After historic day, Obama set to tackle agenda

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Barack Obama, fresh from the pageantry of his historic inauguration, will turn on Wednesday toward his goals of rescuing the economy, charting a new course for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and shaping his approach to the Middle East conflict.

Obama has pledged bold and swift action to deal with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. He has also asked Americans for patience in grappling with challenges both foreign and domestic that will take time to resolve.

With financial markets reeling and job losses mounting, Obama will meet with his economic advisers, who are working with the Democratic-led Congress on an $825 billion fiscal stimulus package.

He also is seeking fresh approaches to repair the battered financial system and is mulling a host of ideas, including the creation of a government-run bank that would buy up toxic assets from ailing U.S. banks.

The aim is to rekindle the flow of the credit to the economy so businesses and consumers can get access to loans.

Iraq and Afghanistan will dominate Obama's foreign policy agenda, but he has also said he will take an active role to try to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He may move quickly to name a Middle East envoy and is strongly considering George Mitchell, a former U.S. senator and veteran international troubleshooter, for the job.

In addition to the economic meeting, Obama will also sit down with top military officials to discuss Iraq and Afghanistan.

He has said he favors a 16-month timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and U.S. officials said that in his meeting with military leaders, he would discuss the possibility of accelerating their departure.

Obama also will discuss plans to bolster troops in Afghanistan as he meets with a Pentagon delegation led by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Gen. David Petraeus, the former Iraq commander credited with pulling the country from the brink of civil war, was to attend Wednesday's meeting after flying back from Afghanistan.

SECRETARY OF STATE

A Senate vote is expected on Wednesday on Obama's nomination of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

But he will begin his new administration without a Treasury secretary. His nominee for the job, Tim Geithner, will face questions from a Senate panel about his past failure to pay some taxes.

Geithner has said the tax problem stemmed from an error and several senators have said they thought the issue would not prevent his confirmation.

Obama has found a receptive audience on Capitol Hill for his call for aggressive action to help the economy and hopes to garner bipartisan support for the massive stimulus package.

But Republicans have raised questions about the package, including how quickly the money will be spent and whether certain projects will actually kick-start the economy, which has been in a recession for over a year.

Obama is pressing for passage of the package by mid-February.

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Jeremy Pelofsky and David Morgan; Editing by Patricia Zengerle)