The world is at a crossroads – Obama tells UN General Assembly

Citing “signposts of progress” but conceding a “pervasive unease” over ongoing crises, US President Barack Obama sought to rally members of the UN to join US-led efforts to instill “hope over fear”.
President Obama said: “We can renew the international system that has enabled so much progress, or allow ourselves to be pulled back by an undertow of instability. We can reaffirm our collective responsibility to confront global problems, or be swamped by more and more outbreaks of instability,” he said.
“For America, the choice is clear. We choose hope over fear. We see the future not as something out of our control, but as something we can shape for the better through concerted and collective effort,” he said.
“We reject fatalism or cynicism when it comes to human affairs; we choose to work for the world as it should be, as our children deserve it to be.”
The US began a series of air strikes in Iraq last month, and on Monday it began attacks on targets in Syria.
Jets from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have joined US forces in the attacks, and the US says more than 40 countries have offered to join the anti-IS coalition.
The UK’s Parliament will today decide on whether to join the air strike action in Iraq.