Obama At UN: Peace Is Hard

Today, at the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama addressed a packed crowd of the world’s highest level dignitaries from countries including Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Sudan, France and Iran.

“I would like to talk to you about an issue which is at the heart of the United Nations; the pursuit of peace in an imperfect world. A lasting peace for nations and individuals depends on a sense of justice and opportunity. It depends on struggle, sacrifice and compromise.”

Amidst widespread criticism of his current policies regarding Israel, Obama stood firm on the United States’ position in regards to Palestinian statehood. 

“The lesson of Ireland and Sudan will be the path to a Palestinian state. Negotiations between the two parties,” he said. “America has invested so much time and effort in a building of a Palestinian state. But understand this as well, America’s friendship with Israel is deep and enduring. We must commit to Israel’s security. Let us be honest with ourselves. Israel is small country of eight million people where leaders of much larger nations threaten to wipe it off the map. Those are facts and they cannot be denied. Israel deserves recognition. That is the truth. Each side has legitimate aspirations. The deadlock will only be broken when each side learns to stand in the other’s shoes and see the world in each other’s eyes.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will call on the UN General Assembly to vote in support of a separate Palestinian state at the end of the week. He is expected to win the two-thirds majority of 129 votes needed within the General Assembly. Nonetheless, Susan Rice, the US Ambassador for the United Nations has stated several times the US, which holds a permanent seat at the Security Council, would veto the request. The General Assembly vote is being viewed by many critics within the international community as a symbolic gesture more than a shift in policy relations with Palestine.

“One year ago, I stood at this podium and I called for an independent Palestine,” Obama said. “I believe then as I do now that Palestinians need a state of their own. But a genuine agreement needs to be made by Israelis and Palestinians themselves.”

The President highlighted his plan for a two-state solution which he announced in May of this year. He added he understood clearly the frustration by the lack of progress as expressed by the Palestinian government. 

“The question is not the goal that we seek. But how we reach that goal. I am convinced there is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has lasted for decades. Peace is hard to come. It does not come from statements at the United Nations. Ultimately, peace depends on compromise and on people to live side by side.”

Obama also underscored his Administration’s achievements in setting a new direction with the world including the withdrawal of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He strongly criticized the Iranian and Syrian governments. He immediately called on the Security Council to impose sanctions on the Syrian government.

 “The fact is peace is hard. We still live in a world scarred by conflict.” 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also stressed the importance of cooperation.  He canvassed the UN’s role as the world’s first emergency responder and the significant role the United Nations continues to play in maintaining peace in countries like Somalia, Sudan, Haiti and Cote d-Ivoire.

“This year, the UN peacekeeping budget will be over 8 billion dollars. To prevent violations of human rights, we must work for the rule of law and stand against impunity.  In the Middle East, we must break the stalemate. We have long agreed the Palestinians need  a state.”

Secretary Clinton Pledges Additional Aid For Horn Of Africa

As the drought in East Africa continues to claim lives, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued Thursday that it is time for Washington to do more. 

While addressing a small group at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Thursday, Clinton announced that Washington would send an additional $17 million in aid to the hunger-wrenched region of East Africa. Of that sum, $12 million will be donated directly to those starving in Somalia. 

This aid brings the total US humanitarian assistance in East Africa this year to more than $580 million. 

“We must remember that time is not on our side. Every minute, more people die, more people become sick and more people flee their homes,” Clinton warned in her speech to IFPRI, an organization that develops sustainable solutions for ending poverty and hunger across the world,

The UN announced Wednesday that 3.7 million people in Somalia are at risk of famine and more than 12 million are affected by the drought across the horn of Africa. Additionally, ten percent of Somali children under five are dying every 11 weeks due to the famine. 

Clinton emphasized that in addition to providing aid for the current crisis, Washington must also invest efforts into preventing such tragic occurrences in the future.

“We must maintain our focus on the future by continuing to invest in long-term food security in countries that are susceptible to drought and food shortages,” Clinton remarked.

Dr. Jill Biden and Senator Bill Frist echoed these same sentiments in an op-ed entitled “Let’s Save Starving Somalis” that will be published in the USA Today on Friday.

“We must also confront the broader challenge of food insecurity that leaves so many people vulnerable to droughts like this one. That’s why America has been helping nations like Ethiopia and Kenya develop innovative and improved crops and irrigation methods and new ways for farmers to market and transport their products.The goal of our aid is simple: to help create the conditions where such aid is no longer needed.” Biden and Frist wrote.

“We have a crisis and we must respond,” Clinton continued in her speech. “We must try to support those refugee camps and do everything we can to provide the immediate help that is needed. Let’s use this opportunity to make very clear what more we need to do together to try to avoid this happening again.”

Ahmadinejad's World

New Yorkers aren’t mad at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Trust him, he knows New York. “The people of New York are friendly people” he said during a press conference at the Warwick Hotel today when asked if he owed the city an apology for insinuating that the World Trade Center attack had been carried out by the American government.

But was the Iranian President trying to provoke Americans with his statement ? And for what purpose?
Not at all says Ahmadinejad, he was actually trying to help the American people, so their children aren’t sent off to die in a foreign country and their tax dollars aren’t spent on killing hundreds of thousands of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And while he expected the comment to upset American officials, Ahmadinejad also believes the majority of Americans, almost 80% according to his polls, already suspect the deadliest attack on American soil was in some way or form carried out by their own government. And what polls would those be you may ask? Well, most of them, if not all of them, says the Iranian leader.

 What effect  does he think his 9/11 comments  will have on American policy towards Iran? ” I think it helps them too. I’ve opened the gates, the path for them to leave respectfully Iraq and Afghanistan. Is that a bad offer?I think its a great offer. Its a humanitarian gesture, to help the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, its to help American troops and NATO troops who are being killed there. Its helping the US taxpayers who spend their taxes on killing people . This is assistance. This is what I call assistance “

Ahmadinejad ended the press conference by addressing one of his trademark causes: freedom of expression.
“At the end of the day can we have freedom of speech and believe that it exists in the United States? Can we believe in it? I hope we can?I ask those who are in charge to stop pressuring reporters and the media so much, stop imposing on them” said Ahmadinejad “then it will be very interesting what kind of lively debates will come out.”

Press Briefing on President Obama's Visit to the United Nations

The White House held a teleconference this afternoon to chronicle President Obama’s visit to the United Nations this week from Wednesday through Friday.

United Nations Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Susan Rice underscored the President’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, where he is set to address the General Assembly at the close of the three-day MDG summit on Wednesday. The President will underscore the United States commitment to building partnerships in order to achieve the goals by 2015. 

Rice also highlighted other initiatives the Administration has undertaken since Obama was elected President.

“We have ended needless American isolation…and badly frayed relationships” she added.

Rice was referring to the strenuous relationship former Ambassador Jon Bolton had developed with UN partners and agencies which branded the Bush Administration as reluctant to work outside of its own rigid agenda. 

Rice added that critical negotiations over the UN’s budget were underway, and the United States took a lead role in the development of UN Women—a new division tasked with boosting women’s equality and empowerment. She also cited the critical work her team was doing to keep the peace in Iraq and Afghanistan during elections and the promotion of Obama’s “new era of engagement” with war torn countries like Sudan. She added that critical to the work of the Administration will be moving ahead with tougher sanctions on Iran and North Korea for building up their nuclear programs—and thus violating international treaties.

Samantha Power, the President’s Special Assistant, underscored efforts in Sudan during a high level meeting organized by the US Administration for this Friday, September 24.  

“This meeting will ensure parties are unified and working together,” she stated.

Ben Rhodes from the Adminstration’s office added that bilateral meetings with China, Japan, Azerbaijan and Colombia are further indicators of the President’s commitment to unify parties and to build peaceful coalitions. The President will address the General Assembly on Thursday, September 23 as well as address the Clinton Global Initiative on Thursday evening with his wife Michelle by his side. On Friday, he will attend a luncheon hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. 

Sri Lankan Violence Against The UN Erupts

By Tala Dowlatshahi

Hundreds of protesters broke through police barricades Tuesday outside the UN office in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Civilians are angered by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon’s call for an independent three person panel of experts to investigate alleged human rights violations committed by the Sri Lankan government during the final stages of war against Tamil Tiger separatists in May 2009. 

Some two-hundred UN personnel were trapped inside the compound when protesters broke through police lines. UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said this afternoon:

“We have been contacting Sri Lankan officials at all levels as for the safety of staff. It has been clear visitors were blocked from entering the compound. As of now, all staff have been able to leave the offices.”

A massive opposition to the UN investigation is mounting.  A 118-member body calling themselves the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is leading the opposition. The group sent a letter of protest to the Secretary-General this week demanding a full stop to the investigation and citing the panel of experts would act “against the clearly expressed wished of the country concerned, and without any mandate from the (UN) Human Rights Council, the Security Council or the General Assembly.”

The protests this morning were led by the government including Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa. The group demanded the UN to end its probe and burned an effigy of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.  Government officials allege that Ban Ki-Moon wants to force a break in the country’s current unification and path towards peace. 

The government has put the blame back on the Tamil Tigers, which it calls a terrorist organization that brutally tortured thousands for nearly three decades. The UN estimates some 7,000 people were killed in the final stages of fighting last May. 

Since the fighting ended, the international community including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have put pressure on the government of Sri Lanka to be open to an investigation which would allow for closure and ensure the government acted in an accountable and transparent manner.