I am just concerned that Afghanistan is such a tribal country, you arenot fighting an army...Hope they had some talks with India last weekabout some of it, India supports Afghanistan - laterally, traditionally.

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Happy New Year to all! Virtual hugs!

В МУЖСКОМ АНГЛИСКОМ КЛУБЕ --СИДЯТ ЛОРДЫ .. ОДИН ДРУГОМУ --ВЫ ЗНАЕТЕ МИЛОРД В АМЕРИКЕ --ЧЕРНИЙ ПРЕЗЕДЕНТОМ СТАЛ .... МДА ?? НАВЕРНОЕ ЕГО ХОЗЯИН ОЧЕНь ДОВОЛЕН ИМ --ОТВЕТИЛ ..ДРУГОЙ ЛОРД !!!
ЭТО ШУТКА ..
А ВЫ АМЕРИКАНСИ ДОВОЛьНЫ ИМ ??

I don't see anything wrong with the bowing - it's just a sign of respect. High time for the US to stop looking like a bully but show some respect to other cultures as well, which is exactly what he is doing. "Laskovij bichok soset matku dvazhdi", slihali?

I think Obama is a very diplomatic and wise leader. It doesn't hurt to bend your back sometimes..So I strongly disagree with the position of those that think it is a sign of weakness. No, it's a sign of strengh - the ability to show respect even to those who you think don't deserve it..But then the question is - Japanese don't deserve for someone to follow thier customs? Ah?? I don't think so...a very respectful country.

the bowing is not a sign of respect or disrespect. It is sign of unprofessionalism for the president de-briefing team. They should explain to the president what behavior is appropriate. In diplomatic languagethe bowing is disrespectful to your own country. But I do not think it is big deal, everybody understands the president does not have experience yet.

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Слaбый пол сильнее сильного, в силу слaбости сильного полa к слaбому

I don't see anything wrong with the bowing - it's just a sign ofrespect. High time for the US to stop looking like a bully but showsome respect to other cultures as well, which is exactly what he isdoing.
Very nice, very nice ( с акцентом Роберта де Ниро):-|
Other cultures do not reason like idealistic 16-year old maidens.
Especially Saudi Arabia ( BTW, what to respect them for?) To them Obama's bowing is not a sign of respect, but a sign of his subservience.
And to the Japanese, Obama's bow is a sign of nincompoopness.

I agreee with Misha, essentially it is a sign of bad protocol and ignorance on the side of Obama's team... What I do not agree with, that it is completely excusable...when one becomes a president the country doesn't expect him to learn on the job, they expect him to be competent from day 1. At least, I know, I do

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you can't always eat lobster, sometimes you gotta have fish (so says my son)

As per the Afganistan troops move, I am concerned about putting more troops into that country. As much as I would like to see changes there, I am afraid, this is an unwinnable war, as all afganistan wars in the last hundreds of years have been. I thin more efforts need to be make on changing the country from within, economaically speaking. For example, there was an initiative to replace the opium fields with other crops. They experimented with saffron, which did really well, and the farmers were happy. however, they didn't establish a way to package, ship and sell the stuff so ultimately it turned out to be a bust...

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you can't always eat lobster, sometimes you gotta have fish (so says my son)

strange...what kind of Commander-in-Chief announces troop surge and exit at the same time??
I miss grown-ups in the White House that don't play politics with national security...:-(

But I do not think it is big deal, everybody understands the president does not have experience yet.

Completely and utterly disagree!!! (md)The presidency is NOT a path to self discovery or some rite of passage. It is a JOB, the most important one. You cannot come in to work this morning and say that you know nothing about this and that because you just came in. You are expected to know what the hell you're doing by default of entering the building. Not to mention the army of tsars and advisors and cabinets and all other staff that this guy has.

What if you need surgery? And the doctor says, "Let's see. Where's the knife thingie? I'm gonna give it a whirl. See what happens, my first time and all"

Михаил Г., I think what everybody understands is that he is bowing because he doesn't think US is a great country, but an arrogant one...that's the reason he is reducing himself to bowing..