world’s community to do something about it, to make sure that not only we’re helping on a humanitarian basis those countries but we’re not seeing a continued epidemic and outbreak that can ultimately have a serious impact here,” he said. — PTI