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WASHINGTON, D.C.: US President Barack Obama Wednesday
started the job of hauling his crisis-weary nation out of its
“winter of hardship” by settling into the Oval Office, a day
after his historic inauguration as the first black US president.
After a late night waltzing with
wife Michelle at glitzy inaugural balls, the president was set to
take aim at his top military and economic challenges, in the hope of
getting his administration off to a fast start.
His first move came in the form
of an order to prosecutors at the controversial military tribunals
in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to seek a suspension of the trial
proceedings.
Military judges were expected to
rule later Wednesday on the request, which would affect the military
trials of five alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001, attacks
as well as a Canadian held on accusations of killing a US soldier in
Afghanistan.
Key
White House staff members were also set to pour into the
presidential mansion, with the weight of financial and foreign
policy threats suddenly resting on their shoulders.
First day at work
Obama was expected to spend the
first part of his day seeking divine blessing for his presidency at
a traditional prayer service at Washington, D.C.’s National
Cathedral.
Then he was expected to call in
his top economic lieutenants to start the task of repairing the
ruptured US economy and shepherd a huge $825-billion stimulus
package through the US Congress.
In a sign of the tough task
ahead, the Dow Jones Industrials Average plummeted 4 percent on
Obama’s first day in office Tuesday as investors were spooked by
deep problems in the banking industry.
Obama was also expected to meet
his top military leaders to fulfill a campaign promise—telling the
generals to formulate a plan to get US troops out of Iraq, and
reorienting military efforts toward the war in Afghanistan.
Historic day
On Tuesday, Obama claimed his
place in history as leader of a nation stained by the legacies of
slavery and racial segregation, and told Americans they have to pull
together to pick their way out of raging storms.
“We have chosen hope over fear,
unity of purpose over conflict and discord,” Obama, 47, said in a
somber inaugural address to a stunning two million-strong crowd
which took sharp issue with the two-term Republican presidency of
George W. Bush.
“Today I say to you that the
challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many.
“They will not be met easily,
or in a short span of time. But know this, America—they will be
met.”
The former Illinois senator took
office amidst the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, with tens
of thousands of US troops locked in Iraq and Afghanistan and a
nuclear showdown with Iran set to hit boiling point.
Obama’s inauguration on the
steps of the US Capitol, which was partially built with slave labor,
broke the highest racial barrier in the United States and goes some
way to reconciling civil rights leader Martin Luther King’s dream
of racial unity.
Obama vowed to reclaim
America’s place at the head of global powers, and signaled he
would reject anti-terror tactics used by the Bush administration,
which critics say infringe US values.
“We reject as false, the choice
between our safety and our ideals,” Obama said.
“We are ready to lead once
more.”
Several estimates put the crowd
on the National Mall at more than two million, and many in the
throng wept as the new president spoke.
Bush looked on as the torch of
power was passed, after his turbulent eight years in the White
House.
As Bush and wife Laura flew over
the mall in a helicopter on the first leg of their trip back to
Texas, the crowd mockingly sang, “Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye.”
Tough on terror
In his speech, Obama also sent an
immediate message to the rest of the world, and Islamic nations in
particular, after America’s ties with some of its top allies were
tarnished during the Bush years, especially over the Iraq war.
“To the Muslim world, we seek a
new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”
But he also warned that those who
would use “terror” and slaughter innocents to threaten the
United States would face an uncompromising response.
“Our nation is at war, against
a far-reaching network of violence and hatred,” Obama said. “We
say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you
cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.”
Obama called on Americans to
launch a “new era of responsibility” as the economy sinks deep
into recession, brought on by massive stocks of bad mortgages and
debt.
The new president also said the
United States would join other nations in rolling back “the
specter of a warming planet.”
--AFP
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