No longer the fresh voice of change, President Barack Obama
embarked on a bid for re-election on Monday by asking a
divided, anxious electorate to let him finish the job he won
in 2008.
Yielding to political opposition, the Obama administration
gave up on Monday on trying avowed 9/11 mastermind Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged henchmen in civilian federal
court in New York and will prosecute them instead before
military commissions.
Defending the first war launched on his watch, President
Barack Obama has declared that the United States intervened
in Libya to prevent a slaughter of civilians that would have
stained the world's conscience and "been a betrayal of who we
are."
President Barack Obama says the United States favours the
ouster of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, but the
international military effort has a more limited goal of
establishing a no-fly zone over Libya and protecting
civilians against massacre by forces loyal to the longtime
ruler.
President Barack Obama warned Libya's leaders that the US and
its Nato allies are still considering military options in
response to what he called "unacceptable" violence
perpetrated by supporters of Moammar Gadhafi.
The White House reverberated like a long-ago basement sound
studio in Detroit as the likes of John Legend, Seal, Jamie
Foxx, Nick Jonas and Sheryl Crowe channelled their inner
Motown before Michelle and Barack Obama.
Humbled by elections at home, President Barack Obama
yesterday endured a sobering test of his power abroad as
well, unable to close a trade deal with South Korea and
thrown on the defensive about America's approach to global
economic worries.
Deepening America's stake in Asian power politics, President
Barack Obama has endorsed India's bid to become a permanent
member of the UN Security Council, hoping to elevate the
nation of a billion people to "its rightful place in the
world" alongside an assertive China.
United States President Barack Obama entered office declaring
one of his goals was to restore America's reputation among
its allies and friends and to change the somewhat
isolationist foreign policy of his conservative predecessor.
