The Obama campaign plane, a 757, will have only about 40 journalists on the manifest. More reporters wanted to travel with the Obama campaign; some have been told not to pack their bags, one notified to be on standby. I'm told hundreds of news outlets were interested in making the trip with Obama, very popular in Europe. There are fewer seats available for reporters than usual because the campaign is taking on more staff than routinely flies with Obama. Secret Service agents also travel on the campaign plane.

Two U.S. based reporters for foreign newspapers who I talked to today said they were told no foreign journalists--even from the countries Obama is visiting--will be on the plane.

WASHINGTON--In a run-up to impending overseas travel, presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) returned to a central rationale for his presidential run: the Iraq war and his broad strategy for a new U.S approach to foreign policy. Obama's speech, delivered Tuesday at the Woodrow Wilson Center here is his latest version of the "Obama Doctrine." Obama has talked tough on Pakistan in the past and his words were tough:

" And we must make it clear that if Pakistan cannot or will not act, we will take out high-level terrorist targets like bin Laden if we have them in our sights. Make no mistake: we can’t succeed in Afghanistan or secure our homeland unless we change our Pakistan policy. We must expect more of the Pakistani government, but we must offer more than a blank check to a General who has lost the confidence of his people," Obama said.

Click below for speech....

The Obama campaign is able to customize their pitches--the amount of money contributed in the primary and general campaign is noted, as in the note sent to one donor. "Our records indicate that you have given the maximum for the primary campaign and at least $0 toward the general election, which means you are $2,300.00 from your general election limit." A hard soft sell.

click for pitch letter.

Obama is poised to leave on a trip to take him to Jordan, Israel, possibly the West Bank, France, Germany and England. He is also to travel to Iraq and Afghanistan. On a conference call on Monday, Obama foreign affairs advisor Susan Rice was asked why Obama was clarifying his Iraq policy in advance of a "fact finding" trip to talk to commanders on the ground.

Said Rice, " But I think obviously Iraq is an important and critical issue in this election.

"Senator Obama has spoken and written about it multiple times during the campaign, as he will continue to. And this was an important opportunity, in light of recent events -- most notably what we've been hearing from the Iraqi government about its desire for a timetable, what we're hearing from our own general on the ground, General Dubik, about the enhanced readiness of the Iraqi security forces -- to reiterate20his approach and to underscore that he remains firmly committed to ending the war, to responsibly redeploying our forces, and to addressing the critical unattended national security challenges that we face.

For memo, click below..

The Ramallah visit comes as part of Obama's Mideast-Europe swing. The Israeli press and my Israel connected sources said Obama will be in Israel July 22-23. Ramallah is a short drive from Jerusalem, especially if part of an Israeli-sanctioned motorcade to zip through West Bank roadblocks. The stop makes sense; even though Obama is also visiting Jordan, a close U.S. ally--it would seem unusual for Obama to meet with Israeli leaders and not venture to the Palestinian West Bank.

Obama: As I’ve said many times, we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 — two years from now, and more than seven years after the war began. After this redeployment, a residual force in Iraq would perform limited missions: going after any remnants of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, protecting American service members and, so long as the Iraqis make political progress, training Iraqi security forces. That would not be a precipitous withdrawal. in carrying out this strategy, we would inevitably need to make tactical adjustments.

Put aside the flap over the cover of the new New Yorker, a cartoon portraying the Obamas' in the Oval Office--- Barack Obama in a turban with Michelle Obama wielding an AK-47 machine gun with a picture of Osama Bin Laden in the background. The Obama campaign finds it offensive and with good reason. It is tasteless. David Axelrod on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” said “did we like it? No. Is it the focus of our attention? No.”

The cover hides an in-depth story about Obama’s political roots, taking us to Hyde Park, the North Side and Springfield. New Yorker political writer Ryan Lizza brings us inside Obama’s Chicago political world and the political culture that spawned the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Among Lizza’s scoops:

*Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), with Obama at the launch of his political career—when he ran for state senate and knocked his opponents off the ballot—is lukewarm in the article and is critical of Obama’s relationship with Tony Rezko. She also sidesteps a question about whether Obama has retained his personal integrity.

"I asked her if what she considered slights or betrayals were simply the necessary accommodations and maneuvering of a politician making a lightning transition from Hyde Park legislator to Presidential nominee. 'Can you get where he is and maintain your personal integrity?' she said. 'Is that the question?' She stared at me and grimaced. 'I'm going to pass on that.'

*Lizza reports that Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) told him that Obama was a “top strategist” for Gov. Blagojevich’s first gubernatorial campaign.

“He and Obama “participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor,” Emanuel said. “We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two.” A spokesman for Blagojevich confirmed Emanuel’s account, although David Wilhelm, who now works for Obama, said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role.”