Obama already showing he is an able multi-tasker

PROVO — During the presidential election campaign, one of Barack Obama's interrogators asked him how, with his lack of international expertise, he could handle foreign problems as well as domestic challenges. The then-senator replied, a little tartly, that the presidency required being a "multi-tasker," able to handle several crises at a time.

Just 16 days into his presidency, Obama has proved to be an able multi-tasker, juggling domestic and foreign issues simultaneously.

At home he is handling one of the most critical economic challenges the United States has faced in decades.

Abroad he has set a new pace and tone in international diplomacy with a series of dramatic moves:

1. He has ordered the Guantanamo facility holding suspected terrorists and sympathizers closed within a year.

2. He has ordered that, except under extraordinary circumstances, interrogation of suspected terrorists henceforth be carried out in accordance with the U.S. Army field manual. Both these decisions were widely hailed as making positive improvements in the image of the U.S. government

3. He has appointed a heavyweight envoy, Sen. George Mitchell, famed for his conciliatory work in Northern Ireland, to work for settlement of the years-long Palestinian-Israeli divide.

4. He has sent tough diplomat Richard Holbrooke, known for his peacemaking work in the Balkans, to tackle the war in Afghanistan, and the problem of al-Qaida and Taliban redoubts in Pakistan.

5. In a remarkable gesture to the world of Islam, he chose to give his first White House media interview to the Saudi-funded Arab TV network Al-Arabiya. In so doing he sidelined both Al-Jazeera, often criticized for anti-Americanism, and the U.S. government-owned Al Hurra network.

Reaching a Middle East audience of some 13 million, he spoke of having Muslim relatives and having lived in a Muslim country. He called for a new partnership with the Muslim world "based on mutual respect and mutual interest."

All this is being interpreted abroad as a distinct change in at least the tone of U.S. diplomacy Even Iran said it "welcomed" the president's words.

Obama also got a lift from provincial elections in Iraq, which went relatively free of violence, proof of burgeoning democracy, Middle East style. This makes easier the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, a centerpiece of the Obama election campaign.