Welcome, President Obama!
No snide remarks from me just yet, but I wonder what President-elect Obama is going to hear from his foreign policy expert - Vice President-elect Joe Biden:
MOSCOW — In a wide-ranging attack on the United States as it elected a new president, the Russian leader Dmitri A. Medvedev warned on Wednesday that Moscow might deploy short-range missiles in the Baltic region to counter a perceived threat from a proposed American missile defense shield in Eastern Europe.
...His remarks, in his first state of the nation address since assuming the presidency in May, were delivered within hours of the election of Barack Obama and offered a chilling glimpse into the potential issues and tensions confronting the new American leader when he takes office in January. His comments also seemed at odds with the broader groundswell of support for the American president-elect from many governments across the globe.
In his speech, Mr. Medvedev did not congratulate Mr. Obama on his victory, saying only that he hoped that “our partners — the new U.S. administration — will make a choice in favor of a full-fledged relationship with Russia.”
[snip]
In his speech a few hours earlier, Mr. Medvedev spoke of a “new configuration for the military forces of our country” that would include abandoning plans to dismantle some missile regiments and the stationing of missiles in Russia’s Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.
(H/T: NRO)
Here it starts - taking the full measure of Obama in a hurry. For a person who has talked more about "intense diplomacy", he may find out real quick that talk may mean little. After all, look what has happened to Estonia (cyberwar) and Georgia (actual invasion). How will he, often painted as a person not wanting conflict and a bit of a pacifist) respond?
And it seems the Israel / Palistinian conflict will intrude in a hurry. Note that most countries wanted Obama as President; Israel was one of the few countries (the only one?) that prefered McCain - what do they know about Obama that most of my countrymen do not?
From Gateway Pundit:
Hamas Celebrates Obama Win By Firing 35 Missiles Into Israel
Celebratory fire?
Reuters reported:
Hamas fired dozens of rockets at Israel on Wednesday after Israeli forces killed six Palestinian militants in an eruption of violence that disrupted a four-month-old truce along the Gaza frontier.
The rocket attacks, which included salvoes that landed in the coastal Israeli city of Ashkelon, caused no casualties. Sources in Hamas, an Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, said calm could return if Israel did not retaliate.
A breakdown of the Egyptian-brokered Gaza truce would pose yet another challenge to U.S. efforts, opposed by Hamas, to achieve a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
Coincidental timing? Can't tell. Same for the fact that the stock market fell almost 500 more points.
Time will tell.
