TURKEY DEFIES CHOICE OF NATO CHIEF - AT 7:06 P.M. ET:  Lost in all the celebrity-style reporting over the president's trip to Europe is a rather ugly split that's developed in NATO, as reported by London's Telegraph:

Turkey's prime minister has warned that the favourite candidate to take over as Nato leader, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is unsuitable for the position.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, said that Mr Rasmussen had repeatedly failed to address the concerns of his country and the Muslim world over Danish newspapers printing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed that caused widespread offense. Mr Rasmussen had also rejected Mr Erdogan's protests over radio broadcasts by a Kurdish terrorist group.

COMMENT:  Rasmussen's crime, as prime minister of Denmark, is apparently that he stood up for Western concepts of free speech.  Turkey's prime minister is an Islamist, who clearly does not appreciate our concept of freedom.

Turkey, if it wishes, can veto the choice.  We would hope that President Obama, who will soon visit Turkey, will have a heart-to-heart with Erdogan, and will fully support the choice of Rasmussen.  If Obama bends on this, we can conclude that he has very little regard for the Western values he's pledged to defend.

April 3, 2009