Obama Bows Out With Final Speech at UN General Assembly

Abadi said in a televised message from NY, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly, that Iraqi forces would also move to retake two areas in western Anbar province, Reuters reported. The city of 2 million fell to the militants in 2014 in a lightning advance, and the offensive to recapture it will be the biggest battle Islamic State has ever fought. He called the group a “huge threat” to Iraq’s stability.

ISIL seized Iraq’s second largest city in July 2014 when Iraqi forces retreated, leaving the city vulnerable to the terror group that has maintained its grip ever since.

Iraqi forces have begun a military campaign to retake Mosul from ISIS, starting with the Tigris River town of Shirqat.

U.S. President Barack Obama addresses the United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of NY, U.S., September 20, 2016.

Seemingly speaking of the US, Mr Obama said there are a lot of nations doing the right thing, but many countries, particularly those blessed with wealth and the benefits of geography, can do more to help.

But Obama said Monday that the mission can’t end there.

Obama also planned to meet Monday with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and socialize with USA diplomats who work at the U.N. He was also to raise money in private for Senate Democrats, a day after holding another fundraiser for Hillary Clinton.

The session comes at a critical time for Obama, who has just a few months left in office to make progress against IS before passing on the conflict to his successor.

White House officials said Obama had been mindful of the fact that his United Nations speech was one of his final opportunities to define his leadership on the world stage. The Obama administration considers Abadi to be a major improvement over the sectarian approach of his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, though Abadi has faced serious domestic political challenges in recent months.

The president also met Monday with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and raised money in private for Senate Democrats, a day after holding another fundraiser for Hillary Clinton. Still, Obama said he and Abadi were confident that Iraq’s military and the USA -led coalition could make progress in Mosul “fairly rapidly”, adding that he was hoping for progress by year-end. The Democratic presidential nominee was holding her own program of meetings with foreign leaders attending the United Nations summit as she worked to portray herself as more presidential than Trump.

Obama also spoke with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta by phone in lieu of a face-to-face meeting.

“Perhaps that’s our fate”, Obama said in his last speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

Mr Obama told world leaders they have to do more to open their hearts to refugees who are desperate for a home.

“These operations pave the way for cleansing every inch of Iraqi land and God willing its end will be the liberation of Mosul city, … the liberation of all Iraqi lands and the end of Daesh”, he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

Obama said he and Abadi had focused on ensuring that food, water and shelter are available for those displaced and that Mosul can be quickly rebuilt, so that desperate residents don’t turn to “extremist ideologies” for relief and allow the Islamic State group to return.

Obama planned to take part Wednesday in a U.S. -Africa forum and meet with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos before returning to Washington. Along with the de facto capital in the Syrian city of Raqqa, it’s one of two strongholds that the USA and allied forces plan to pressure in simultaneous assaults that it hopes will cripple the terrorist group’s military power in the region.