Obama to address Iran, Syria in UN speech

JULIE PACE

Obama to address Iran, Syria in UN speech

NEW YORK (AP) — Seeking to build on diplomatic opportunities, President Barack Obama is expected to signal his willingness to engage with the new Iranian government if Tehran makes nuclear concessions long sought by the U.S. and Western allies.

Obama, in a planned address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday morning, also will call on U.N. Security Council members to approve a resolution that would mandate consequences for Syria if it fails to cooperate with a plan to turn its chemical weapons stockpiles over to the international community.
The president's address will be closely watched for signs that he may meet later in the day with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, a moderate cleric who has been making friendly gestures toward the U.S. in recent weeks. Even a brief encounter would be significant given that the leaders of the U.S. and Iran haven't had face-to-face contact in more than 30 years.
U.S. officials say no meeting was planned, though they hadn't ruled out the possibility that one might be added. The most likely opportunity appeared to be at a U.N. leaders' lunch Tuesday.
Rouhani was scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly late Tuesday afternoon.
The possibility of a thaw in relations with Iran was expected to factor heavily in Obama's address to the U.N. In a preview of the president's speech, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said Obama would discuss "our openness to diplomacy and the prospect for a peaceful resolution of this issue that allows Iran to rejoin the community of nations should they come in line with their international obligations and demonstrate that their nuclear program is peaceful."
The U.S. and its allies long have suspected that Iran is trying to produce a nuclear weapon, though Tehran insists its nuclear activities are only for producing energy and for medical research.

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President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks during a roundtable event sponsored by the Civil Societ …

American officials say Rouhani's change in tone is driven by the Iranian public's frustration with crippling economic sanctions levied by the U.S. But it is still unclear whether Iran is willing to take the steps the U.S. is seeking in order to ease the sanctions, including curbing uranium enrichment and shutting down the Fordo underground nuclear facility.
State Department officials said Secretary of State John Kerry would seek to answer that question Thursday when new Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif joins nuclear talks between the U.S. and five other world powers. Zarif's participation, which was announced Monday, sets up the first meeting in six years between an American secretary of state and an Iranian foreign minister, though it was unclear whether the two men would break off from the group and hold separate one-on-one talks.
Also high on Obama's agenda at the U.N. was rallying Security Council support for a resolution that would establish consequences for Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime if it failed to adhere to a U.S-Russian plan to turn over its chemical weapons.
Under the agreement, inspectors are to be in Syria by November and all components of the chemical weapons program are to be removed from the country or destroyed by the middle of next year. The U.S. wants the Security Council to approve a resolution making the U.S.-Russian agreement legally binding in a way that is verifiable and enforceable.
But a key obstacle remains, given U.S. and Russian disagreement over whether to put the resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter. Chapter 7 deals with threats to international peace and security and has provisions for enforcement by military or nonmilitary means, such as sanctions. Russia is sure to veto any resolution that includes a mandate for military action.
Rhodes said Obama also would address tenuous progress on a new round of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. And he was to address other developments in the Arab world, including in Egypt, where the nation's first democratically elected president was ousted this summer in a military coup.

Colbert Goes Head-to-Head with Andrew Sullivan in Epic Syria Debate

Stephen Colbert met his match last night on the issue Syria when he invited The Dish’s Andrew Sullivan on The Colbert Report for a spirited debate. Specifically, Colbert took issue with the the United Nations resolution, which he said would be rather “U.N.-likely to succeed.”

Sullivan began by outlining his stance, saying he’s in favor of “doing something that does not mean we get involved in someone else’s civil war.” Or, as Colbert put it, “doing something that is nothing.”

When Sullivan said he wants Russia and China, as members to of U.N. Security Council, to take responsibility, Colbert accused him of “trusting Russia and China more than you trust the United States of America.” He asked, “Do you trust Putin, and whoever China Putin is, more than you trust Barack Obama, our commander-in-chief?”

Sullivan surprised Colbert by saying “Yes, because the world has seen America go into these places alone and make an almighty mess, in which hundred of thousands of people died and we lost trillions of dollars.” He said he would much rather have Russia and China “do out dirty work for us.” On top of that, Sullivan added that if Bashar al-Assad does use chemical weapons again, Obama “has a much stronger case to make” for military action.

Colbert came back at Sullivan by saying that if he wants to be an American citizen, he needs to understand “American exceptionalism,” which in his mind means, “We get to do whatever we want and people should say, ‘Hey, that’s good, because America did it.”

Sullivan argued back that we need to U.N. to help prevent war between the great powers in the world, to which Colbert asked, “How can we be a superpower if you do not exercise super power? That’s like saying, I’m a fantastic dancer, I just don’t want to get up right now.”

Colbert cut his guest off before he could make his final point, but clearly these two could have gone on debating for much longer. And while the segment definitely included some laughs, it was in many ways more substantive than anything you’re likely to see on Crossfire.

Watch video below, via Comedy Central:

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John McCain Writes Pravda Op-Ed

John McCain Writes Pravda Op-Ed        

                                                                                                    

By Ashley Alman




Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for siding with "tyrannies," perpetuating bigotry, censoring the media and endorsing the Syrian regime in an opinion piece published on Russian news site Pravda.
In the op-ed, titled "Russians deserve better than Putin," McCain claimed he's "more pro-Russian" than the country's own leaders.
"I make that claim because I respect your dignity and your right to self-determination," he wrote. "I believe you should live according to the dictates of your conscience, not your government. I believe you deserve the opportunity to improve your lives in an economy that is built to last and benefits the many, not just the powerful few."
Reminding readers that a Russian citizen would not have been allowed to publish such a statement, McCain criticized the Russian government for failing its constituents with an unsustainable economy, discriminatory laws and destructive alliances. He pointed to Russia's support for the Syrian regime as an example.
"How has [Putin] strengthened Russia’s international stature? By refusing to consider the massacre of innocents, the plight of millions of refugees, the growing prospect of a conflagration that engulfs other countries in its flames an appropriate subject for the world’s attention," McCain wrote. "He is not enhancing Russia’s global reputation. He is destroying it. He has made her a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed, and untrusted by nations that seek to build a safer, more peaceful and prosperous world."
The op-ed comes a week after Putin wrote his own opinion piece for The New York Times, in which he warned against military intervention and American exceptionalism.
"It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation," Putin wrote.
After reading Putin's op-ed, McCain told CNN's Jake Tapper that he'd "love" to respond.
"We have to remember who Putin is," McCain said. "He's a KGB colonel apparatchik, who has never abandoned the Russian ambitions for an empire, and influence in the world."

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