White House vs. WikiLeaks: A Sucker Punch for President Obama (Again)

President Barack Obama's cut lip -- a 12-stitch, small-filament affair -- happened during a friendly basketball game this weekend. But on Monday, one could easily have imagined the injury to be the result of a landed punch from any number of foreign heads of state who had been insulted, demeaned, or otherwise put in a highly uncomfortable position following WikiLeaks' release of 250,000 classified U.S. embassy cables on Sunday evening.

One could certainly envision Italian and Russian Prime Ministers Silvio Berlusconi and Vladimir Putin -- arm-in-arm, clad in matching fur hats -- sending their henchmen over to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for retribution after reading U.S. diplomatic cables warning of a disturbingly close relationship between the two leaders, characterized by "lavish gifts," amid allegations that Russia had become a "virtual mafia state."

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, deemed risk averse and "rarely creative" in the leaked documents, probably would have let Obama off with an icy glare or possibly a behind-the-back middle finger (not too creative but then again, not necessarily un-creative). And President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran -- compared in the missives to Adolf Hitler -- could surely be counted on for a swift kick to the presidential shins, at the very least.

As my colleague Walter Shapiro points out, the diplomatic cables were a mix of chatty gossip -- Qaddafi's "voluptuous blonde nurse," with whom he is presumably "having a relationship" is so entirely "Naked Gun, Part 1 Million" that it seems impossible the dearly departed Leslie Nielsen isn't around for the parody -- and harder stuff.

Most embarrassing and potentially damaging to America's long-term foreign policy goals are the revelations about Saudi Arabian financing of terrorist networks, regional concerns about corruption in Pakistan and disputes with the country over nuclear fuel, and conversations between President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen and then-Commander of U.S. Forces in the Middle East, Gen. David Petraeus, regarding accountability for counterterrorism strikes inside Yemen.

For Obama, this cocktail of media catnip and foreign policy snafu could not come at a less opportune time. Ever since the Democrats' November shellacking, international relations have been high on the presidential agenda: If the commander-in chief had his hands tied by the GOP on domestic issues, the world stage still offered some hope for the president who is a rock star on the road.

Immediately after the elections, Obama took to the skies for a whopping 10 days to trek across Asia, then whirled right around again the following week to take on Europe. The Asia trip, widely considered to be of only limited success, resulted in warmer relations with India, but never gave rise to the much hoped-for Korean Free Trade Agreement that the White House had been touting for months. Obama, who started off the Pacific voyage walking tall -- albeit with two left feet -- was limping, diplomatically speaking, by the end.

In Portugal for the NATO Summit, synergy with America's European partners on Afghanistan and a one-on-one meeting with President Hamid Karzai were nearly eclipsed by the president's one-man campaign to drum up international support for the U.S.-Russia New START arms treaty -- a (previously) bipartisan bill presently being held hostage in Congress by Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz.).

If the goal was to underscore Obama's fortitude (and finally get the legislation passed), the net effect might have been the opposite: Did the president really have to fly 3,000 miles across the ocean to gin up support for something that was once a no-brainer? For the Russians, already seated at the table, it seemed to have the awkward effect of making them question just who they were having dinner with, anyway.

The White House foreign policy strategy was not aided by last week's stunning and disturbing revelation that North Korea's nuclear capabilities were vastly more sophisticated than previously thought: U.S. intelligence looked flatfooted at best, depressingly delusional at worst in its assertion that sanctions remained a potent mechanism to curb the North's nuclear ambitions.

Nor was the administration helped by China's intransigence on the topic of North Korean aggression: In the wake of the North's Nov. 23 attack on the South, Chinese concession on Monday morning to renew six-party talks about the North's nuclear program was not exactly the iron fist of justice that the White House had so desired. It was more the sweaty, limp palm of nervous engagement.

And then: WikiLeaks. To hear Press Secretary Robert Gibbs say it, the leak was expected, annoying, unwanted. "I think it is safe to say that the president was -- it's an understatement -- not pleased with this information becoming public," he said. But, Gibbs reassured, "I do not believe that the release of these documents impacts our ability to conduct a foreign policy that moves our interests forward and addresses both regional and global concerns about the issues that threaten this world."

For the White House, this was likely the only position to take. The president, it was revealed, would not be calling the insulted heads of state to apologize for his diplomats' colorful and revealing cables -- that would be left to his trusty emissary, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In all probability, Obama needed a break: On Tuesday, "Blood Sport IV: Democrats vs Republicans" begins -- soon-to-be Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are due at the White House early this afternoon. If this is death by a thousand cuts, President Obama -- in stitches both seen and unseen -- has, perhaps, earned some time to lick his wounds before the next round begins.

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