Highlights of inaugural address by President Barack Obama+

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 Kyodo - The following are the highlights of an inaugural address delivered Tuesday in
Washington by new U.S. President Barack Obama.

-- Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.
Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on
the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and
prepare the nation for a new age.

-- On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false
promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have
strangled our politics.

-- The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better
history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from
generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are
free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

-- In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is
never a given. It must be earned.

-- Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has
not been the path for the faint-hearted -- for those who prefer leisure over
work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the
risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated but more often
men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged
path towards prosperity and freedom.

-- Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of
protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time
has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves
off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

-- For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy
calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act -- not only to create new
jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and
bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind
us together.

-- Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions -- who suggest
that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short.
For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and
women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity
to courage.

-- The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too
small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent
wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.

-- Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill.
Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis
has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control
-- and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.

-- What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition,
on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation,
and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize
gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the
spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

-- We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a
hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will
work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a
warming planet.

-- With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the
nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not
apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those
who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents,
we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot
outlast us, and we will defeat you.
==Kyodo