Obama team reaches out in first foreign outing

The US administration signalled a new spirit of international cooperation this weekend but called for its allies to do more and painted a bleak picture of the war in Afghanistan.
Vice President Joe Biden used the Munich Security Conference in the southern Germany city to say that Barack Obama's White House sought a "new tone" in foreign relations, particularly with regard to Russia and even Iran.
"I come to Europe on behalf of a new administration determined to set a new tone not only in Washington, but in America's relations around the world," he said on his first foreign trip since Obama took office on January 20.
"America will do more, but America will ask for more from our partners.
"As we seek a lasting framework for our common struggle against extremism, we will have to work cooperatively with nations around the world -- and we will need your help," Biden said.
Obama sent other big guns to Munich too: national security advisor General James Jones, special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke and General David Petraeus, US commander over Afghanistan and Iraq.
All three painted a bleak picture of the prospects of beating the Taliban, with Holbrooke saying it would be even tougher than stabilising Iraq in the bloody years following the 2003 US-led toppling of Saddam Hussein.
"It is like no other problem we have confronted, and in my view it's going to be much tougher than Iraq," Holbrooke said. "It is going to be a long, difficult struggle.
"I don't think we can afford to get it wrong this time, because for the first time, the situation directly involves the homeland security of the nations involved," he said.