From the reaction of Gerald Warner in the Telegraph, perhaps Obama should have stayed home rather than going to Europe.

Gerald Warner writes a column in the Telegraph that concludes that "President Barack Obama has recently completed the most successful foreign policy tour since Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. You name it, he blew it."

Warner points to Obama's failure to get results on the two goals of his trip. Obama wanted to get global funding and coordination of a massive new stimulus package and the deployment of European combat troops to Afghanistan. European leaders listened politely and said "no" to both. They agreed to send non-combatant troops, but no combat troops.

Warner points to contradiction of Obama's loud rhetoric with his actions in the North Korean launch of its rocket. "President Pantywaist is hopping mad and he has a strategy to cut Kim down to size: he is going to slice $1.4bn off America's missile defence programme, presumably on the calculation that Kim would feel it unsporting to hit a sitting duck, so that will spoil his fun."

Warner quotes Obama: "'Rules must be binding,' declared Obama, referring to the fact that Kim had just breached UN Resolutions 1695 and 1718. 'Violations must be punished.' (Sounds ominous.)" Immediately after such rhetoric, Obama announced reduction in spending on missile defense that would offer protection from the North Korean missiles.

His final paragraph will undoubtedly draw complaints of racism to divert attention from the real issue. Warner says,

Watch out, France and Co, there is a new surrender monkey on the block and, over
the next four years, he will spectacularly sell out the interests of the West
with every kind of liberal-delusionist initiative on nuclear disarmament and
sitting down to negotiate with any power freak who wants to buy time to get a
good ICBM fix on San Francisco, or wherever. If you thought the world was a tad
unsafe with Dubya around, just wait until President Pantywaist gets into his
stride.

Of course, France has been referred to as "cheese eating surrender monkeys" or just "surrender monkeys" for some time. Unfortunately, his point seems only too well taken that Obama will follow the usual liberal policies that have led to failure in the past. He seems to be working hard to make Jimmy Carter look like a great president.