Obama's Foreign Policy Push

On Tuesday night, Obama will tell the nation from the Oval Office that the U.S. role in Iraq has changed for good, with the remaining U.S. troops to play a supporting role to Iraqi forces. It will be a milestone with no celebration or banners in a still unresolved war, one that wages on years longer and at greater cost than most Americans ever imagined.

The next day, Obama will make his largest investment of political capital to date in the trying Mideast peace process. He will welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for individual talks and a joint dinner, the prelude to direct negotiations between the leaders on Thursday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as host.