“Diplomacy” on The Daily Caller

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (AP) — In a rousing holiday-season visit, President Barack Obama on Friday told cheering U.S. troops in Afghanistan they’re succeeding in their vital mission fighting terrorism. But after he flew in secrecy for 13 hours to get here, foul weather kept him from nearby Kabul and a meeting to address frayed relations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai (more)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The U.S. stands little chance of convincing Pakistan to sever links with militants fighting in Afghanistan using its current strategy, Washington’s envoy in Islamabad warned last fall in one of dozens of memos leaked Wednesday that expose America’s troubled alliance with the nuclear-armed state. (more)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister said Monday that newly leaked U.S. diplomatic memos provide clear proof that the Arab world agrees with his country’s assessment that Iran is the chief danger to the Middle East. (more)

US diplomats were ordered to gather intelligence on senior foreign figures, including UN officials, a huge cache of leaked diplomatic cables have revealed. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The release of more than 250,000 classified State Department documents forced the Obama administration into damage control, trying to contain fallout from unflattering assessments of world leaders and revelations about backstage U.S. diplomacy. (more)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian authorities abruptly halted plans to release an American woman Saturday after more than a year in jail with two friends, dashing their mothers’ hopes and pointing to the internal rivalries within Iran’s leadership. (more)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the end of American combat operations Tuesday leaves his country independent and an equal to the United States and he assured his people their own security forces will protect them. (more)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The number of people suffering from the massive floods in Pakistan exceeds 13 million — more than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the United Nations said Monday. (more)

LONDON (AP) — In just a few days, new Prime Minister David Cameron has openly declared Britain is no more than the “junior partner” of the U.S., irritated Israelis by calling Gaza a prison camp and enraged Pakistanis by suggesting their country exports terrorism. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the way to Washington, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he wants to talk about Afghanistan, Middle East peace prospects and the global economy. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — BP’s oil spill notoriety is reviving unwelcome attention from Congress on another issue: whether the oil company sought the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi to help get a $900 million exploration agreement with Libya off the ground. (more)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A weak and troublesome Afghan partner. A war strategy increasingly questioned. Sniping between military and civilian officials. Military deaths at record levels. A deadline to begin withdrawing troops that may come too soon. (more)

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Foreign Office named the United States embassy Monday as the worst offender among diplomatic missions that have racked up 36 million pounds ($54 million) in disputed traffic congestion charges. (more)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Drug addicts as young as a month old. Mothers who calm their children by blowing opium smoke in their faces. Whole communities hooked on heroin with few opportunities for treatment. (more)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Egypt signaled a temporary easing of the Gaza Strip blockade Tuesday following harsh international condemnation of the deadly Israeli raid on an aid flotilla en route to the sealed-off Palestinian territory. (more)

VIENNA (AP) — U.N. nuclear inspectors revisiting an Iranian laboratory to follow up on activities that could be linked to a secret nuclear weapons program recently discovered that some equipment believed used in the experiments has disappeared, diplomats said Friday. (more)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Investigators in Seoul say they have proof that North Korea fired a torpedo that sank a South Korean warship. (more)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton engaged in a verbal nuclear exchange Monday on the U.N. stage, where nations gathered for a monthlong debate over the world’s ultimate weapons. (more)

BANGKOK (AP) — A major Thai hospital evacuated patients and suspended all but emergency surgery Friday after anti-government protesters stormed in to hunt for security forces they suspected were taking positions there overlooking their barricaded enclave. (more)

For a head of government to visit the White House and not pose for photographers is rare. For a key ally to be left to his own devices while the President withdraws to have dinner in private was, until this week, unheard of. Yet that is how Binyamin Netanyahu was treated by President Obama on Tuesday night, according to Israeli reports on a trip viewed in Jerusalem as a humiliation. (more)