The skinny on Senator Obama's foreign travel is not very encouraging  .  The itinerary is not well thought out and the inclination to do a big public speech in Berlin is politically inept - Americans like their presidents to be loved by foreigners but they want their presidential candidates to show that they will work exclusively on behalf of the American people.

Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and the UK are pretty much givens.  Senator Obama needs to meet with the commanders and the troops and establish himself with government leaders in Kabul and Baghdad (and why not Kirkuk and Basra).  We are at war and while it is risky (Dukakis+tank+helmet+MSM man crush on McSame), Obama has to show that he will be comfortable and competent as Commander in Chief from day one.

Israel, being an ally under constant attack, is a must (with visits to VadYeshem but also perhaps with visits to PeaceNow or Reform Jewish sites) as is the UK as our most solid military ally and linguistic mother country.  But why France and Germany?  And why not Italy, Ireland, Poland and possibly Bosnia? More below the fold Report on Itinerary

Tibetan peoplehood, culture, and society are inextricably bound up with Lamaism, as Tibet's distinct form of Buddhism is called. The Dalai Lama is both the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. Imagine, if you can, Israel's head of state being, by law, a descendant of a High Priest from the days when the Temple still stood.

The question sometimes arises in discussions about Israel whether it is possible for a state to be both Jewish and democratic. Tibet and many European democracies provide interesting case studies that uniformly suggest an affirmative answer. Let's continue with Tibet before moving on to Europe.

I had the misfortune to read the recent editorial of Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), who also happens to be my senator, in the Wall Street Journal.

The piece, "Russia Can Be Part of the Answer on Iran," has already been criticized, including in a response by Garry Kasparov. In general, it looks at carrots that can be used to elicit the desired responses from Iran vis-a-vis their nuclear program.

What I have found most frustrating is that Schumer actually undermines policies set in place by Democrats and therefore raises questions about the foreign policy credentials of Democrats in his piece. I am not an expert in arms proliferation, but I do reside in Estonia, part of the "new Europe" and so Schumer's offer of taking the deployment of anti-missile systems in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania off the table to appease, yes, appease Russian interests in eastern Europe strikes me as particularly odious.

Australian military members began their exit from Iraq last Sunday--could a US withdrawal be far behind?

As one of President Bush's staunchest allies in the 'global war on terror', Australia have stood shoulder to shoulder with the US and other coalition partners since the planning for the Iraq invasion in 2003. From January of that year, elements of that country's military have been involved in one form or another in the pre-deployment, invasion and occupation phases inside Iraq but, as of June 1st, that support has come to an end. This shift is due to the recent defeat of conservative Australian prime minister John Howard and the installation of his long-time anti-war Labour opponent Kevin Rudd. One of his campaign pledges was to extract all of his nation's combat troops from Iraq after he won his election (that happened last November) and he has fulfilled that promise less than 6 months after being installed into his leadership position.

To start off, I have to tell you that my fiancée is from Poland. Poland, the land of incredibly conservative Catholicism and lingering anti-Semitism. The land of the second democracy of the 18th century (for a few years right after us). The land of Solidarity and Jaruzelski. The land of the former Pope, the Warsaw Uprising, Aleksandr Kwaśniewski and Lech Wałęsa. And Kościuszko. Recently though, it has been marked by a monumental election driven by the youth that will change Poland for years to come. Sound familiar? Read along with me for some fun advice on how we can replicate this in our fair land.

Pat Buchanan says he was trying to defend 'appeasement advocates' against Bush's anti appeasement remarks in Jerusalem.

What he said, though, in fact reduced pro appeasement rhetoric to its illogical extreme:

Hitler had not wanted war with Poland. He had wanted an alliance with Poland in his anti-Comintern pact against Joseph Stalin.

But the Poles refused to negotiate. Why? Because they were a proud, defiant, heroic people and because Neville Chamberlain had insanely given an unsolicited war guarantee to Poland. If Hitler invaded, Chamberlain told the Poles, Britain would declare war on Germany.

This diary is cross-posted to my blog, where I've posted photos from the Krakow march and one of Nepal's new gay assemblymember.

Just for starters, this is about supplying soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and not about the correctness or futility of this war, and this isn't a pro or anti Israel thread, nor is it an overall comment on whether the U.S. should be hugely concerned with Polish issues. To me, the point is the reality behind George Bush's rhetoric and actions. This is a fascinating story when you consider the build-up behind the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's remarks as reported by Haaretz in a story entitled "Brothers in Arms".

Poland was and is very pro-U.S., and I think their support for the Iraq War was based on this sentiment, and I think they honestly believed they were doing their part.

However, this is a story in part about how the U.S. treats its friends. Poles still have to get visas to enter the country, which to me doesn't make any sense. Obviously, the U.S. has huge problems in supplying its own troops, but when Poland needed help, it got it from Israel. "It is doing this despite the difficulties Poland encountered with its requests from the United States for assistance and cooperation on the offset agreements."

I've cross-posted this diary to my blog, where you'll find a great photo of Brendan surrounded by Polish reporters, cameramen and photographers as he and his partner Tom arrive at the Polish airport, and links to stories at Polish web sites.

This diary is cross-posted to my blog, where you'll find great pics of Brendan Fay and Tom Moulton, along with a photo of Lukasz Palucki.

Polish perspectives are under-reported in the American mass media, but they are important because Poland is one of Europe's bigger countries, is considered very Pro-American and was seen as the primary "New Europe" country, a term that is less frequently used these days, but is still controversial.

Consumed as we are by primary politics in this endless electoral season, unfortunately few diaries have been posted about current events in Tibet. In particular, I haven't seen too much written here or elsewhere on the link between the international reaction to Tibet and the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing.

The recent unrest in Tibet has, though, garnered surprising attention in countries where "people-powered" struggle against a repressive state is a relatively recent memory. Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper has a thought-provoking, and somewhat contrarian, editorial on the issue today, written by Mariusz Zawadzki (link is in Polish). My translation is below the jump.

Though his reputation is growing since his death, many Americans have not heard of the Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert, though many around the world have bemoaned the fact that he did not win the Nobel Prize.

So much to choose from but you can sample several of his great poems here.

On the site, you may scroll down to one of the greatest poems of the 20th century, dealing with the importance of aesthetics, The Power of Taste.

I've stated that I enjoy most posts on DailyKos and find participants less likely to indulge in mindless Catholic-bashing than I find on other sites. For the record, I am a Catholic Obama supporter, and I find most welcoming here. However the topic of science and religion usually brings forth some uninformed invective.

I'll address evolution and the Catholic Church below, but here's the Catholic priest/philosopher wins Templeton Prize on dialogue between science and religion.

Think the Bush Administration is done trying open new fronts in using scare tactics in the service of war profiteering?  Think again.

In yet another display of mindboggling display of fearmongering coupled with greed, the Bush Administration is now now telling Europe that it needs to buy American missile defense systems--or else.  From the Los Angeles Times:

One wonders if the Left knows that using smear tactics for its purported "goal" is, ahem, counterproductive. Thoughtless crap serves no purpose, coming from left or right, and this kind of stuff represents why some moderates think there is indeed a loony left.

The entire article is
 and is in the forthcoming print edition as well as available online.

here

Today's Headline on the AP: Romania base suspected CIA prisoner site. This is hot on the heels of last week's "discovery" of rendition planes having landed in UK territory, Diego Garcia, for which the foreign minister, David Milibank, was forced to apologize.

It always happened at 1 a.m. In a secluded corner of this heavily guarded airfield, two snipers would creep across a rooftop and take their positions. Moments later, just below, a black minibus would arrive and wait. Three times in 2004, and twice more in 2005, a jet landed and the black bus drove out to meet it. Large, mysterious parcels were exchanged that, according to a Romanian official who says he witnessed it, looked like bundled-up terror suspects.

Large, mysterious parcels! Truth is invariably stranger than fiction. Denials abound. But Romania is not the only European country that is aiding and abetting the CIA.

Follow me over the bar.

In a nationally televised 'farewell address' to Russia's State Council on Friday, Vladimir Putin raised the specter of a new arms race with the West. Recently agreed upon NATO missile installations in Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as new bases being built in Romania and Bulgaria, are the stated reason for Putin's heightened rhetoric.