Triumph at the Victory Column

Today Senator Barack Obama hit all the right notes in a speech to more than 200,000 cheering, flag waving (American flags, please note!) Germans at the Victory Column in the heart of Berlin. The presumptive Democratic nominee recalled the critical victories America and Europe have achieved in the past when they have worked closely together. He challenged Europeans and Americans to renew their historically strong partnership in order to win future victories in the struggle against terrorism, intolerance, genocide and climate change. In an invocation perfectly attuned to his Berlin audience, Obama urged Europeans and Americans to join forces to tear down the remaining walls that still divide the peoples of the world.

Eight years of go-it-alone, 'cowboy diplomacy' have alienated so many of our friends around the world. It was therefore especially refreshing to see an American political leader received so warmly in the capital of our economically most powerful ally in Europe. Tomorrow, Obama heads to Great Britain, our closest European ally, and to France, America's oldest ally in Europe. Today's speech in Berlin was a very auspicious beginning for what promises to be a triumphant European trifecta for the Illinois senator.