Washington briefing: Obama administration foreign policy initiatives begin with Middle East

Published: Thursday January 29, 2009

Washington - President Barack Obama said he would work to retain U.S. leadership in world affairs to address global challenges and promote peace. In his inaugural address on January 20, Mr. Obama also offered the Muslim world "a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect."

On his first full day as president the next day, Mr. Obama met with senior military commanders, charging them to begin planning for redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq and into Afghanistan, international news media reported. He also ordered the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention center, holding terrorism suspects, and spoke with leaders of Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine about the ways to stabilize their part of the world.

On January 22, Mr. Obama - together with Vice President Joe Biden and long-time advisor Samantha Power - was at the State Department for a meeting with its staff, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who received Senate confirmation the previous day.

The President participated in the formal selection of 67-year-old Ambassador Richard Holbrooke as official in charge of Afghanistan and Pakistan policy and 75-year-old former Senator George Mitchell as official in charge of Arab-Israeli peace talks.

In the Clinton administration Mr. Holbrooke was the envoy to former Yugoslavia, and Mr. Mitchell mediated in the Northern Ireland conflict. Another former Clinton Administration envoy for Middle East, Ambassador Dennis Ross, is being considered as the official in charge of Iran policy.

At the State Department, Mr. Obama stressed, "America is committed to Israel's security" and pledged to support Israeli efforts to prevent Palestinians from building up an arsenal of rockets used to attack Israeli towns. He also promised aid to Gaza to alleviate humanitarian needs.

Just days before Mr. Obama's inauguration, Israel called an end to its three-week assault on Gaza and began pulling out forces. The war - and especially the devastating Israeli aerial bombing raids - left an estimated 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead. Both the Israeli government and Gaza's Islamist leaders claimed victory.

In another part of the world, Russia and Ukraine agreed to their own "cease-fire," allowing for resumption of natural-gas supplies to Ukraine and from there on to Europe, also on eve of President Obama's inauguration. And this week, Georgia resumed transit of Russian natural gas to South Ossetia, which it halted after the war last August.