"Apparently people have forgotten that America, as the most powerful country on Earth, still does not control everything around the world," Obama told White House reporters at a news conference.
"So our diplomatic efforts often take time. They often will see progress and then a step backwards. That's been true in the Middle East. That's been true in Europe. That's been true in Asia. That's the nature of world affairs. It's not neat, and it's not smooth," he said when asked if the United States has lost its influence in the world.
"But if you look at, for example, Ukraine, we have made progress in delivering on what we said we would do. We can't control how (Vladimir) Putin thinks.
"But what we can do is say to Putin, if you continue on the path of arming separatists with heavy armaments that violates international law and undermines the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, then you're going to face consequences that will hurt your country," he said.
"There was a lot of scepticism about our ability to coordinate with Europeans for a strong series of sanctions. Each time we have done what we said we would do, including this week, when we put in place sanctions that have an impact on key sectors of the Russian economy - their energy, their defense, their financial systems. It hasn't resolved the problem yet," he said.
Obama said in the 20th century and the early part of this century, there are a lot of conflicts that America did not resolve.
"That's always been true. That doesn't mean we stop trying. It is not a measure of American influence on any given day or at any given moment that there are conflicts around the world that are difficult," he said.
"I recognise with so many different issues popping up around the world, sometimes it may seem as if this is an aberration or it's unusual. But the truth of the matter is that there's a big world out there, and that as indispensable as we are to try to lead it, there's still going to be tragedies out there and there are going to be conflicts," Obama noted.
He said the reason why America remains indispensable is that it is willing to plunge in and try, where other countries don't bother trying.
"I mean, the fact of the matter is, is that in all these crises that have been mentioned, there may be some tangential risks to the United States. In some cases, as in Iraq and ISIS, those are dangers that have to be addressed right now, and we have to take them very seriously.
"But for the most part, these rockets aren't being fired into the United States. The reason we are concerned is because we recognize we've got some special responsibilities," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
2/8/14
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"Nous avons torturé des gens" après le 11 septembre, admet Barack Obama...
ReplyDeleteLe président Barack Obama a admis vendredi que les Etats-Unis avaient fait des choses "contraires" à leurs valeurs après les attentats du 11 septembre, reconnaissant que des Américains avaient "torturé des gens", tout en appelant à ne les juger trop durement.
"Nous avons fait beaucoup de choses justes, mais nous avons torturé des gens", a-t-il reconnu devant la presse, évoquant la prochaine déclassification d'un rapport parlementaire américain sur les techniques d'interrogatoire musclé employées par la CIA entre 2002 et 2006, durant le mandat de George W. Bush.
AFP
http://www.rtbf.be/info/monde/detail_nous-avons-torture-des-gens-apres-le-11-septembre-admet-barack-obama?id=8326754
1/8/14
Press Conference by the President/James S. Brady Press Briefing Room...
ReplyDeleteTHE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. Happy Friday. I thought I’d take some questions, but first, let me say a few words about the economy.
This morning, we learned that our economy created over 200,000 new jobs in July. That’s on top of about 300,000 new jobs in June. So we are now in a six-month streak with at least 200,000 new jobs each month. That's the first time that has happened since 1997. Over the past year, we’ve added more jobs than any year since 2006. And all told, our businesses have created 9.9 million new jobs over the past 53 months. That's the longest streak of private sector job creation in our history.
And as we saw on Wednesday, the economy grew at a strong pace in the spring. Companies are investing. Consumers are spending. American manufacturing, energy, technology, autos -- all are booming. And thanks to the decisions that we’ve made, and the grit and resilience of the American people, we’ve recovered faster and come farther from the recession than almost any other advanced country on Earth.
So the good news is the economy clearly is getting stronger. Things are getting better. Our engines are revving a little bit louder. And the decisions that we make right now can sustain and keep that growth and momentum going.
Unfortunately, there are a series of steps that we could be taking to maintain momentum, and perhaps even accelerate it; there are steps that we could be taking that would result in more job growth, higher wages, higher incomes, more relief for middle-class families. And so far, at least, in Congress, we have not seen them willing or able to take those steps.
I've been pushing for common-sense ideas like rebuilding our infrastructure in ways that are sustained over many years and support millions of good jobs and help businesses compete. I've been advocating on behalf of raising the minimum wage, making it easier for working folks to pay off their student loans; fair pay, paid leave. All these policies have two things in common: All of them would help working families feel more stable and secure, and all of them so far have been blocked or ignored by Republicans in Congress. That’s why my administration keeps taking whatever actions we can take on our own to help working families.
Now, it’s good that Congress was able to pass legislation to strengthen the VA. And I want to thank the chairmen and ranking members who were involved in that. It's good that Congress was able to at least fund transportation projects for a few more months before leaving town -- although it falls far short of the kind of infrastructure effort that we need that would actually accelerate the economy. But for the most part, the big-ticket items, the things that would really make a difference in the lives of middle-class families, those things just are not getting done.
Let’s just take a recent example: Immigration. We all agree that there’s a problem that needs to be solved in a portion of our southern border. And we even agree on most of the solutions. But instead of working together -- instead of focusing on the 80 percent where there is agreement between Democrats and Republicans, between the administration and Congress -- House Republicans, as we speak, are trying to pass the most extreme and unworkable versions of a bill that they already know is going nowhere, that can't pass the Senate and that if it were to pass the Senate I would veto. They know it.....................................http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/08/01/press-conference-president
1/8/14