Obama Wants Arab Reform

President Barack Obama has defended his foreign policies and his handling of the protests in the Middle East as he spoke before world leaders attending the United Nations General Assembly. It was his first detailed response to the uprisings that have erupted in the Arab nations after the release of a video made in the United States that mocked Prophet Muhammad.

The speech gave the world leaders an opportunity to hear President Obama’s assessment of democracy in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, and other countries that were once in autocratic rule but are now under new leaders. There are struggling to control the long repressed populations.

In his UN speech a year ago, President Obama hailed a remarkable year of democratic progress. This year, he said that the US expects Arab and Muslim nations to be democratic leaders and police the Islamic extremists in their country.

President Obama tackled several issues and warned Syria and Iran that the United States and its allies are united in denying Tehran the chance to make a nuclear bomb and deprive Damascus the funding and arms for its military crackdown. He didn’t elaborate on the steps that Washington was going to take.

With regards to Iran, President Obama said that diplomacy might still work and that the United States was willing to do what it could to ensure that Iran doesn’t acquire a nuclear weapon. According to an Israeli diplomat, his government was still analyzing President Obama’s statements. Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu asked for a meeting with President Obama but he was denied because they would not be in New York at the same time. Iran denied that it was trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Republicans have been saying that President Obama has reduced the nation’s influence in the Middle East and failed to anticipate the required security measures at overseas diplomatic missions.