Skip to main content
Support
Article

UNGA: World Leaders on Extremism

Countering extremist groups – particularly ISIS and its affiliates – was a major focus of world leaders in their remarks to the U.N. General Assembly in late September. But they disagreed on the causes and potential solutions for the crises in Iraq and Syria. President Barack Obama blamed Syrian President Bashar al Assad for ISIS’s rise. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, praised Assad for “valiantly fighting terrorism.” The following are excerpted remarks from heads of state on extremism.

United States

President Barack Obama

I’ve said before and I will repeat:  There is no room for accommodating an apocalyptic cult like ISIL, and the United States makes no apologies for using our military, as part of a broad coalition, to go after them.  We do so with a determination to ensure that there will never be a safe haven for terrorists who carry out these crimes.  And we have demonstrated over more than a decade of relentless pursuit of al Qaeda, we will not be outlasted by extremists. 

But while military power is necessary, it is not sufficient to resolve the situation in Syria.  Lasting stability can only take hold when the people of Syria forge an agreement to live together peacefully.  The United States is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the conflict. But we must recognize that there cannot be, after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, a return to the pre-war status quo. 

Let’s remember how this started.  Assad reacted to peaceful protests by escalating repression and killing that, in turn, created the environment for the current strife.  And so Assad and his allies cannot simply pacify the broad majority of a population who have been brutalized by chemical weapons and indiscriminate bombing.  Yes, realism dictates that compromise will be required to end the fighting and ultimately stamp out ISIL.  But realism also requires a managed transition away from Assad and to a new leader, and an inclusive government that recognizes there must be an end to this chaos so that the Syrian people can begin to rebuild. 

We know that ISIL -- which emerged out of the chaos of Iraq and Syria -- depends on perpetual war to survive.  But we also know that they gain adherents because of a poisonous ideology.  So part of our job, together, is to work to reject such extremism that infects too many of our young people.  Part of that effort must be a continued rejection by Muslims of those who distort Islam to preach intolerance and promote violence, and it must also a rejection by non-Muslims of the ignorance that equates Islam with terror. 

This work will take time.  There are no easy answers to Syria.  And there are no simple answers to the changes that are taking place in much of the Middle East and North Africa.  But so many families need help right now; they don’t have time.  And that’s why the United States is increasing the number of refugees who we welcome within our borders.  That’s why we will continue to be the largest donor of assistance to support those refugees. And today we are launching new efforts to ensure that our people and our businesses, our universities and our NGOs can help as well -- because in the faces of suffering families, our nation of immigrants sees ourselves.

Of course, in the old ways of thinking, the plight of the powerless, the plight of refugees, the plight of the marginalized did not matter.  They were on the periphery of the world’s concerns.  Today, our concern for them is driven not just by conscience, but should also be drive by self-interest.  For helping people who have been pushed to the margins of our world is not mere charity, it is a matter of collective security.  And the purpose of this institution is not merely to avoid conflict, it is to galvanize the collective action that makes life better on this planet.

—Sept. 28, 2015, in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly

Russia

President Vladimir Putin

“It is now obvious that the power vacuum created in some countries of the Middle East and North Africa led to emergence of anarchy areas. Those immediately started to be filled with extremists and terrorists.

“Tens of thousands of militants are fighting under banners of the so-called Islamic State. Its ranks include former Iraqi servicemen who were thrown out into the street after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Many recruits also come from Libya, a country whose statehood was destroyed as a result of a gross violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1973.

“And now the ranks of radicals are being joined by members of the so-called ‘moderate’ Syrian opposition supported by the Western countries. First, they are armed and trained, and then they defect to the Islamic State.

“Having established a foothold in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State has begun to actively expand to other regions. It is seeking dominance in the Islamic world. And its plans go further than that.

“The situation is more than dangerous. In these circumstances it is hypocritical and irresponsible to make loud declarations about the threat of international terrorism while turning a blind eye to the channels of financing and supporting terrorists, including the proceeds of drug trafficking and illicit trade in oil and arms. It would be equally irresponsible to try to manipulate extremist groups and place them at one’s service in order to achieve one’s own political goals in the hope of ‘dealing with them,’ or, in other words, liquidating them later.”

“We believe that any attempts to play games with terrorists, let alone to arm them, are not just short-sighted, but ‘fire hazardous.’ This may result in the global terrorist threat increasing dramatically and engulfing new regions. Especially given that Islamic State camps train militants from many countries, including European countries.”

“Russia has always been firm and consistent in opposing terrorism in all its forms. Today, we provide military and technical assistance both to Iraq and Syria that are fighting terrorist groups. We think it is an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces, who are valiantly fighting terrorism face-to-face. We should finally acknowledge that no one but President Assad’s Armed Forces and Kurdish militia are truly fighting the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations in Syria.”

—Sept. 28, 2015, in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly

Iran

President Hassan Rouhani

“It is now obvious that the power vacuum created in some countries of the Middle East and North Africa led to emergence of anarchy areas. Those immediately started to be filled with extremists and terrorists.

“Tens of thousands of militants are fighting under banners of the so-called Islamic State. Its ranks include former Iraqi servicemen who were thrown out into the street after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Many recruits also come from Libya, a country whose statehood was destroyed as a result of a gross violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1973.

“And now the ranks of radicals are being joined by members of the so-called ‘moderate’ Syrian opposition supported by the Western countries. First, they are armed and trained, and then they defect to the Islamic State.

“Having established a foothold in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State has begun to actively expand to other regions. It is seeking dominance in the Islamic world. And its plans go further than that.

“The situation is more than dangerous. In these circumstances it is hypocritical and irresponsible to make loud declarations about the threat of international terrorism while turning a blind eye to the channels of financing and supporting terrorists, including the proceeds of drug trafficking and illicit trade in oil and arms. It would be equally irresponsible to try to manipulate extremist groups and place them at one’s service in order to achieve one’s own political goals in the hope of ‘dealing with them,’ or, in other words, liquidating them later.”

We have repeatedly said that the only way to uproot terrorism in MidEast is by targeting its underlying social, economic and cultural causes

— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 28, 2015

“We believe that any attempts to play games with terrorists, let alone to arm them, are not just short-sighted, but ‘fire hazardous.’ This may result in the global terrorist threat increasing dramatically and engulfing new regions. Especially given that Islamic State camps train militants from many countries, including European countries.”

“Russia has always been firm and consistent in opposing terrorism in all its forms. Today, we provide military and technical assistance both to Iraq and Syria that are fighting terrorist groups. We think it is an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces, who are valiantly fighting terrorism face-to-face. We should finally acknowledge that no one but President Assad’s Armed Forces and Kurdish militia are truly fighting the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations in Syria.”

—Sept. 28, 2015, in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly

Jordan

King Abdullah

“Such a future is under serious threat from the khawarej, the outlaws of Islam that operate globally today. They target religious differences, hoping to kill cooperation and compassion among the billions of people, of all faiths and communities, who live side-by-side in our many countries. These outlaw gangs use suspicion and ignorance to expand their own power. Worse still is the free hand they grant themselves to distort the word of God to justify the most atrocious crimes.

"All of us here are united by our conviction that these forces of evil must be defeated." -HM King Abdullah II #UNGApic.twitter.com/FwfiiN7467

— Embassy of Jordan (@JoEmbassyUS) September 28, 2015

“All of us here are united by our conviction that these forces must be defeated. But before we ask how to achieve this objective, let us ask: What if they were not defeated? What would our world look like? Can we tolerate a future where mass murder, public beheadings, kidnapping and slavery are common practices? Where the persecution of communities is law? Where humanity’s cultural treasures, preserved for thousands of years, are systematically destroyed?

“I’ve called this crisis a third world war and I believe we must respond with equal intensity. That means global collective action on all fronts.”

But make no mistake; the more important war is the one we wage on the battlegrounds of the heart, soul and mind. And in this fight, all countries, all people, must come together.

“Let’s amplify the voice of moderation. It is one of the greatest ironies of our time that extremist voices use advanced media to propagate ignorant ideas! We must not let our screens, airwaves, broadband and social media be monopolised by those who pose the greatest danger to our world. We too must populate our media, and more important, the minds of our young people, with the purity and power of moderation.”

—Sept. 28, 2015, in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly

Related Program

The Islamists

Learn more about Hamas and how it relates to similarly aligned organizations throughout the region.   Read more