First Day :Day One: Obama faces a Cold War threat and a warning from Israel

President elect Obama is already facing challenges on the global stage and he has not even been sworn in yet. The world has forgotten George Bush and how much he has put this country at odds with the rest of the world. So now everyone who has a beef with previous (George Bush controlled) administration policies is now looking for Obama to deal with their problems firsthand.

Read more about our new President’s first day:

via DailyMail UK

The U.S. President-elect faced a triple threat with Russia, Israel and Afghanistan all threatening to test his mettle.

Locked away in his Chicago home, Mr Obama received his first national security intelligence briefing yesterday as he wrestled with appointments for his Cabinet.

Then Israel warned last night that the new U.S. Commander-in-Chief’s campaign claim that he was ready to open talks with Iran could be seen in the Middle East as a sign of weakness.

After eight years of staunch support from President Bush, the Israelis are now watching Mr Obama closely – even though he does not take power until January – looking for indicators as to how he will handle the nuclear threat from Tehran.

‘We live in a neighbourhood in which dialogue – in a situation where you have brought sanctions and you then shift to dialogue – is liable to be interpreted as weakness,’ said Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni.
Asked if she supported any U.S. talks with Iran, she quickly said: ‘The answer is no.’

In a step that will further increase Israel’s anxiety about Obama, Tehran announced last night that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had broken a 29-year tradition and sent his congratulations to the President-elect – the first time an Iranian leader has offered such wishes since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Ahmadinejad congratulated the Democrat on ‘attracting the majority of voters in the election’.

He said he hoped Obama will ‘use the opportunity to serve the (American) people and leave a good name for history’ during his term in office.

Iran and the U.S. have had no formal diplomatic relations since 1979 when militant Iranian students held 52 Americans captive 444 days.

President Bush has repeatedly clashed with Tehran over its nuclear program and its opposition to the U.S.-led invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq.

In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai demanded that Mr Obama ‘put an end to civilian casualties’ by changing U.S. military tactics to avoid airstrikes in the war on the Taliban.