http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/world/obama-united-nations.html 2016-09-20 10:13:08 Obama, at the U.N., Cites Iraq Gains and Urges Steady Nerves at Home The president visited the United Nations General Assembly against the backdrop of a stabbing attack in Minnesota and a weekend bombing in New York. === UNITED NATIONS — On his first day at the Mr. Obama said that the positioning of Iraqi forces and Kurdish fighters around Mosul meant that Iraq and the American-led coalition could “move forward fairly rapidly.” Mr. Abadi predicted that the militants could be driven out of the city in the next two months. But those confident assessments were eclipsed by Saturday’s “It’s important to remember what terrorists and violent extremists are trying to do,” he said. “They are trying to hurt innocent people, but they also want to inspire fear in all of us.” “We all have a role to play as citizens in making sure that we don’t succumb to that fear,” he added. Hours later, sitting across from the Iraqi leader, Mr. Obama hailed the police for the quick arrest of a suspect in the New York bombing, Ahmad Khan Rahami. The president also said he had called the off-duty police officer who shot and killed the 22-year-old assailant in Minnesota, who was described by a news agency close to the Islamic State as a “soldier” for the group. Mr. Obama declined to speculate on the motives for the attacks. But he repeated a theme he has sounded after previous terrorist assaults in the United States: As the Islamic State’s grip over Iraq and Syria weakens, it will lash out far from its Levantine stronghold. “The big danger we have right now is that we have an organization in ISIL that is actively trying to radicalize and promote extremism of this sort,” he said. “In addition, they are directly carrying out and planning constant attacks not only overseas, but within Iraq and within Syria.” Mr. Obama said that the Islamic State had lost more than half its populated territory in Iraq and Syria. “As we take away more of their territory,” he said, “it exposes ISIL as the failed cause that it is. And it helps to undermine their ideology, which over time will make it harder for them to recruit and inspire people to violence.” Mr. Obama, his aides have said, would like to leave office with military offensives well underway to retake Mosul and Raqqa, the Syrian city that serves as the Islamic State’s de facto capital. Still, Mr. Obama conceded that the battle for Mosul would be tough. In addition to expelling the militants, he said, Iraq and the United States would have to provide humanitarian aid to thousands of people who are likely to be displaced by the fighting. And he said they would have to “rebuild the city in a way that assures not only ISIL does not come back but extremist ideologies born out of desperation do not return.” “This is going to be hard, this is going to be challenging,” he said. “We are going to be asking Congress to step up in support of this effort.” On his final visit to the Mr. Obama’s hectic schedule captured the diplomatic, political and security crosscurrents. After speaking to reporters about the attacks, the president left to raise money for Democratic senatorial candidates. Then, Mr. Obama returned to his hotel to meet with China’s prime minister, Li Keqiang. The White House said that Mr. Obama and Mr. Li pledged to coordinate efforts in the United Nations Security Council and through law enforcement channels to punish North Korea for its nuclear test on Sept. 9. Mr. Obama has often struggled to persuade the Chinese to crack down on the North Koreans. The speed of the bombing investigation in the New York area put the White House in a somewhat awkward position. At the very moment Mr. Obama was walking to the podium at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel on Monday, the police in Linden, N.J., were engaged in a shootout with Mr. Rahami. While the president referred to a “person of interest” in the case, he did not appear to be aware that the police were about to arrest someone. Later, Mr. Obama appeared visibly relieved that a suspect was in custody. He praised the “extraordinary work and coordination that is taking place between the F.B.I. and law enforcement,” adding that he had spoken with two police officers who were injured in the shootout with Mr. Rahami. “It’s just one more reminder of the extraordinary skill and sacrifice and courage of our law enforcement officers,” Mr. Obama said.