President Obama, facing questions at home concerning his administration's handling of the deadly attacks in Libya and growing anti-American violence, plans to tell a gathering of world leaders at the U.N. that unrest in the Middle East and North Africa marks a critical juncture -- a choice in the region between hope and intolerance.
Obama, in prepared remarks for his U.N. General Assembly address Tuesday morning, said the attacks on U.S. embassies abroad "are not simply an assault on America."
"They are also an assault on the very ideals upon which the United Nations was founded," the president said. He urged these countries and their citizens to reject those whipping up the furor.
"If we are serious about those ideals, we must speak honestly about the deeper causes of this crisis. Because we face a choice between the forces that would drive us apart, and the hopes we hold in common," Obama said. "Today, we must affirm that our future will be determined by people like Chris Stevens, and not by his killers. Today, we must declare that this violence and intolerance has no place among our United Nations."
Stevens is the U.S. ambassador to Libya who was killed along with three other Americans in the attack on the U.S. Consulate earlier this month.
The address Tuesday morning is a chance for Obama to explain what he views as America's role in the tumultuous Arab Spring aftermath -- and whether this period is one that should cause the U.S. concern. The last time Obama addressed the assembly, there was an air of hope surrounding the Arab Spring. U.S. officials remain optimistic, but some also worry that the latest unrest is perhaps the dark side of the revolution.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, previewing the speech Monday, said it "always provides an opportunity for the president to put the international situation in context and to put forward a vision of U.S. leadership, and that's what he will do."
The relationship between the Libya attack and the protests against an anti-Islam film elsewhere in the region remains unclear. Obama, in an interview on Monday, said the Libya attack was not just a "mob action."
In his U.N. address, Obama still plans to discuss the film.
"There are no words that excuse the killing of innocents. There is no video that justifies an attack on an embassy," Obama said. "There is no slander that provides an excuse for people to burn a restaurant in Lebanon, or destroy a school in Tunis, or cause death and destruction in Pakistan."
The president, at a time when he's being accused by critics of ignoring some of Israel's concerns, also plans to discuss the Iranian nuclear threat.
"America wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy, and we believe that there is still time and space to do so. But that time is not unlimited," Obama said in prepared remarks. "Make no mistake: a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained."
He said "the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."
The speech Tuesday morning will kick off a day heavy on foreign policy for both the president and his Republican opponent Mitt Romney.
Romney addressed the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City in the morning, and Obama is expected to address the initiative later in the day.
Republicans leaders are hoping Obama on Tuesday will make clear his position on several foreign policy fronts.
Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and other party members have suggested that the president's policy of pulling out of Afghanistan and Iraq while offering less than total support for Israel's effort to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons has left U.S. interests vulnerable.
They also have questioned his position on the so-called Arab Spring, in which several dictatorships were removed and residents were left with democratic governments potentially susceptible to Islamist and militant influence.
On Monday, Wyoming GOP Sen. John Barrasso outlined several messages he thinks Americans want to hear during Obama's speech at the United Nations General Assembly, including that the war on terror is not over and the anti-Islamic film alone did not spark the Middle East violence. He also called for an assessment of the real state of U.S.-Russia relations since leaders pressed to so-called "reset button," as well as a full commitment to Israel.
"When the president says 'We have your back,' the world needs to know what he actually means," Barrasso told Fox News.
Carney vehemently defended the country's commitment to Israel and the president's belief that Egypt, Libya and other Middle East countries will eventually achieve democracy.
"I think the president's views on these matters are very clear and very strong," Carney said. "We have an unshakeable commitment to Israel's security and we have proven that commitment. ... The president, again, has made clear on numerous occasions that Israel is our closest ally in the region."
Source : foxnews[dot]com
