Almost undoubtedly, Sen. Joseph Biden was correct when he warned that our nation's foreign enemies will test President-elect Barack Obama not long after he takes office in January. It is in no way a partisan reaction to Biden's comment to wonder whether Obama will be prepared for that test.
Nothing prepares a person for the presidency, it has been said. Former presidents have been unanimous in agreeing, in one way or another, with that warning.
The presidency is truly an intense job. Decisions made by the nation's chief executive have ramifications for hundreds of millions of people, sometimes for decades, even centuries in the future.
While the bulk of those decisions are made over the course of days, weeks or even months, national security choices sometimes have to be made within minutes - even seconds. And while the wrong choice on, say, the economy, is paid for with dollars, a bad decision on defense can cost lives.
In late October, Biden - now the vice president-elect - warned in Seattle, "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. ... Watch. We're going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."
Obama himself downplayed the comment. But we think Biden is close to the mark. The only questions are where the test will originate and whether it will involve a minor dispute or a genuine crisis.
It is naive to believe that our nation's foes will not attempt to capitalize on the new president, soon after he takes office. Leaders in Iran and North Korea, to name just two rogue nations, may use their nuclear weapons programs to test Obama. Some Arab leaders may decide to use "a generated crisis" to determine how far they can push Obama on the question of Israel. Or, the test may come from some part of the world normally not in the headlines.
Obama has just two and one-half months to prepare himself for the test. President Bush already has vowed to work as closely and cooperatively as possible with Obama. The president-elect undoubtedly will take Bush up on that offer. In addition, he should surround himself with knowledgeable, nonpartisan foreign and defense policy experts. Our nation's security should be a matter on which there are no Republicans or Democrats. That needs to be the case - and it is something Americans' many enemies need to be made to understand.