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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama on Friday addressed a press conference for more than an hour with questions eliciting answers challenging Republicans over tax cuts to a passionate appeal not to forget that Muslims are fighting on behalf of the United States.

Obama provided a perfect curtain raiser before the upcoming midterm legislative elections in November, as he urged Republicans to join forces to discuss Bush-era tax cuts. He, however, added, “We can have a further conversation about how they want to spend an additional $700 billion to give an average of $100,000 to millionaires. That, I think, is a bad idea.”

Obama in a Democrat style declared Republicans as the party of the rich with no concern for unemployed, “Why hold the middle class hostage in order to do something that most economists don’t think make sense? What I’m saying is let’s do what we agree to and that the American people overwhelmingly agree to, which is let’s give certainty to families out there that are having a tough time.”

“But between now and November, what I’m going to remind the American people of is that the policies that we have put in place have moved us in the right direction, and the policies that the Republicans are offering right now are the exact policies that got us into this mess,” Obama told journalists.

Obama reiterated his call to Congress to immediately clear the small businesses bill, that is being held in the Senate by Republicans, saying, “But one thing we can do next week is end a month-long standoff on a small business jobs bill that’s been held up in the Senate by a partisan minority.”

The president noted that, “There are plenty of issues in Washington where people of good faith simply disagree on principle,” adding, “This should not and is not one of those issues.”

On the promised “change in the way Washington works,” Obama expressed frustration saying, “I’m as frustrated as anybody by it,” blaming Republican resistance and monetary factors playing into decision making.

“On tough issues like health care or financial regulatory reform, where special interests are deeply entrenched, there’s a lot of money at stake for them, and where the issues are so complicated that it drags on for a long time, you end up having a lot of big fights here in town. And it’s messy. And it’s frustrating,” Obama told journalists.

Asked to comment on increasing controversy that Islam drives terror attacks, Obama mentioned Christianity as his religion adding, “And as somebody who relies heavily on my Christian faith in my job, I understand the passions that religious faith can raise. But I’m also respectful that people of different faiths can practice their religion, even if they don’t subscribe to the exact same notions that I do, and that they are still good people, and they are my neighbors and they are my friends, and they are fighting alongside us in our battles.”

Middle East got its question put by an Israeli journalist and Obama highlighted the role of the U.S. as, “to bring the parties together to try to get them to recognize that the path for Israeli security and Palestinian sovereignty can only be met through negotiations.”

“Ultimately it’s going to be up to them,” said Obama, hoping, “The main point I want to make is it’s a risk worth taking because the alternative is a status quo that is unsustainable.”

Obama was honest in admitting that some of his campaign promises are yet to be fulfilled as he admitted, “One where we’ve fallen short is closing Guantanamo. I wanted to close it sooner.”

Obama also felt that Osama “bin Laden has gone deep underground,” adding, “Even Zawahiri, who is more often out there, has been much more cautious.”

President also took a question on provocative “Koran burning,” and “New York Mosque,” telling journalists, “There’s no doubt that when someone goes out of their way to be provocative in ways that we know can inflame the passions of over a billion Muslims around the world, at a time when we’ve got our troops in a lot of Muslim countries, that’s a problem.”

On the mosque in New York, the president reiterated his position, saying, “I think I’ve been pretty clear on my position here, and that is, is that this country stands for the proposition that all men and women are created equal; that they have certain inalienable rights — one of those inalienable rights is to practice their religion freely. And what that means is that if you could build a church on a site, you could build a synagogue on a site, if you could build a Hindu temple on a site, then you should be able to build a mosque on the site.”

“I’ve got Muslims who are fighting in Afghanistan in the uniform of the United States armed services. They’re out there putting their lives on the line for us. And we’ve got to make sure that we are crystal-clear for our sakes and their sakes they are Americans and we honor their service,” noted Obama, concluding, “And part of honoring their service is making sure that they understand that we don’t differentiate between them and us. It’s just us.”

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