Free Republic

Jackson Diehl's column in today's Washington Post is thoroughly enjoyable for those of us who did not think that Obama's election would trigger the dawn of an era of foreign-policy nirvana : Now comes the interesting part: when it starts to become evident that Bush did not create rogue states, terrorist movements, Middle Eastern blood feuds or Russian belligerence — and that shake-ups in U.S. diplomacy, however enlightened, might not have much impact on them . . . Obama sent a conciliatory public message to Iranians, and the United States joined in a multilateral proposal for new negotiations on its...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is open to the idea of reaching out to moderate elements of the Taliban, The New York Times reported on Saturday. In an interview with the newspaper published on its website, Obama said that some of the U.S. success in Iraq involved reaching out to Islamic fundamentalists who had been alienated by the tactics of al Qaeda in Iraq. "There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and the Pakistani region," he said. "But the situation in Afghanistan is, if anything, more complex." Obama, who last month approved the deployment of 17,000 more...

Mr. Obama has not even been President for a month but it is clear that he is more concerned with the helping the Islamic world than he is the US. First he allows a Hamas connected Islamic organization to lead the prayer services at his inauguration.

Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com: Charges Withdrawn Against Alleged U.S.S. Cole Bombing Mastermind [7:59 pm ET]

<p>Just heard as news alert on Fox News. One beieved dead. No other details.</p>