Posted on 01/03/2010 11:10:43 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has gone cold on his US counterpart Barack Obama, the Financial Times (FT) reported Monday.
Sarkozy, whose pro-Washington stance has seen him nicknamed "Sarko the American," stressed that France and the US were "the same family" during his first face-to-face meeting with Obama in April since the US elections last year.
But the French president has clashed since then with his US counterpart on a series of issues, raising the question of whether Sarkozy is reverting to the anti-US posture of his predecessor, Jacques Chirac.
"He has now shifted from a pro-Bush position to an anti-Obama position," the FT quoted Jean-Christophe Cambadélis, international affairs spokesman for the opposition Socialists, as saying.
Obama's irritation with his French counterpart began when Sarkozy tried to grab the limelight at the G20 summit in London in April and talked condescendingly of the US President in private.
Sarkozy told colleagues that he found Obama to be inexperienced and unbriefed, especially on climate change, according to The Times of London.
In September, the French president expressed his frustration over how to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions and the priority that Obama attaches to the long-term goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. The French government also refused a US request to send more troops to Afghanistan, while several other European allies are planning to do so.
The French press often publishes Sarkozy's unflattering comments about Obama's lack of prior government experience, his alleged difficulty in reaching decisions or his domestic electoral setbacks.
"The paradox of the situation is that in terms of the relationship with the US, he can do a Chirac in that he can criticize the Americans but he can do it from a position that is 180 degrees different from Chirac," the FT quoted François Heisbourg, an adviser to the Foundation for Strategic Research, a Paris-based think tank, as saying.
"He can play to a habitual anti-American standpoint but not from a position that is fundamentally anti-American," he added.
Hey, I have done the exact same thing!
No they don’t. So now it is news people are cooling on the zero.
The last election proved that our country is over populated by fools. I can cut some slack to the urban blacks who voted for the zero but not to the so-called educated class who did.
Whatever one thinks of him on any particular issue, Sarko is a serious man who has worked enormously hard to understand the world, govt, and public affairs. How could someone like him respect a neophyte dilettante like Obambi, whose Messiah complex and sense of entitlement displays some of the worst aspects of the so-called “Ugly American” to other world leaders......
.... sure, Obambi stands in HUGE ways for US supplication to the UN, EU, and all of the world......so ppl might assume that many other world political ldrs adore him for being the anti-Bush etc...... but otoh, Obambi is an arrogant know-it-all twit who was not competent for his role as a rookie US Senator, never mind as a rookie “world leader” who knows less about so many matters than the Prime Minister of East Butt####........ Obambi must annoy and offend many world leaders even in instances when they might agree and seek the same policy etc. Let’s face it, it’s possible to dislike or even despise someone even when you may share a lot of views and goals with them, and I’ll bet a lot of the world’s socialist leaders condescend to or even detest Obambi in private, even if they maintain outward respect for “political” reasons.
Sarko at least is capable of some independent thought and action now and then, even if he is too mired in Euro-socialist policies still..... but probably no one at all more skeptical of Euro-govt and socialist policies could rise or get elected to much of anything in France or most EU nations.
Sarkozy isn't anti-US. He's anti-obama. That makes him pro-USA in my book.
“Sarkozy told colleagues that he found Obama to be inexperienced and unbriefed”
Conservatives did the same thing years ago, but not enough people listened.
This happened about 4 mos. ago.
You will love the bit between 3:20 - 3:53.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbB_fhC8Ppk
Sarkozy is the FIRST french president (I was born there) who LOVES America and, by the way, who is also capitalist...only, changing a country where workers will go on a one month strike if they don’t like the color of the bathroom is not an easy task - also when you have a country, socialist since such a long time, where you get more money NOT working and be on welfare - TAKE A LESSON HERE - poor Sarkozy - not easy to go back to capitalism when you have 30 years of socialism installed in the mind of people. I sincerely wish him well and hope he will be able to repeal some of the damages. But he IS totally pro - America - he must have been so chocked to see us elect a guy like that zero...shameful for us..so shameful.
Recall the pics of osama-obama with Sarko in the background smirkin’ or just outright laughin’! Remember Sarko’s quote, “Est-il faible?” (Is he feeble-minded?) Sarko’s wrong about AGW, but he’s no weenie!
Jerry Lewis fades to Pee-Wee Herman
Well, this is just dandy.
“He can play to a habitual anti-American standpoint but not from a position that is fundamentally anti-American,” he added.”
That’s because Obama is anti-American. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Soon after Barack Obama won the White House, French President Nicolas Sarkozy referred to him as “my friend” and strove to become the first European leader to meet with the newly elected American.
Now the honeymoon between the two leaders is over, according to The Financial Times.
Sarkozy has now shifted to "an anti-Obama position,” said Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, a spokesman for the opposition Socialists.
France turned down an American request to send more troops to Afghanistan, and Sarkozy has expressed frustration at what he perceives as Obama’s equivocation over Iran’s nuclear program and at the priority Obama has placed on the long-term goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons, the Times reports.
In a sharply worded speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September, Sarkozy alluded to Obama’s disarmament goals.
“We are right to talk about the future, but before the future there is the present, and the present is two major nuclear crises,” he said, referring to Iran and North Korea.. “We are living in a real world, not a virtual world.”
What kind of a stupid, nonsensical news article is this? A communist paper referencing the FT quoting a socialist opponent of Sarkozy speculating and reading Sarkozy’s mind and divining his intentions! And this wishful thinking counts as breaking news?
At least he has figured out that Barry is all smoke and mirrors.....
Sarkozy was put off of Obama when the Royal Couple visited Paris but refused the usual invitation to a state dinner. Instead, they chose to dine out in a restaurant by themselves.
Sarkozy showed his anger at the UN summit when Obama repeatedly cut and avoided him, but spent the whole time cozying up to Muslima and Communist dictators. Gordon Brown actually had to cut through the kitchen to reach Obama, who then ignored him anyway.
Obama has deliberately and repeatedly insulted almost all our European allies PERSONALLY, as well as thumbing his nose at them politically.
No doubt Sarkozy disapproves of Obama’s positions on defense, the economy, and other international issues. But he must also resent the constant stream of personal insults. You just don’t do that to your major allies. Not if you are supposed to be POTUS. Because your every move is scrutinized. One slip of etiquette might be a mistake, but were’s talking about hundreds of slips at this point. And they’re clearly not slips; they’re deliberate insults.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.