World leaders, many reeling from a year marked by global economic freefall and a growing threat from global warming and nuclear proliferation, exhorted one another Wednesday to work together to meet those challenges.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.
In his first remarks to the U.N. General Assembly, President Obama noted that he took office last January "at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust."
He then sought to distance himself from the policies of his predecessor, noting that he had prohibited the use of torture, ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay to be closed and has been working to create a framework to combat terrorism "within the rule of law."
Obama called on world leaders to work together to effect the change needed. "No longer do we have the luxury of indulging our differences to the exclusion of the work that we must do together," he said.
He vowed to pursue an agreement with Russia to reduce the number of nuclear weapons, to combat nuclear smuggling and theft and to support the non-proliferation treaty.read more
