Barack Obama must be sitting and scratching his head in the Oval Office, wondering where he went wrong.

He'd shown the leader of a blip on the South Pacific radar screen more respect than he'd shown most other politicians in his time in the big house on Pennsylvania Avenue. In fact only last year he got on the blower and even offered him a round of golf when they were both on holiday at their homes in Hawaii.

He'd made a fuss of the enthusiastic, fast talking, friendly little chap, even taking him for a walk in the Rose Garden when he wondered into Washington last year. But then John what's-his-name did give him a commitment that where the stars and stripes goes that funny flag with a Union Jack in the corner would follow, even if it was all the way to Baghdad.

And he's since made good that commitment, but Barack will now be wondering whether they should have hooked up for another 18 holes when they were on holiday earlier this year. But then he remembered, that would have been impossible, he had to head off to Saudi Arabia to join other leaders paying their respects to the late King Abdullah and his billions.

Looking at the report on his desk from his newly appointed Ambassador to Wellington, he couldn't understand why this fellow John Key was throwing the brickbats at him for failing to raise human rights abuses in that God forsaken country. How could he have, he mused, considering he was there to mourn and not to moan?

Key, he'd been informed, stood up in his Parliament and proudly declared that he did more than the American President did earlier this year, and had quite a discussion on the topic.

Must have fallen on deaf ears though because on the day he left Riyadh three unfortunates had their heads chopped off, bringing the total for the year to 72.

Still at least he'd raised the issue, telling those of us travelling with him, that's what the media and the public expected him to do.

But he'd done it in a general sense, without hammering the issue, because he wants a free trade agreement with the region, just as he wants, and is negotiating one, with the United States at the moment.

He'll be hoping then that his old buddy Barack doesn't hold grudges!