In U.N. speech, Obama appeals for broad coalition against Islamic State --- (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama made his case to the United Nations on Wednesday for a more forceful, coordinated global response against Islamic militants in the Middle East that would seek to dismantle their "network of death." -- In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Obama used graphic language to condemn the methods of the Islamic State group that has taken over swaths of Iraq and Syria, saying it had used rape as a weapon of war, gunned down children, dumped bodies in mass graves, and beheaded their victims. -- Obama, who this week expanded the U.S.-led military campaign into Syria with support from five Arab nations, warned Islamic State fighters to "leave the battlefield while they can." Before the president spoke, U.S.-led airstrikes for the third time this week pounded targets. -- "Today, I ask the world to join in this effort," Obama said. He said more than 40 nations have offered to join the coalition against the militants in Iraq and Syria. - Read More, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/24/us-un-assembly-obama-idUSKCN0HJ1VU20140924