ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING, AND FROM A LIBERAL NEWSPAPER - AT 8:55 A.M. ET:  This remarkable analysis of Obama's performance abroad, from Jackson Diehl of the Washington Post:

Barack Obama has proved in the past few days that he can work smoothly and productively with a wide range of foreign leaders -- provided that he allows them to set the agenda.

The president's whirl of bilateral and multilateral meetings in London, Strasbourg, Baden-Baden, Prague and Ankara produced a string of glowing communiques announcing "real and lasting progress on a host of these issues," as Obama proudly put it...

...What's striking about Obama's diplomacy, however, has been his willingness to embrace the priorities of European governments, Russia and China while playing down -- or setting aside altogether -- principal American concerns.

And get this:

From Washington's perspective, stopping Iran's nuclear program is far more urgent than agreeing on the next incremental reduction in Cold War warheads. Yet Obama essentially consented in his first summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to devote the next four months of U.S.-Russian relations to an intensive effort to complete a new START treaty. No such cooperation on Iran is on the horizon.

COMMENT:  Diehl absolutely nails it.  Negotiations always succeed as long as one side is willing to surrender.  Obama the celebrity is doing great.  Obama the president is blundering.  America the nation is losing.

April 4, 2009