Biden says peace still possible in conflicts in Middle East, Ukraine

By AAMER MADHANI, MATTHEW LEE and ZEKE MILLER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday in his final address to the U.N. General Assembly that the United States must not withdraw from the world as Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon head toward all-out war and Israel’s bloody operation against Hamas in Gaza continues for nearly a year.

Biden used his wide-ranging speech to stress the need to end the conflict in the Middle East and the 17-month civil war in Sudan. He also emphasized the support of the US and Western allies for Kiev since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. He also raised concerns about artificial intelligence and the possibility that it could be used for repression.

His appearance before the international body offered Biden one of his last high-profile opportunities as president to make the case for maintaining robust support for Ukraine, which could be called into question if former President Donald Trump defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Biden insisted that despite global conflict, he remains hopeful for the future.

“I’ve seen a remarkable history,” Biden said. “I know many look at the world today and see difficulty and respond with despair, but not me.”

“We are stronger than we think” when the world works together, he added.

Biden came to power promising to revitalize US relations with the rest of the world and free the US from the “forever wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq that have dominated US foreign policy for the past two decades.

“I was determined to end it, and I did,” Biden said of the Afghan withdrawal, calling it a “difficult decision, but the right decision.” He acknowledged it was “marred with tragedy” with the deaths of 13 U.S. troops and hundreds of Afghans in a suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal.

But ultimately, his foreign policy legacy will likely be defined by his administration’s response to two of the largest conflicts in Europe and the Middle East since World War II.

“There will always be forces that pull our countries apart,” Biden said, rejecting “the desire to withdraw from the world and go it alone.” He said, “Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces that hold us together are stronger than the forces that pull us apart.”

The Pentagon announced Monday that it would send a small number of additional U.S. troops to the Middle East to supplement the roughly 40,000 already in the region. Meanwhile, the White House continues to insist that Israel and Hezbollah still have time to step back and de-escalate.

“A full-scale war is in no one’s interest,” Biden said, adding that despite the escalating violence, a diplomatic solution is the only path to peace.

Biden had a hopeful view of the Middle East when he addressed the UN a year ago. In that speech, Biden spoke of a “sustainable, integrated Middle East” coming into view.

At the time, economic relations between Israel and some Arab neighbors improved thanks to the implementation of the Abraham Accords that Israel signed with Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates during the Trump administration.

Biden’s team helped resolve a long-running maritime dispute between Israel and Lebanon that had held up gas exploration in the region. And normalization talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia advanced, a groundbreaking partnership for the region if a deal could be struck.

“I suffer from an oxymoron: Irish optimism,” Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they met on the sidelines of last year’s UN meeting. He added: “If you and I were talking about normalization with Saudi Arabia 10 years ago … I think we’d be looking at each other like, ‘Who’s been drinking?’”

Eighteen days later, Biden’s hopes for the Middle East were dashed. Hamas stormed Israel, killing 1,200 people, taking some 250 hostages and unleashing a bloody war that has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza and sent the region into a complex downward spiral. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Now the conflict threatens to escalate into a multi-front war and leave a lasting scar on Biden’s presidential legacy.

Israel and Hezbollah traded attacks again on Tuesday as the death toll from a massive Israeli bombardment rose to nearly 560 people and thousands fled southern Lebanon in the deadliest barrage since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israel has called on residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes and other buildings where it says Hezbollah is storing weapons, as it says the military is carrying out “extensive attacks” on the group.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, has fired dozens of rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for last week’s attacks that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters. Dozens of people were also killed and hundreds more wounded last week after hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in a sophisticated attack widely believed to have been carried out by Israel.

Israeli leaders launched their counterattacks as they grew increasingly impatient over the continued launch of rockets and drones by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah across the Israeli-Lebanese border after Hamas launched the war with its brazen attack on October 7.

Biden reiterated his call for the sides to agree to a ceasefire and a hostage release deal, saying it was time to “end this war” — even as hopes for such a deal fade as the conflict drags on.

Biden called in his speech for continued Western support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Biden helped mobilize an international coalition to support Ukraine with arms and economic aid in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022.

“We cannot get tired,” Biden said. “We cannot look away.”

Biden has managed to maintain US support despite growing skepticism from some Republican lawmakers — and Trump — about the costs of the conflict.

At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is urging Biden to ease restrictions on the use of Western-supplied long-range missiles, allowing Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russia.

So far, Zelenskyy has failed to convince the Pentagon or the White House to ease those restrictions. The Defense Department has stressed that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian drones, and there is hesitation about the strategic implications of a U.S. missile hitting the Russian capital.

Putin has warned that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.

Biden and Harris are scheduled to meet separately with Zelenskyy in Washington on Thursday. Ukrainian officials also tried to arrange a meeting for Zelenskyy with Trump this week.

The president also sounded the alarm about the rapid advances in the development of artificial intelligence, particularly around disinformation, respect for human life and its potential exploitation by totalitarian powers. He told world leaders: “There may be no greater test of our leadership than how we deal with AI.”

“We must ensure that the great potential of AI is used to uplift and empower ordinary people, not to make dictators even more powerful over the human spirit,” he added.

Biden struck a wistful tone in his speech, referring frequently to his first appearance at the General Assembly more than 50 years ago and quoting Irish poetry.

Biden called his decision to step aside a teachable moment, as he addressed a gathering that included quite a few totalitarian and non-democratic leaders.

“Some things are more important than staying in power,” Biden said. “It’s your people who matter most. Never forget that we are here to serve the people. Not the other way around.”

Miller reported from Washington. AP reporter Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

Originally published: September 24, 2024 at 12:39 pm