Obama's summer travel partly courtesy of taxpayers

Burnishing his foreign policy credentials, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is traveling this summer to Iraq and Afghanistan - and the taxpayers will be footing the bill.

His Republican opponent, John McCain, visited Iraq in March, also during the campaign year, and taxpayers financed that trip as well.

For security reasons, Obama's campaign won't say exactly when the trip will take place.

As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama is allowed to travel the world at government expense to learn firsthand about foreign-policy issues before Congress. Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I. and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., will accompany Obama. Hagel serves on Foreign Relations and Reed is on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Both are military veterans.

Separately, Obama plans to visit Europe and the Middle East this summer, with his campaign picking up the costs.

McCain's visit to Iraq in March was an official trip of the Armed Services Committee. Members of that panel frequently travel abroad to meet with troops and their commanders.

Before leaving the United States, McCain, one of the foremost proponents of the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion, said the trip to the Middle East and Europe was for fact-finding purposes, not a campaign photo opportunity.

When Obama's travel was announced, he said the travel would be "an important opportunity for me to assess the situation in countries that are critical to American national security, and to consult with some of our closest friends and allies about the common challenges we face."

There is no way to estimate the taxpayer cost of Obama's trip in advance, but the cost figures eventually will appear in the Congressional Record as a committee expense report.

Official trips often take lawmakers to several countries at taxpayer expense. The costs depend on many factors, including whether military aircraft is used, the type of aircraft and the beginning and end points. For instance, a trip by Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va. cost $12,094 between Jan. 1-9, 2008. He visited Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan and Israel.