July 22 (Bloomberg) -- Middle Eastern and European leaders are lining up to hear what Barack Obama has to say on his seven- country tour this week. For his presidential campaign, what he says on the trip may not be as important as the photos and videos it produces.

``The visual images will say that he can play in the major leagues, and that will be very important for him,'' said Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana and one of Obama's foreign-policy advisers.

Obama, 46, landed in Jordan today at a military-controlled airfield on the outskirts of Amman after stops in recent days in Afghanistan and Iraq, where leaders of both countries offered implicit support for him.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has made clear that he backs the withdrawal of U.S. troops on a timetable similar to Obama's plan. Maliki told Obama in Baghdad yesterday that he hopes U.S. combat troops will be able to leave Iraq by 2010, according to a statement issued by Obama and two other senators. Obama's plan is to withdraw U.S. troops within 16 months of becoming president.

``The prime minister said that now is an appropriate time to start to plan for the reorganization of our troops in Iraq, including their numbers and missions,'' the senators said.

After Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai met Obama, a spokesman for the president said he expected to have a ``strong partner'' in the White House no matter who wins the U.S. election.

Lacking Experience

Obama is trying to shed a reputation, promoted by Republican opponent John McCain, as a neophyte on international affairs.

``He has not stepped in any of the potholes and he's looked presidential,'' said Graeme Bannerman, an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington. ``There's still a lot more to go. It only takes one screw-up to make the whole trip a failure.''

Obama plans meetings starting today in Jordan with King Abdullah, in Israel with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and in the Palestinian territories with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The scale of the policy challenges he faces were made clear in Israel today, when police shot and killed the driver of a bulldozer that careered into vehicles in Jerusalem, injuring at least five people, hours before Obama was scheduled to arrive.

The first-term Illinois Democratic senator has an edge over the Arizona Republican senator in most national polls. Still, surveys show most voters think McCain, 71, would be better on national security and overseas matters.

McCain's Military Service

McCain is trying to exploit that gap by emphasizing his 25 years in Congress and more than 20 years of military service including 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He criticizes Obama for visiting Iraq only once before and failing to use his chairmanship of a subcommittee on European affairs to hold hearings on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's mission in Afghanistan.

``It's clear that the only issue on which John McCain has an advantage -- or at least is in the game -- is international affairs and national security,'' said Jeremy Ben-Ami, executive director of J Street, a pro-Israel lobby. ``It's an important thing for Barack Obama to burnish his credentials and clearly demonstrate he is ready to engage on the international stage.'' Ben-Ami's Washington-based group backs diplomatic engagement with Iran, as does Obama.

`Very Delicate'

Hamilton said Obama needs to tread carefully while overseas. ``It's a very delicate thing for an opposition leader to go abroad,'' Hamilton said. ``If he's criticizing American foreign policy in Europe or in the Mideast, I think it has to be done with a deft touch.''

Obama visited Iraq's western province of al-Anbar earlier today, where he met with leaders of the local front waging war against al-Qaeda, Agence France-Presse reported.

Tomorrow, Obama will visit the southern Israeli town of Sderot, a frequent target of Palestinian rocket attacks.

``It's a place in which Israel's security is every day at risk and threatened and Senator Obama will have the opportunity to see that firsthand and to get a very personal feel for the everyday implications of that insecurity for the residents,'' Susan Rice, Obama's senior national security adviser, told reporters in Jordan today.

Obama's promise of more active diplomacy in the Israeli- Palestinian peace process and in dealing with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nuclear ambitions engenders both hope and wariness in the region.

`More Skepticism'

``Despite the merits of engaging with Iran, I think there will be more skepticism in Israel because the Israelis are truly divided whether there's any political money to be made engaging with the Ahmadinejads of the world,'' said Edward Djerejian, founding director of the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston.

The candidate won't lack for attention. The three major U.S. broadcast television networks have sent their evening news anchors to trail and interview him.

Obama left behind his regular retinue of campaign reporters while visiting Iraq and Afghanistan over the weekend; they will accompany him for the rest of the trip.

``Let's drop the pretense that this is a fact-finding trip and call it what it is: the first of its kind campaign rally overseas,'' said Jill Hazelbaker, McCain's communications director, in a Fox News interview July 17. McCain on May 28 called the Illinois senator's journey to the two war zones ``long overdue.''

Angela Merkel

Obama also will visit Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany, President Nicolas Sarkozy in France and Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the U.K., countries where his commitment to combating climate change and early opposition to the Iraq War make him popular.

A recent Pew Global Attitudes Project survey of 24,000 people in 24 countries found Europeans have an overwhelmingly favorable view of Obama.

In France, 84 percent say Obama will do the right thing in foreign affairs, compared with 33 percent for McCain.

``A lot of European politicians and the vast body of public opinion has fallen in love with Obama,'' said Reginald Dale, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. ``They've built up such expectations in Europe about Obama where they've put themselves in the position where they're bound to be disappointed if Obama becomes president.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Julianna Goldman in Amman, Jordan, at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net; Janine Zacharia in Washington at jzacharia@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 22, 2008 10:08 EDT