US-Europe Relations?

U.S. Changes Course on Eastern European Nuclear-Missile Shield - WSJ.com: "The White House is scrapping a Bush-era plan for an Eastern European missile-defense shield, saying a redesigned defensive system would be cheaper, quicker and more effective against the threat from Iranian missiles."

However, Spiegel ONLINE International informs that the deal settled between Radek Sikorski and Condoleezza Rice concerning the missile shield had not yet been ratified by the Polish parliament. If I remember right, the Polish people did not want the shield whereas the government wanted it. According to the Eurobarometer the peoples of Europe in general want to stay out of American foreign policy to a high degree. It is perhaps notable that the day selected, September 17, by Obama for telling the Poles about the change of plans coincided with the attack on Poland by the Soviets in World War II, an event the Russians have still not apologized for.

I guess Germany is now the fourth largest economy on Earth and is trusted by the US to defend the eastern border of Europe. Recently, at a meeting frequented by Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin in remembrance of the initiation of World War II the Americans did not show up on a comparable diplomatic level also indicating a loss of interest.

Obama is today also revealing that he does not intend to see Dalai Lama who is visiting Washington DC probably because of important meetings with the Chinese this fall. Both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton saw Dalai Lama at earlier times in their presidencies. He is then today appeasing both Russia and China and taking a clear stand off against the Bush foreign policy.

I'm not sure I understand a continued presence in Afghanistan that keep irritating the radical Muslims of the world at the same time as Obama is appeasing Russia and China. The logical thing to do would be to appease all major problem areas. Continuing with belligerence destroys the image of peace that Obama is attempting to create with his appeasements.