OBAMA DOUBTED ABROAD - AT 8:07 A.M. ET:  The Australian reports something we're beginning to see clearly, that many foreign countries are becoming considerably less enthusiastic about Barack Obama, and these countries are allies of the United States.  Washington is opening ties with Iran.  It's also smiling broadly at Russia, and dangling a number of possible concessions.  As The Australian says:

The regional diplomatic effort, which will involve Mr Obama traveling to Turkey early next month -- Ankara has offered some qualified support for Iran's nuclear program -- makes good on his campaign promises.

But it worries Arab and Israeli leaders, who already question whether Mr Obama is making too many concessions to Iran, while eastern Europeans feel the same about the dramatic reversal in tone of the relations between Washington and Moscow.

COMMENT:  We hope that the Obama administration is simply testing the waters, as some analysts argue.  But we can't help noting that the changes reflect the leftist political instincts of the president and secretary of state, as well as Obama advisers like Samantha Power.

Time is not on our side, especially with Iran, whose nuclear program forges ahead.  Americans will start demanding some tangible results from the Obama foreign-policy team, sooner rather than later.

March 9, 2009