Do you think it is important for our political leaders to go to Iraq and Afghanistan?

i say yes, but only foreign policy and diplomacy. no domestics on their land.

With all the negative viewpoints that have been given about the war, I do not see how someone can make a judgment without first hand information. Although I also know that one cannot understand the full scope of the war with just one view of it. That is where John McCain has an advantage. He not only understands war itself, but has also been over there more than once on a grand tour. Of course Barack Obama is taking all the people who have been negative to the war, and so you wonder what he will really see and will it be tainted by their negative viewpoint?

Who is paying for Sen Obamas trip? It must be pretty spendy and I hope my tax $'s are not used for his trip

Greta, of course it's important, but we're concerned about the rock messiah treatment that Obama seems to have lined up for his upcoming trip to the mideast and europe. Katie, Brian, and Charlie, all flying first class on Obama airlines and providing 24/7 puff commentary for the photo ops... Meanwhile John McCain has been to Iraq and Afghanistan how many times now, and scarcely is it even mentioned in the MSM... about the same number of times as his son serving in Iraq. Oh well...

I think they should go, but why did Obama wait until he is running for President? All it is now, is a photo-op. If he cared at all about what is going on he would have been before now, and don't even get me started on Afghanistan, he should have been there several times, considering his committee appointment. This man is a fake and a fraud and my only hope is that the American people wake up before it is too late.

THE TAXPAYERS ARE BEING RIPPED OFF. THEY COULD HAVE MET WITH TOP MILITARY OFFICIALS IN DC. OBAMA AND HIS TOKYO ROSE MEDIA ENTOURAGE ARE JUST "MAKING NEWS" --- ANOTHER HUGE PHOTO OP FOR HIM. HE IS A DANGER TO AMERICA. VOTE McCAIN IN 2008.

the obama circus trip to Iraq is a joke and waist of money. he doesn't support the troops or the USA it is a photo session. John McCain has been there and lives every day knowing his son is serving there. the mainstream media continues its rediculous charade. I am really getting very tired and bored of this man and his no idea campaign to be president.

I DON'T TRUST BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA. HE HAS TOLD TOO MANY LIES AND HAS TOO MANY TIES TO TERRORISTS AND ANTI-AMERICANS. THE MAGAZINE COVER OF OBAMA AND HIS WIFE WAS GREAT! WE ALL NEED T-SHIRTS. OBAMA REFUSES TO DO TOWN HALL MEETINGS — IN FRONT OF AVERAGE AMERICANS — BUT HE’LL TAKE 300 PEOPLE TO EUROPE! LAST TIME I CHECKED — EUROPEANS CAN’T VOTE FOR OUR PRESIDENT! ARE TAXPAYERS PAYING FOR THIS? BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA WILL DESTROY AMERICA. I’M VOTING FOR JOHN McCAIN IN NOVEMBER.

I feel that Senator Obama visiting the middle east is a good idea in every direction. This will allow him to demonstrate his diplomacy that has been lacking in the white house since Richard Nixon's trip to Red China. Negotiations are (with the exception of Sudan) always a good decision. If we hadn't negotiated with North Korea we might have still had to deal with the threat of nuclear weapons and we might have avoided the war in Iraq altogether. Also the defiance of President Bush really needs to fixed and since Bush refuses to apologize for nearly anything, Obama certainly will mend the broken trust that we have achieved around the world.

Congressmen and Senators always show up in the Gulf region during election year. Bunch of photo op hogs trying to get re-elected. They are a pain in the backside when they show up. They don't really care what you're doing for USA. Of course they were a bunch of made up lefties when I was over there. Thank goodness President Reagan was our Command in Chief.

I think that if Obama really cared about the Troops, he wouldn't take all the same-view glory seekers. One of the soldiers over in Iraq said that Obama is really putting the troops in danger. They have to attend his rally, (No one would go without being forced) which makes the area vulnerable for attack. Also they could be doing things that need to be done and are really important. Obama already has his mind made up about removing all Troops from Iraq right away, so why is he even going? except to show off and get more TV coverage, if that's possible! Also, how in the world are those 300 people going to be protected?