Barack Obama's trip abroad has been going better than he could have dared hope

THIS week Americans have been bombarded with images of Barack Obama posing as the commander-in-chief. Mr Obama standing shoulder-to-shoulder with world leaders. Mr Obama flying in a helicopter over Iraq with General David Petraeus. Mr Obama shooting hoops with the troops. Mr Obama boarding a jumbo jet with his name emblazoned on the side. And John McCain? He was photographed on a golf cart with the 84-year-old George Bush senior.

Mr Obama's carefully choreographed trip was clearly designed to address his biggest weakness--his wafer-thin CV on foreign and military affairs. He had not visited Iraq since January 2006. Before this week he had never visited Afghanistan, the country that he describes as the front-line in the war on terror. He has not served in the army or studied international relations. In polls Mr Obama lags behind Mr McCain by some 20 points on the question of whether he has the experience to do the job. ...