Sarko the Anti-American
By Zbigniew Mazurak
After French President Nicolas Sarkozy was inaugurated, he was hailed as a pro-American politician by a number of naïve policymakers around the world, including John McCain. Some people dubbed him “Sarko the American” and later claimed that the Sarkozy Administration in Afghanistan, in Iran, and at the UN.
Sarkozy did NOT help in Afghanistan. He only sent 700 troops there, bringing the total to some 3500, but all 3500 of them are bound by caveats, which prevent them from actually taking part in combat. They aren’t well supplied, either.
Most of the troops serving in Afghanistan were contributed by Anglospheric countries (the US, the UK, Australia, et al.). The UK and America, between them, have more troopers in Afghanistan than the rest of the world COMBINED. 85% of human casualties in Afghanistan are also being borne by Anglospheric countries (Australia, Britain, Canada, and America). America and a few other countries are shouldering the burden while France, Germany and other European countries are involved in free-riding.
Sarkozy did not initiate any change in French diplomacy as far as America is concerned, so your claim that the French “have taken a very different diplomatic course from the prior French Administration.” is a blatant lie.
On trade, Sarkozy maintains existing barriers and keeps erecting new ones. On Syria and Venezuela, he appeases their dictators. On Hamas, his foreign minister called on the West (incl. America) to talk to it and to other enemies of the West. On NATO, Sarkozy has managed to bully the cowardice Bush Admin into accepting a European “Defence” Policy independent of NATO (i.e. the eventual abolition of NATO) as a price for French re-integration with NATO. On cluster weapons, Sarkozy has demanded that America give them up. On Galileo, which could be given to the Chinese, he favours the continuation of that program. On the EU’s arms embargo against China, he favours its abolition (i.e. he wants American soldiers to be killed with European-made weapons). On climate change, Sarkozy has called on the EU to impose an import tariff on American goods as a punishment for America’s refusal to sign the idiotic Kyoto Protocol. On Hezbollah, Sarkozy has prevented the EU from adding it to its list of FTOs.
On Cuba, he has lobbied the EU to abolish its sanctions against that Caribbean country. On the missile shield, Sarkozy has called on America to renounce its deployment. On NATO, in April 2008, Sarkozy blocked MAPs for Tbilisi and Kiev, emboldening Russian aggressors to attack Georgia and depriving that strategically important country of a NATO military shield. The Bush Administration had to sign a bilateral strategic cooperation agreement with Saakashvili instead.
In short, France has not improved her foreign policy towards America in the slightest. France continues to pursue a viciously hostile policy towards the USA. Sarkozy is THE most anti-American French president ever. That is not my opinion, that is a fact.
Zbigniew Mazurak is a defense analyst who writes articles for a number of conservative websites, including PPR, therealitycheck.org, www.gopusanj.com, and colony14.net; his #1 interest is defense, however, it is not the only issue about which he writes articles.
Mr. Mazurak is widely recognized not only as a decent defense expert, but also as a staunch conservative who truly believes in traditional Republican values such as defending unborn children, protecting marriage, a limited Constitutional government, low taxation, constitutional textualism, a hawkish foreign policy and a strong defense.