Obama's foreign failings are putting U.S. at greater risk - II

In fact, his last visit to Afghanistan was a quick two-day stop in July 2008 as a senator and presidential candidate (he hadn't been there previously either, despite serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee).

Shouldn't he want the benefit of seeing things firsthand before making an important decision such as, say, committing more troops to battle? But President Obama, the U.S. commander in chief, has not, even though the situation on his watch in Afghanistan has been described at times as “serious,” “dire,” even “deteriorating” by a host of people in the know.

So Obama has been relying on the views of others, received at numerous meetings amid the creature comforts of the White House in Washington — some 7,000 miles from where the action is in Kabul. Perhaps that is why it took him so long to make a decision about McChrystal's strategy.

All of this is especially odd, considering that in his first year he's reportedly the most-traveled president in American history, visiting more than 20 countries around the globe.

The surely jet-lagged Obama has been to France, the Czech Republic, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Russia, Italy, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Trinidad and Ghana (yes, Ghana), to name a few. Plus, a trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, to plead for the 2016 Olympic Games for his hometown of Chicago, which he didn't deliver.

And in December, Obama returned to Copenhagen for the international climate change conference while on his way back from Oslo for this year's Nobel ceremonies to pick up his oddly awarded Peace Prize.

But while racking up the frequent-flyer miles (courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer), he hasn't set foot in Afghanistan (former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney made five visits to Afghanistan alone). Somehow, for all his pro-troop rhetoric here, Obama hasn't seen it fit to visit the 60,000-plus U.S. men and women in Afghanistan, despite numerous reports of declining troop morale.

While going into harm's way, these men and women need to know their president believes in them and their mission; that they will get what they need to fight; that someone is looking after their wounded comrades and loved ones back home.

And they should hear it from the president in person.

But then again, when he visited South Korea in November, Obama didn't even venture to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) — the misnamed North-South Korea dividing line (it's anything but demilitarized). Instead, he visited with U.S. troops at Osan Air Base, 50 miles from the infamous 38th parallel, telling them “You guys make a pretty good photo op.”

But beyond the seemingly self-serving, patriotic choreography, perhaps he was afraid that standing alongside U.S. troops posted at the DMZ would upset North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il, resulting in more provocations.

No real surprise there: This administration would rather avoid any type of confrontation, asserting a foreign policy vision of “if we're nice to them, they'll be nice to us.”

And, perhaps, this policy is nowhere more evident than in the current U.S. relationship with Russia.

Russian Risk

From the looks of it, the Kremlin hasn't bought into the whole “reset button” gimmick the White House put forward as a framework for the Obama administration's new Russia policy. Despite the olive branch repeatedly offered to Russia, Moscow clearly has its eyes on matters other than better relations with Washington such as regaining its role as a world power — no matter who occupies the White House.

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