UNITED NATIONS (AP) – It was a unique event for the United Nations laced with nostalgia, humor and tributes – the secretary-general and the USA president toasting each other for the last time in front of the world’s leaders.
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The Syrian conflict has killed as many as half a million people, contributed to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed the Islamic State group to emerge as a global threat.
“Perhaps that’s our fate”, Obama said in his last speech to the U.N. General Assembly.
In a reference to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has suggested temporarily banning Muslims from coming to the U.S., Obama said buying into the notion that Muslims pose an inherent risk would reinforce terrorists’ propaganda.
“Across vast swaths of the Middle East basic security, basic order has broken down”, Obama said.
Addressing the summit last night, Ms Fitzgerald said Ireland was “strongly aware of its worldwide responsibilities to refugees”, adding “like others here today, we are appalled at the misery, danger and loss of life involved”.
Just as Obama and fellow heads of state were gathering Monday, Syria’s military declared the week-old cease-fire over following numerous breaches and airstrikes hitting an aid convoy to a distressed part of Syria, which the USA blamed on Syria or Russian Federation.
Richard Grenel, the longest-serving U.S. spokesman at the United Nations, advising four different U.S. Ambassadors, offered a running commentary on Twitter of Obama’s speech.
This year’s United Nations gathering has played out against the harrowing backdrop of the deepening civil war in Syria and the renewed failure of USA and Russian diplomatic efforts to stem the violence for any meaningful period of time.
Obama acknowledged that the extremist and sectarian violence wreaking havoc in the Middle East and elsewhere “will not be quickly reversed”.
Still, he stuck faithfully to his insistence that diplomatic efforts and not military solutions are the key to resolving Syria’s civil war and other conflicts.
“If we are honest, we know that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long”, Obama said. “Countless human beings will suffer”. He stepped into his role eight years ago with sky-high expectations and has struggled to deliver when it comes to solving global problems partially beyond America’s control.
“In a world that left the age of empire behind, we see Russian Federation attempting to recover lost glory through force”, Mr Obama said.
In the year since, Moscow’s leverage in the conflict has strengthened significantly.
The U.N. chief, whose 10-year period at the helm of the unwieldy world body ends December 31, vented his pent-up frustration with uncharacteristic candor, telling the opening of the General Assembly’s annual ministerial meeting that “powerful patrons” on both sides in the Syrian conflict – which he did not identify – “have blood on their hands”.
It is a theme that Democrat Hillary Clinton has put at the forefront of her campaign for president, casting herself as the natural continuation of Mr Obama’s legacy.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry condemned Ban’s address and contended that the U.N had failed to resolve any conflicts on his watch.
Last week, the White House announced that the USA would resettle 110,000 refugees in the coming year, a 30 percent increase over the 85,000 allowed in this year.
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“Surely, Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but Israel recognizes that it can not permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land”, Obama said.
