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U.S. President Barack Obama vowed at the United Nations on Wednesday to keep up the military pressure on Islamic State militants and urged those who have joined the extremist group in Iraq and Syria to "leave the battlefield while they can."
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, Obama said Islamic State must be destroyed and issued a global call for nations to come together to join a U.S.-led coalition. Before he spoke, U.S.-led airstrikes for the third time this week pounded Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq.
"As we look to the future, one issue risks a cycle of conflict that could derail such progress: and that is the cancer of violent extremism that has ravaged so many parts of the Muslim world," he said in his speech, which ran to just under 40 minutes.
He added that the United States does not intend to occupy any countries, but "will be a respectful and constructive partner."
Obama used his annual address to th
