Rasmussen is New NATO Secretary General & Obama Gets It Right For Once

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who until yesterday served as Denmark's Prime Minister since November 2001, is the new Secretary General for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Rasmussen, of course, is best remembered for standing firm during the Danish cartoon controversy. I wrote an article in admiration of Rasmussen in February 2006.

However, since he is most closely associated with the Danish cartoon controversy his candidacy was nearly jettisoned by Turkey, NATO's only Islamic member.

But for once I will give President Obama a kind word. Obama reportedly interceded on behalf of Rasmussen with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and then brought the two of them together. Whatever Obama said it worked because Rasmussen has a new job and he should be good at it.

Under Rasmussen, Denmark has had troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He is ideally suited to lead NATO as it begins its seventh decade and one can only hope that under his leadership NATO will play a more significant role in Afghanistan.

As for President Obama, in the rare instances I think he's done something right I will make it known. However, I believe such instances will be few and far between.