[An Nahar] America's top diplomat John F. I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, owner of a "lucky hat," speaker of French, current Secretary of State...
began his first official trip as secretary of state on Sunday, a marathon get-acquainted tour of America's closest allies in Europe and the Middle East.
A plane carrying the news U.S. secretary of state and his team took off from Joint Base Andrews outside Washington at around 7:15 am local time (1215 GMT).
Kerry will visit the United Kingdom, Germany, La Belle France, Italia, Turkey, Egypt, Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar from February 24 to March 6.
The first stop will be London, where Kerry will meet with senior British officials, State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told news hounds Friday.
Kerry travels on to Berlin where, in addition to meeting Germans, he will encounter his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, for a tricky exchange at a time when Moscow and Washington are at loggerheads on many issues.