At UN General Assembly, Calls on Killer Robots, State Control of Weapons and a Woman at the Helm

Austria's top diplomat turned to cinema to make a point about warfare, invoking the Terminator films and Arnold Schwarzenegger as she warned against allowing machines to decide who lives and who dies.

Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Austria's federal minister for European and international affairs, told the General Assembly that the killer robot of science fiction has become reality. Autonomous weapons, she said, are gaining greater freedom to locate and strike targets, yet a machine cannot grasp surrender or show mercy, cannot stand before a court or answer for a killing.

She called for international rules that would bar machines from making the decision to take human life.

State control of weapons

The prime ministers of Iraq and Lebanon both urged that weapons and decisions on war and peace be placed firmly under state authority, as their governments work to disarm armed groups operating in their territories.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Beirut must reclaim its own decision-making, insisting that no weapons or choices about going to war should rest outside state institutions. He said his government alone would conduct negotiations, a reference to Iran's effort to fold the war in Lebanon into its own talks with Washington — a stance backed by Hezbollah — while Beirut pursued separate negotiations with Israel.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said Baghdad's priority was to keep weapons in the hands of constitutional institutions and pledged to strengthen the rule of law.

A woman to lead the UN

Several leaders noted that the international body has never been led by a woman and called for that to change.

Hussain Muhammad Latif, vice president of the Maldives, said the time had come for a woman to lead the organization — someone who would defend the charter without exception, turn reform into delivery and listen to all member states, including the smallest.

'No civilization deserves to be annihilated'

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama appeared to reference Donald Trump's address earlier in the week, in which the U.S. president suggested he might "annihilate" Iran.

"No human civilization deserves to be annihilated, and certainly not a member of the United Nations," Mahama said on Thursday.

Asked about the remark the following day while visiting the Council on Foreign Relations, Mahama said he is a student of history who has studied civilizations. He said any proposal to annihilate a civilization is anathema to him, adding that he was not referring to anyone in particular — a comment that drew laughter from the audience. His words, he said, were simple and meant to be understood as they were: no civilization deserves to be annihilated.

The General Assembly session also featured leaders of numerous island nations warning about the dangers of climate change, with former U.S. vice president Al Gore on hand to speak with reporters as part of New York Climate Week.