Washington: President Barack Obama says the
death of Libya`s Muammar Gaddafi and ending the US war in Iraq
are powerful reminders of America`s renewed leadership in the
world.
At the same time, Obama said today that the US now must
tackle its "greatest challenge as a nation", rebuilding a weak
economy and creating jobs, with the "same urgency and unity
that our troops brought to their fight."
Obama informed the nation yesterday that the long and
costly war in Iraq will be over by the end of the year and
that some 40,000 US servicemen and women still there "will
definitely be home for the holidays."
A day earlier, he hailed the killing of Libya`s longtime
leader as a "momentous day" in the history of a country that
Gaddafi had ruled for decades through tyranny.
Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address that
these foreign policy successes were part of a larger story.
"This week, we had two powerful reminders of how we`ve
renewed American leadership in the world," Obama said. "After
a decade of war, we`re turning the page and moving forward,
with strength and confidence."
He said withdrawing troops from Iraq has allowed the US
to focus on Afghanistan and score major victories against
al Qaeda, including the killing in May of terrorist mastermind
Osama bin Laden. Troops also have been coming home from
Afghanistan.
Obama said ending both wars will allow the US to focus on
rebuilding a weak economy so it can start creating enough jobs
to reduce high levels of unemployment. That could possibly aid
his re-election bid, which is being jeopardised by the tough
financial circumstances.
"Over the past decade, we spent a trillion dollars on
war, borrowed heavily from overseas and invested too little in
the greatest source of our national strength- our own people,"
the president said. "Now, the nation we need to build is our
own."
In the Republicans` weekly message, Republican Sen
Richard Burr bemoaned 32 consecutive months with unemployment
above 8 per cent.
While Obama today called anew or passage of his USD 447
billion jobs bill, Burr urged action on a Republican
alternative.
PTI
