Senator Barack Obama appeared on Larry King the other night. You can read the transcript here and view the interview here. Obama's comments to King are very telling of how he views American foreign policy.  He calls our war with the Taliban in Afghanistan "proportional" (is this in contrast to Israel's response in their war with Hezbollah?). It seems to betray an intention to curry favor with the left.
 
His most alarming comment is that he wants to "start sending a message to the region and some of the powers there, including Iran and Syria that it makes sense for us at this point to pull back".  In other words, show them that we are weak and do not have the will to finish the job.
 
His further comments show his utter ignorance about Iran and Syria——

"make sure that they are engaged and have a stake in creating some semblance of order there...they're not investing in any kind of way to make sure that Iraq has a decent outcome".

What kind of "order" and "decent outcome" does he think Iran and Syria want?  These are the words of a naive globalist who has no concept of the will, ideology or intentions of our enemy.  In essence, he wants to "Europize" our foreign policy.

KING: Senator, the support for the war in Iraq is now two—thirds against and a third for in pretty much all the polls. Are you among the two—thirds?

OBAMA: Well, you know, I was among the two—thirds when it was two—thirds for, right, you know, when the country was 60 percent supportive of the war. I gave a speech right on the eve of me announcing for the United States Senate saying this was a bad idea. And I essentially said, look, I don't oppose all war. I thought that our move in Afghanistan was appropriate and justified and proportional.

But, we got distracted in Iraq and we ended up I think pursuing a course that was based on faulty intelligence, fudged numbers, a shading of the truth, and we are seeing the results.

So, I have said repeatedly that it makes sense for us to begin a phased withdrawal of our troops. I think it is time for us to tell the Iraqis they are responsible for their country and they've got to make a decision about how they want to live together.

And, I think we also have to start sending a message to the region and some of the powers there, including Iran and Syria that it makes sense for us at this point to pull back, to make sure that they are engaged and have a stake in creating some semblance of order there because right now they're just sitting back I think and watching us flounder but they're not investing in any kind of way to make sure that Iraq has a decent outcome.

Michael Menis   10 22 06