November 06, 2007

From Freedom Fries To Freedom Friends!

President Bush hosts French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy at the White House later today, in an evening that is being characterized as a lovefest by the media on both continents. Hyperbolic, probably, but a sure sign of the dramatic turn in U.S.-Franco relations since Sarkozy won election in May.

The Los Angeles Times may have scored the lede of the week with its preview of the visit:

Laurent Mellier remembers the dark days of 2003, when drivers would spot the French-flag sticker on his Honda and yell at him. Alain de Chalvron's low point came when a movie audience erupted after a character mentioned France and people around him began shouting insults. For one French diplomat in Los Angeles, it was watching children dump bottles of French wine into the street outside the consulate.

How far we've come. These days, some Americans might suspect that those "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" were right about invading Iraq. Rep. Walter "Freedom Fries" Jones, R-N.C., certainly does. Likewise, some of Sarkozy's countrymen may wonder what all those years of vitriolic U.S.A.-bashing has gotten them, besides a backwards labor structure and economy.

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Posted at 5:46 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Europe, France, Germany, President Bush
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October 31, 2007

Aid Workers Charged In Alleged Rescue Attempt In Chad

Associates of the French charity Zoe's Ark who tried to fly more than 100 African children out of Chad last week are facing charges of kidnapping and child trafficking, sparking international conflict over the case and concerns about the future of humanitarian efforts in the region.

Nine French citizens and six Spanish nationals have been accused of abduction and fraud, and some of them face up to 20 years of hard labor in a Chadian prison, according to Chad's interior minister.

U.N. officials claim many of the children were actually from Chad, not refugees from Darfur, and there is no clear evidence they are actually orphans. Zoe's Ark counters that tribal leaders told them the children were from Darfur and that the children were to be placed in the French foster care system, which would qualify the airlift as a medical rescue operation rather than an adoption effort.

The French government is backing up the U.N. "According to initial information... there seem to be many Chadian children and even many who are not orphans," a government spokeswoman told reporters yesterday.

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Posted at 9:25 AM
Posted to: Africa, Europe, France
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October 10, 2007

The Armenian Genocide: When Purity Meets Pragmatism

Let's get this detail out of the way: The United States does not brook genocide. Maybe this country does not always go far enough to stop genocide where it occurs (Rwanda, Sudan), but it has not ignored, let alone denied, the mass extermination of an ethnic group since World War II. What the U.S. always does do in reaction to genocide is condemn the killing wherever it occurs.

So why the opposition to a nonbinding House resolution that compels the U.S. government to formally recognize the 1915-17 mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide -- something George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did not do as commander in chief?

The answer, of course, is Turkey's resistance to the resolution. Almost anywhere else in the world, official government condemnation of genocide is an easy position for Washington to take. Not so with the Armenian genocide, because Turkey holds many cards, and the U.S. is in no position to strong-arm anyone it might still count as an ally in the war on terror.

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Posted at 3:50 PM
Posted to: Bill Clinton, Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Congress, EU, Europe, France, George H.W. Bush, House, Iraq, Israel, Kurds, Middle East, President Bush, Robert Gates, Senate, Turkey
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September 28, 2007

New Vote On Iran Sanctions Delayed

UPDATED.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not go out of her way to hide her disappointment at the latest setback in U.S. efforts to clamp down further on Iran.

"The international community has to have a greater sense of urgency about some of these issues," she said, speaking to reporters at the U.N. this afternoon. "We have two unanimous Security Council resolutions in place on Iran. We're working on a third, and using that track to try to invigorate the negotiations track." Rice conceded that there was already a "certain level of cooperation in Iran."

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Posted at 3:25 PM
Posted to: Asia, Bush Administration, China, Condoleezza Rice, EU, Europe, France, Germany, IAEA, Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, Terrorism, U.K., U.N.
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September 18, 2007

In Case You Missed It...

... we're going to war with Iran. France is on board, too. (With us, not Iran.)

What?

The surreality of global relations this week is enough to make us wonder if we're trapped inside one of John Bolton's fevered dreams. Let's untangle this web of crazy carefully, lest all our heads collectively explode.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is now seeking to assure allies that his country will "negotiate, negotiate, negotiate" before resorting to the option of war with Iran. On Sunday, the socialist ignited a firestorm when he told an interviewer, "We must prepare for the worst," adding, "The worst, sir, is war."

Kouchner said that France was "preparing" itself for the prospect of war in the event efforts to dismantle Iran's nuclear program were unsuccessful.

En route to a meeting with his counterpart in Moscow today, Kouchner sought to dial back his earlier remarks. "I do not want it said that I'm a warmonger. My message was one of peace, serious and determined," he told traveling reporters. Later, he blamed the media for running wild with what he'd said on Sunday. "As usual with journalists, they take one phrase and you don't know what came after," he said on a Russian radio talk show.

That's fair. Then again, maybe France picked a really bad time to propose Germany dump its historical baggage and dive into the nukes business.

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Posted at 6:30 PM
Posted to: Asia, Bush Administration, China, Europe, France, Germany, Iran, Middle East, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, Syria, Terrorism, U.K., U.N.
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September 17, 2007

Iran Fumes Over France's Nuke Warning

Iran is set to be the focus of discussions at both a Moscow meeting and the annual IAEA summit today, but a flare-up from French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner already has Iran on the defensive.

Kouchner commented that if Tehran possessed a nuclear weapon, it would pose a "real danger for the whole world," and the EU should prepare sanctions aimed at Iran's nuclear program even if the U.N. isn't ready to do so. Sanctions against Iran will be discussed among the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council in talks set for Friday.

Iran's official media responded angrily to Kouchner's comments, accusing the French government of wanting to "copy the White House" and French President Nicolas Sarkozy of taking on "an American skin."

Agence France-Presse has more on today's story, and The Gate has recent coverage of the international community's evolving attitudes toward sanctions against Iran.

Posted at 8:18 AM
Posted to: Europe, France, Iran, Middle East
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September 14, 2007

Report: Germany Wavers, U.S. Revives Iran Planning

About a month ago, we wondered why White House officials were leaking word that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps was to be designated a terrorist organization. Looks like we may have an answer.

Reuters reports that the leak may have been a hawkish attempt to goad the State Department into taking a tougher line on Tehran. The White House alleges Iran is arming and funding Shiite insurgents in Iraq, compounding existing frustration over Iran's nuclear ambitions. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has mostly laughed off U.N. economic sanctions aimed at his uranium enrichment program.

Now, there are indications the sanctions process may have hit a roadblock.

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Posted at 11:41 AM
Posted to: Asia, Bush Administration, China, EU, Europe, France, Germany, IAEA, Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, President Bush, Russia, Terrorism, U.N.
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August 09, 2007

Bush Stays Course On Iraq, Taxes & Torture

President Bush today addressed a varied list of topics -- ranging from the nation's bridges to corporate tax cuts to Iran -- ahead of a retreat to his family's compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.

The deeply unpopular leader kicked off the news conference, broadcast by all the networks along with cable, with one of the few bright spots of his administration: education. His initiatives in this arena have managed to receive bipartisan support, including the America Competes Act, which he will sign today. The bill boosts and expands science, technology, engineering and math education, as well as research and development.

"The American economy is the envy of the world and we need to keep it that way," Bush said in his opening remarks. "The bill I will sign today will help ensure we do remain the most competitive and innovative nation in the world."

As Bush was speaking, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was slip-siding after three days of record gains. French bank BNP Paribas announced this morning that it froze three funds because of concerns about the U.S. subprime lending market, reviving American investors' panic about volatility there.

Protesting that he was not an economist, Bush refused to detail what he thought should be done about the subprime lending problem, but did seem to draw the line at a federal bailout. He also said that because many of the defaulting homeowners "didn't understand what they were signing up for," it would be a "proper role for government to enhance education initiatives," and again pointed to the America Competes Act.

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Posted at 1:48 PM
Posted to: Alberto Gonzales, Bush Administration, CIA, Campaigns, Congress, Detainees, Europe, France, Iran, Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Taxes, Terrorism, WH 2008
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August 06, 2007

Nicolas Sarkozy's American Vacation

The French aren't known for being the most hospitable of international hosts -- particularly when it comes to American tourists -- so perhaps it's fitting that newly elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy is being treated to a less-than-peaceful vacation in New Hampshire this month. But the paparazzi welcome seems like a cruel way to greet the first American-friendly French president in a long time.

Sarkozy got testy with the American press over the weekend after photographers snapped shots of him and some companions as they went for a boat ride on Lake Winnipesaukee. According to AP, photographer Jim Cole and freelancer Vince DeWitt had permission to shoot on the lake, but yesterday an angry Sarkozy jumped into their boat and began "scolding them loudly in French."

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Posted at 3:18 PM
Posted to: France, Media
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July 25, 2007

Gadhafi: Still A Menace?

Libya's release of six Bulgarian medics who had been sentenced to die has earned that country loads of goodwill from Europe and the U.S. France's pledge of $400 million in compensation for the families who allege the group infected their children with HIV helped secure the deal; meanwhile, the EU is now preparing a substantial aid package for the northern African nation. President Bush recently named the first U.S. ambassador to Libya in more than three decades, and today, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she looked forward to paying Tripoli a visit soon.

It's an odd reversal for a nation once considered to be a sponsor of terrorism. In the 1980s, Moammar Gadhafi was right up there with the late Ayatollah Khomeini on America's enemies list. An alliance of conservatives and human rights groups whose memories stretch back to the 1980s aren't happy with the turnabout.

Gadhafi's decision to give up his nuclear weapons logically precipitated warmer relations with the West, but the Wall Street Journal balks: "The blackmail habit is hard to shake, and rewarding a dictator for hostage-taking is fraught with moral hazards." A director of U.S.-based Physicians for Human Rights complained, "This is really an outrageous case, in which the lives of these nurses and medic were literally ransomed for $400 million.... There is nothing to prevent the future scapegoating of foreign health workers and holding them hostage in exchange for foreign aid."

Indeed, the West's embrace of Gadhafi comes as Taliban militants hold a South Korean church group hostage in Afghanistan. One was killed earlier today.

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Posted at 7:23 PM
Posted to: Africa, Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Europe, France, Libya, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism, Tony Blair, U.K.
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May 11, 2007

Taliban Frees French Hostage

Eric Damfreville, a French aid worker kidnapped by Taliban fighters over a month ago, was released today to tribal elders in Kandahar. The Red Cross confirmed Damfreville's release and said its workers have him in their custody.

The Taliban credited the action to recent comments from France's new president-elect, Nicolas Sarkozy, who said on April 26 -- before his election -- that he would consider pulling his country's troops out of the NATO force in Afghanistan and that France could not remain in Afghanistan indefinitely.

Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters that the Taliban's leadership council "decided to free him for the newly elected French president" who "had said in his utterances that France will deliberate over withdrawing French troops from Afghanistan."

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Posted at 12:24 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Europe, France, Terrorism
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May 07, 2007

Sarkozy Seeks To Modernize French Economy

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's characterization of France as "Old Europe" four years ago stung the traditional U.S. ally, possibly in part because the dig may have carried a seed of truth.

That nation's economic malaise may be one reason why 85 percent of the electorate -- a staggering number by American standards -- turned out yesterday to elect as its new president Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative candidate who promised the more aggressive cure.

France has yet to step headlong into the free-market capitalism that many believe has turned Germany -- the other target of Rumsfeld's remarks -- into a runaway economic success. Many observers, both in France and abroad, see France's ills as the result of lax unemployment policies, a lopsided tax system and overly powerful unions, among other symptoms.

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Posted at 5:50 PM
Posted to: Europe, France
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