Posted on 05/07/2007 12:39:04 PM PDT by SmithL
PARIS, France (AP) -- To the world, President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy sends this message: France is back. Sarkozy said in his victory speech that his France will stand up against tyranny, dictators and fundamentalist Muslim oppression of women — a global vision more in line with President Bush than Jacques Chirac, who defied Washington over Iraq and has been criticized for cozy ties with authoritarian rulers.
By urging the United States to take the lead on fighting global warming, Sarkozy also signaled that an invigorated friendship with Washington would not mean subservience. His speech Sunday provided comfort to a populace worried that France's global voice is fading.
"The message was, 'Don't take me for granted,'" said Francois Heisbourg, a leading expert on French strategic and foreign policy. "This was wise in terms of domestic policies but also in terms of the overall relationship. He was saying, 'I'm not going to be a poodle.'"
Sarkozy has won the label "Sarko the American" for openly admiring the get-up-and-go spirit in the United States, and indicated that he would toe a less-accommodating line toward the Arab world than his predecessors — whose close ties to the Middle East were rooted in France's past as a colonial power in the region.
Overall, though, his campaign gave short shrift to foreign policy, and his limited international experience has left many wondering how he will steer France in global affairs.
Sarkozy sought to quell that uncertainty in a speech barely 30 minutes after his electoral triumph.
France, he said, will stand alongside "all those persecuted by tyranny, by dictatorships." He reached out to "all those in the world who believe in the values of tolerance, freedom, democracy and humanism."
"France will not abandon women who are condemned to the burqa,"...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Yup. I was thinking of Snoopy’s parody of Teddy Roosevelt’s famous quote “Speak softly and carry a Beagle”.
I never saw that.
Maybe Snoopy flying his Sopwith Camel?
I thought Senator John Kerry was our poodle?????
LOL! I like it!
My response was to #11, a photoshopped version of the famous JFn photo at NASA .. it’s a hoot!
Scary!
BARF! Yeah, that just drove my blood pressure up a few notches, but you get that everywhere. I think we should just be satisfied that he’s the best the French can come up with.
French Enlightenment bump.
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