Sarah meet Henry, Henry meet Sarah

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff

NEW YORK -- Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin threw herself into a crash course in diplomacy at the United Nations today, beginning her first of two days of meetings with foreign leaders.

The meetings with Palin, who had never met a foreign head of state before and who traveled outside of North America for the first time last year, were designed to bolster her foreign policy credentials and introduce her to close US allies with whom she would work if she became vice president.

But the carefully orchestrated visits also highlighted the degree to which John McCain's presidential campaign will go to shield the first-term Alaska governor from the press. Until CNN threatened to withdraw its pool camera crew, Palin's aides initially banned reporters, who are traditionally allowed to briefly view private diplomatic meetings that are being photographed, and are sometimes allowed to ask a question.

Palin -- who was escorted by Randy Scheunemann, John McCain's top foreign policy adviser, and Steve Biegun, a former National Security Council member -- met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai today for about a half hour. He said later at the Asia Society, "I found her quite a capable woman. She asked the right questions on Afghanistan. She was concerned and she said how can she help, so I'm very pleased with that meeting."

Reporters were allowed in for less than a minute, and heard the self-proclaimed "hockey mom" of five discussing Karzai's only child, who was born in January 2007.

"What is his name?" Palin asked, according to a pool report.

Karzai replied that the boy's name is Mirwais, which means, "The Light of the House."

"Oh, nice," Palin responded.

Walter Russell Mead, a historian with the Council on Foreign Relations, said the meetings were likely to be more like courtesy calls than serious talks, given the uncertainty about whether McCain will win the presidency, and how much influence she would have over foreign policy in his administration. "We're not going to be talking about deep negotiations here," he said.

Biegun told reporters that Palin realizes that she is not yet in the White House. "Rather than make specific policy prescriptions, she was largely listening, having an exchange of views and also very interested in forming a relationship with people she met with today."

After meeting with Karzai, during which aides said she discussed the need for more troops in Afghanistan, Palin traveled by motorcade to the Colombian mission to the UN, where she met with Colombian president Alvaro Uribe and talked about a proposed US-Colombian Free Trade Agreement, which McCain and Palin support but Obama opposes, according to Biegun.

Then Palin met with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at his consulting firm's offices for what was perhaps her most substantive meeting of the day. Palin talked for more than an hour with Kissinger, who tutored President Bush during his first White House campaign and has kept in close contact with him through his presidency.

Kissinger and Palin spoke about Russia, Iran, and China, Biegun said. In recent weeks, Kissinger has stated that he believes the United States should meet with Iranian leaders without preconditions -- the position which has been taken by Democratic nominee Barack Obama and which McCain has repeatedly ridiculed.

Kissinger walked Palin to the doorway of his building and watched her motorcade drive away, but declined to answer reporters' questions about what advice he had given.

Wednesday, Palin is set to meet with Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, Pakistani President Ali Asif Zadari, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Bono, the rock star who has been an activist on Africa issues. With McCain, she is also slated to meet the leaders of Georgia and Ukraine. Asked what Zardari knew about Palin, an aide said: "Everybody knows about her. . . She is a much-talked about woman these days."