President Obama paid tribute to Ambassador Chris Stevens in his address before the United Nations General Assembly today. He also called on the international community not to be disheartened by the violence that has spread across the Middle East.
In the aftermath of a terrorist attack at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans and anti-U.S. protests that have gripped the Muslim world, Obama told world leaders that the recent violence is “an assault on the very ideals upon which the United Nations was founded.”
Obama called on world leaders to condemn the violence that took the life of Stevens and three other Americans working on behalf of the U.S. mission in Libya.
“Today, we must affirm that our future will be determined by people like Chris Stevens and not by his killers,” Obama said. “Today, we must declare that this violence and intolerance has no place among our United Nations.”
In recent days, White House aides have said Obama would use the speech to condemn an incendiary video that portrays the prophet Mohammed as a child molester and his followers as goons. But Obama also used the address to make the point that “no slander … provides an excuse for people” to kill innocent people.
The president directly addressed critics in the Muslim world who questioned the Obama administration for not forcing YouTube to take down the video or taking action against the filmmakers. He argued that “the strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech.”
The president also renewed his call for Iran to abandon its suspected nuclear program.
Information from The Associated Press and USA Today contributed to this report.