Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer chides Barack Obama for his ineffective response to the Iranian crisis, essentially calling Obama a coward for his failure to act decisively as the Iranian people stand up to their tyrannical government.

From Krauthammer's latest column in Investor's Business Daily:

All hangs in the balance. The Khamenei regime is deciding whether to do a Tiananmen. And what side is the Obama administration taking? None. Except for the desire that this "vigorous debate" (press secretary Robert Gibbs' disgraceful euphemism) over election "irregularities" not stand in the way of U.S.-Iranian engagement on nuclear weapons.

Even from the narrow perspective of the nuclear issue, the administration's geopolitical calculus is absurd. There is zero chance that any such talks will denuclearize Iran. On Monday, Ahmadinejad declared yet again that the nuclear "file is shut, forever."

The only hope for a resolution of the nuclear question is regime change, which (if the successor regime were as moderate as pre-Khomeini Iran) might either stop the program, or make it manageable and nonthreatening.

That's our fundamental interest. And our fundamental values demand that we stand with demonstrators opposing a regime that is the antithesis of all we believe.

And where is our president? Afraid of "meddling." Afraid to take sides between the head-breaking, women-shackling exporters of terror — and the people in the street yearning to breathe free. This from a president who fancies himself the restorer of America's moral standing in the world.

Read the full column at the newspaper's Web site.

I like to pride myself on staying well informed about what's going on in the world, but I have to admit, some of the stories profiled in Foreign Policy magazine took me by surprise.

The latest issue features "The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2008," including:

1. The Surge in Afghanistan Starts Early

2. Colombian Coca Production Increases

3. The Next Darfur Heats Up

4. The United States Helps India Build a Missile Shield

5. Russia Makes a Play for Africa

Read more at the magazine's Web site.

And somebody should consider sending Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton a gift subscription to Foreign Policy magazine.