America acknowledges role in empowering Talibans, etc.

Lifted from Hillblogger 3:

If we were to go by what Hilary Clinton has been saying (watch You Tube video below, H/T Marina Mahathir), America indeed has acknowledged its role in empowering the Talibans, and by extension, Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.

Stalwarts of the US Republican Party seem to have been suffering from memory loss these last few years but this space has never forgotten that the rise of the Talibans in the terrorism power realm was a result of America's aggressive, almost vindicative but short-sighted forward defence policy that was a cornerstone of the Reagan administration.

The short sighted approach that was America's, in its desire to defeat the Russians at all costs, inevitably led to the formation of a fundamentalist-extremist terrorism oriented movement inspired by the Talibans, the Al Qaeda.

There were two real major factions in Afghanistan fighting against Russia's occupation of the country in the late 70s until the late 80s, the Talibans and the Northern Alliance. America supported and heavily funded the Talibans and encouraged the recruitment of fighters from fundamentally Islamist countries.

France, on the other hand, was supporting, financing and advising the Northern Alliance, led by Ahmed Shah Masood, popularly known as the “The Lion of Panjshir” (shown), the coalition that eventually became the West's real major ally in the run up to America's war against the Talibans.

The rest is history -- the Talibans turned against America leading to the infamous 9/11.

Recommended read: Examining the U.S. foreign policy missteps leading up to 9/11

A glimpse into the difference between Europe and USA

The Difference Between European and American Woman

Et c'est à peu près vrai! Tee-hee!

H/T Blogs Warwick: (UK)

Sarkozy and Obama should be partners and not "rivals"

French newspapers banner Obama inauguration

Wed Jan 21, 5:56 AM ET

From Yahoo news: A display of French newspapers showing front page coverage of the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington D.C., in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009. Obama ushered in a new era for the United States, becoming the first black leader of the country. (AP Photo/Bertrand Combaldieu)

Crédits photo : Le Figaro

Meanwhile, Le Figaro playfully pits the French president against the new American leader: Sarkozy's American "buddy" will be a rival. I don't see why they should be rivals; they can and should be partners? For starters, they share a similar background, family, education and politics wise, i.e., both were abandoned by their foreign-born fathers and raised by their mothers; both grew into politics as community organizers and both are trained lawyers. Secondly, as they say, in unity there's strength.

But as ever in politics, national or international, we say, there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. Oh well...

Un moment historique: Barack Obama est le 44ème Président des Etats-Unis

Le 44ème président des Etats-Unis: Barack Obama

Toutes nos félicitations et nos meilleurs voeux pour une présidence pleine de reussite!

Newsweek: "The Last Model Standing Is France" (Can't blame me for feeling smug!)

Hat tip to SuperFrenchie who reveals one of the final stupid presidential acts of outgoing US President George W Bush: Bush's last food fight by imposing a 300% tariff on roquefort. Yes, roquefort, one of the famous French cheeses. 300% tariff???? Hilariously ridiculous. It seems this is his final retaliation act against France for French refusal to back him in his illegal invasion of and war on Iraq that has culminated in more than 1 million deaths so far.

So what! I'm all for keeping our roquefort and Bush can keep his hormone-infested beef!

But there is a happy, and might I add, judiciously savourous note, thanks again to SuperFrenchie's That was then; this is now that's making me feel embarassingly smug.

Well, here's why: while the US and the UK, its bosom buddy, played France and French bashing games on the world bashing court in the run up to that stupid invasion of Iraq, France stuck to her guns and boy, was she proven right. There were no bloody WMDs and worse, we learned that Bush and Blair and their subalterns had been fixing intelligence data around the invasion. And as if things couldn't be any more worse for them, France played its cards right and guess what? France has not gone down as bad as Bush and Blair/Brown countries have fared on the economic front.

One might interject, "They had what was coming to them!" Alright, it's not proper to be showing one's smugness in the current situation but heck, and I'm sorry about it (Dad, sorry I'm embarassingly feeling smug*) but good news is hard to come by! So, right you are: I am a teeny weeny bit feeling smug about it.

Here's what making me feel smug:

The Last Model Standing Is France: "For better or worse, French-style intervention is gaining the upper hand as other economic models lose credibility."

(*My Dad is English but also happens to be against the invasion of and war on Iraq from the onset and believes that Tony Blair should be charged with war crimes.)

NOTE: 29 January 2009. Have just been to SuperFrenchie's blog and found that this post has been linked by a search engine that's called Skyrock India.

Gluttony is ugly

I wouldn't have been interested in obesity had I not ran into a report on CNN-AC 360° tonight announcing that Oprah Winfrey, US talk show host, is obese and that she was embarassed because she weighed 200 pounds. (Whew! That's a lot of weight to carry around for someone who doesn't seem to be tall.)

The commentator followed up the report with a shocking revelation: 7 out of 10 Americans are obese. My goodness me. That's a lot of fat. No wonder, they say Americans are too fat for x-rays!

The CNN report that I heard seems to jibe with what I've just read in a Medical News report:

[...] An estimated two-thirds of the entire U.S. adult population is overweight or obese, and an estimated 23 million children fall into one of the two categories. [...]

Two thirds? Yuck! So, Is the Average American really becoming like this?

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According to a Down to Earth report, "the average [American] child sees more than 10,000 food ads on TV each year, most for high-calorie, high-fat, and high-sugar meals. Not only does the fast food industry spend billions per year on marketing, but they have also infiltrated our schools, signing contracts with them. Our children are bombarded from every angle with these toxic foods making it virtually impossible for them to eat anything else. It is no wonder that we have an increasingly obese population of children (who in time will become an obese population of adults)."

(I don't really know if this McDonald advert is for real but by gum, if it is, McDonald's is virtually committing a crime for inciting children to eat themselves to death!)

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And with a poor national health care system, I wonder how these obese people will cared for when their health degenerates on account of excessive, unecessary, ugly body fat.

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Thus making Americans officially the fattest humans on the planet, writes Healthy 360° .Must say this is the ugliest picture I've ever seen. It seems so gross and just downright vulgar to parade such ugliness that's primaritly been caused by gluttony. Think of how much prettier these fat women could have been had they put in some of the money they spent on food in a fund that would buy food for these starving children in Africa.

But let's face it. The trend towards putting on more weight that one can do without seems to be everywhere, even in France, home to the chic and slim. (Although I must say, I still have to see 7 out of 10 French that's obese.) Fortunately, the government has stepped up its campaign against obesity.

In fact, France is the leader in Europe in the introduction of public health measures aimed at reducing childhood obesity and have banned vending machines in schools since 2005. Read IHT report here.
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A piece of advice to Ms Winfrey and to all those folks in America who say they can't lose weight: The secret to losing weight is to just stop eating or at least eat much, much less. Everytime, you want to eat an extra slice of bread, think of the starving children in Africa.

Headline grabbers this week: Sarkozy-Dalai Lama meet, 2 million American jobs destroyed, US contempt for rule of law, cluster bombs

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Despite vulgar threats threats from Peking, President Nicolas Sarkozy keeps meeting with the Dalai Lama in Poland.

From Le Figaro: Première rencontre entre Sarkozy et le dalaï-lama First meeting between Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama

(Eric Feferberg / AFP)

[...] «Il convient de ne dramatiser aucun rendez-vous. Je suis libre de mon agenda», a tranché le président de la République, avant de s'entretenir avec le leader spirituel tibétain samedi en Pologne. [...] "There's no reason to over-react about any meeting. I'm free to do as I please", so decided the president of the Republic before meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader in Poland today.

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[...] C'est fait. Après des mois d'attentes, de polémiques et de menaces de Pékin, le président français Nicolas Sarkozy a rencontré le dalaï-lama, pour la première fois, samedi à Gdansk, au nord de la Pologne. L'entretien entre les deux hommes a débuté peu après 16h30 et se poursuit actuellement. Peu avant, lors d'une conférence de presse, le chef de l'Etat français avait affirmé qu'il convenait de «ne pas dramatiser» cette rencontre. [...] Done. After months of waiting, of controvery and of threats from Peking, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama met for the first time on Saturday (today) in the Polish town of Gdansk. The meeting between the two men began at around 4.30 PM and is still going on. More here.

Well, well... that will learn 'em Chinese not to go around threatening leaders of sovereign European states with whatever.

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Of course, it didn't stop Chinese authorities attacking France, qualifying Sarkozy's decision to meet with the Dalai Lama as opportunistic and hasty for not only ruffling Chinese feelings but also for weakening Sino-Franco relations. Frankly, who cares!

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On the other side of the pond, things are going from bad to worse. Reports have it that the US has almost reached the two million job loss mark for the year, the highest in the last 15 years. More than half a million jobs were lost for the month of November alone and still counting.

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From Le Monde: Le chômage aux Etats-Unis au plus haut depuis quinze ans The highest unemployment rate in the United States in the last 15 years.

Meanwhile in the :

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Roger Cohen writes about the "snub symbol of U.S. contempt for the rule of law."

[...] THE HAGUE: Of the many issues that have soured relations between Europe and the United States under the Bush administration, few have been as poisonous as America's refusal to join the world's first permanent war crimes court here. The snub symbol of U.S. contempt for the rule of law.

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In one of his last acts, Bill Clinton signed the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, but the signature never led to U.S. ratification. On the contrary, President Bush withdrew the signature.

.../...

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The effect of U.S. rejection of the court, combined with the trashing of habeas corpus at Guantánamo Bay, has been devastating. Allies from Canada to Germany that are court members have been dismayed by the U.S. dismissal of an institution they see doing evident good.

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Other smaller nations from Latin America to Africa, browbeaten by the United States on the issue, have looked elsewhere for lost military or financial support. The American idea, grounded in legal principles, has been undermined. [...] More here.

Human rights be damned? Let's hope the incoming US administration will prove to be as good as the world expects them to be.

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And the good news is from Oslo: Afghans sign treaty banning cluster munitions

In a surprising last-minute change of policy, the government of President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan agreed Wednesday to join about 100 nations signing a treaty banning the use of cluster munitions, Afghan officials said.

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The decision appeared to reflect Karzai's growing independence from the Bush administration, which has opposed the treaty and, according to a senior Afghan official who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, had urged Karzai not to sign it.

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Barack Obama mentor Warren Buffett competing with France's EDF for US electricity firm buyout

From Le Monde: EDF concurrence Warren Buffet sur le rachat de l'électricien américain Constellation EDF competing with Warren Buffet over Constellation, American electricity company.

EDF a proposé, mercredi 3 décembre, de racheter 50 % des actions du producteur d'électricité américain Constellation, pour un montant de 52 dollars par action, soit un investissement total de 4,5 milliards de dollars (3,5 milliards d'euros). Le groupe français entre ainsi en concurrence avec MidAmerican Energy Holdings, la société du milliardaire américain Warren Buffett. EDF offered on Wednesday, 3rd December to buy 50% of of the shares of American electricity company, Constellation, at 52 dollars per share representing a total investment of 4.5 billion dollars (3.5 billion euros). The French group is in competition with MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a company owned by American billionaire Warren Buffett.

EDF, I believe is one of the world's largest in electricity production and energy businessess. The French conglomerate is present in many countries and already operates in the UK.

Coming at the heel of the Boeing-led torpedoeing of EADS-Northrop bid there will surely be an outcry from Americans who are some of the worst isolationists in business. We all know how EADS lost the USD 35 billion US Air Force contract it had already won. Detractors had ignorantly claimed that EADS was a French company which it is not -- it is a pan-European company and Northrop-EADS bid would be made up of a grouping of American firms.
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I have no doubt Warren Buffett, the world's richest man, will not allow himself to be defeated in the contest and I have a suspicison he will use his influence with President-elect Obama to make sure France's EDF doesn't win.

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Believe it or not: America owes Thanksgiving Day to France!

Thanksgiving Day in June? (H/T to Mark over at SuperFrenchie's)

Kenneth C. Davis, author of “America’s Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation”, wrote an amazing Op-Ed piece in the NY Times, suggesting that a June date would be far more appropriate to commemorate the arrival of the first pilgrims to America’s shores, “After all the first European arrivals seeking religious freedom in the “New World” were French. And they beat their English counterparts by 50 years.” °

A French Connection
By KENNETH C. DAVIS
Published: November 25, 2008

[...] That French settlers bested the Mayflower Pilgrims may surprise Americans raised on our foundational myth, but the record is clear.

Long before the Pilgrims sailed in 1620, another group of dissident Christians sought a haven in which to worship freely. These French Calvinists, or Huguenots, hoped to escape the sectarian fighting between Catholics and Protestants that had bloodied France since 1560.

Landing in balmy Florida in June of 1564, at what a French explorer had earlier named the River of May (now the St. Johns River near Jacksonville), the French émigrés promptly held a service of “thanksgiving.” Carrying the seeds of a new colony, they also brought cannons to fortify the small, wooden enclosure they named Fort Caroline, in honor of their king, Charles IX. [...]

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Full NY Times article here.

Now, let me tell you that this was a surprising discovery for me just as I think it will surprise many Europeans and Americans alike to learn that America has a lot to thank the French for, eg., not only when they helped Gen George Washington boot King George's colonial armies but also for Thanksgiving Day! (I can't wait to hear what my English side of the family will say about that!)

So, with history for a backdrop, what better way than to wish all our friends in America a Happy Thanksgiving Feast in French: Joyeux Fêtes de Remerciements a tous nos amis en Amerique!

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Cross-posted from Hillblogger3: Thanksgiving Day: The first European arrivals seeking religious freedom in the “New World” were French

Dream Team Obama

Hmm... President-elect Barack Obama has come up with his team. Le Figaro headline:

Pour braver la crise, Obama choisit les «meilleurs esprits»

To confront the crisis, Obama selects the "best minds" or The Dream Team!

• 
  
• 

  La «dream team»
  de Barack Obama

  Click (on the link above) to see the gallery of pictures of Obama's "Dream Team"
  

• And the cost of the Obama plan? » Le plan Obama à 700 milliards d'euros
• And guess what? The stock market surged all over world! A result of confidence in the American president-elect and his economic dream team.
• Here's a message from David Plouffe, Campaign Manager, Obama for America:

Friend --

Today and yesterday, President-elect Barack Obama announced key members of an economic team tasked with creating jobs, stabilizing the economy, and getting our country back on track.

Barack is bringing together some of the best minds in the country to make swift progress on the economic challenges we face.

Timothy F. Geithner, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, will serve as Secretary of the Treasury. Lawrence H. Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury under President Clinton, will serve as Director of the National Economic Council.

Christina D. Romer will serve as Director of the Council of Economic Advisers, Melody C. Barnes will serve as Director of the Domestic Policy Council, and Heather A. Higginbottom will serve as Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council.

Peter Orszag, currently Director of the Congressional Budget Office, will serve as Office of Management and Budget Director, and Rob Nabors will serve as Deputy Director.

Watch the video of Barack's announcement yesterday and learn more about the economic team:



Barack's economic team has already begun work on a recovery plan, and he'll provide progress updates in the coming weeks. He'll also provide their initial recommendations to the incoming Congress.

You'll be instrumental in generating support to pass legislation that puts America on the road to recovery.

While we can't underestimate the challenge we face, we also can't underestimate the opportunity we have to bring the change our country needs.

Thanks,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Sarkozy à Putin: "Tu veux terminer comme Bush?"

French left-wing take on the Sarkozy-Putin anecdote: «Oui, mais tu veux terminer comme Bush ?»

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From one of the most critical and anti-Sarkozy left wing political tabloids, Le Nouvel Observateur: Sarko le Russe (Sarko the Russian).

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But despite their hate-Sarkozt spins, Le Nouvel Obs couldn't hide the fact that President Sarkozy played a great stabilising hand in the then Russia-Georgia debacle. Obviously, Nouvel Obs wouldn't be Nouvel Obs without their usual virulent snarks, but it really doesn't matter -- at the end of the day, no matter the left-hand/backhand salute, there was no beating around the bush: President Sarkozy saved the day for the Western World. Russia did stand down!

La scène, qui n'a jamais été racontée, se déroule au Kremlin, le 12 août, en début d'après-midi. Nicolas Sarkozy est seul face à Vladimir Poutine et Dimitri Medvedev. Il essaie de convaincre les deux Russes d'arrêter les combats en Géorgie et surtout de ne pas prendre Tbilissi. Il sait qu'une grande partie de l'armée russe veut aller jusqu'au bout et renverser Saakachvili. Comment ? Grâce aux interceptions des services secrets français ! Selon une note de la direction du renseignement militaire à ce sujet, certains responsables de l'état-major à Moscou conseillent à leurs chefs de foncer puisque la voie est libre. Sarkozy sait aussi - ou croit savoir qu'un pouvoir géorgien fantoche a été constitué par le Kremlin et qu'il est prêt à prendre la relève.

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Le président français interpelle Poutine et Medvedev : «Vous ne pouvez pas faire cela, le monde ne l'acceptera pas.» Poutine réplique dans son langage ordurier habituel : «Saakachvili, je vais le faire pendre par les couilles.» «Le pendre ?» demande le président français, effaré. «Pourquoi pas ? répond le Premier ministre russe. Les Américains ont bien pendu Saddam Hussein.» «Oui, mais tu veux terminer comme Bush ?», rétorque Sarkozy. Poutine est interloqué. Comme Bush ? Il réfléchit puis lâche : «Ah, là, tu marques un point.»

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C'est gagné : Saakachvili sauve sa tête et ses... Cet échange fleuri, épisode crucial de la geste géorgienne de Sarkozy, nous a été relaté par Jean-David Levitte, le conseiller diplomatique à l'Elysée. Normal : il donne le beau rôle au président français, auquel beaucoup, en Europe comme en France, reprochent d'avoir - par ignorance ou par calcul - trop cédé aux Russes cet été.

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The scene that has never been told before happened in Kremlin early in the afternoon of 12 August. Nicolas Sarkozy was alone with Vladimir Putin and Dimitri Medvedev. He was trying to convince the two Russians to stop the combat in Georgia and more specifically, not to invade Tbilissi. He knew that the Russian Army wanted to go the whole hog and depose Saakachvili. How? Thanks to the interceptions made by the French Secret Service! According to a note issued byt the chief of French military intelligence, some of the top ranking members of the Moscow estabslishment were advising their chiefs to go ahead. Sarkozy was well aware too -- or believed he knew that a puppet regime (to replace Saakachvili) had been formed by Kremlin and was preparing to take over.

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The French president told Putin and Medvedev: "You can't do that, the world won't accept it." Putin replied in his usual trashy language: "Saakachvili, I'm going to hang him by the balls." "Hang him?" the surprised French president asked. "Why not?" the Russian Prime Minister answered. "The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein." "Yes, but do you want to end up like Bush?" countered Sarkozy. Putin was gobsmacked. Like Bush? He thought for a while and said: "Ah, you scored a point there."

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The "battle" was won. Saakachvili saved his head and his ... This rather pittoresque exchange, a crucial episode in Sarkozy's Georgia initiative was recounted to us by Jean-David Levitte, a diplomatic adviser at the Elysée. Well, nothing extraordinary really that he should attribute the hero role to the French president whom many in Europe, just like in France, reproach for having given in too much to the Russians last Summer either out of ignorance or cunning.

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(Translation by HB) Complete Nouvel Obs story here.

This is effing funny! Hah!
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Like it or not, Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili should thank his lucky stars that President Nicolas Sarkozy of France saved his balls from the destructive ire of ex-KGB butchering operative-turned Russian president-turned Russian PM Vladimir Putin.

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A delicious, effing funny anecdote from The Times on last August's ex-would be Russian grand invasion of Georgia (For the benefit of US VP election loser Sarah Palin: Georgia the country not the state in the US, OK?):

.../... With Russian tanks only 30 miles from Tbilisi on August 12, Mr Sarkozy told Mr Putin that the world would not accept the overthrow of Georgia...

"I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls," Mr Putin replied.

Mr Sarkozy responded: "Hang him?"

"Why not? The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein," said Mr Putin. (Which reminds me of a debate that was raging in Russia earlier this year: To be "as cruel as the Americans" or not)

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Mr Sarkozy replied, using the familiar (French) "tu": "Yes but do you want to end up like (President) Bush?"
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Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: "Ah, you have scored a point there."

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President Mikhail Saakashvili, who was in Paris to meet Mr Sarkozy today, laughed nervously when a French radio station read him the exchange. "I knew about this scene, but not all the details. It's funny, all the same," said the Georgian President.
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Mr Putin's reported remarks appear to confirm that he was calling the shots in Moscow and not President Medvedev, who was Mr Sarkozy's host at the Kremlin meeting.

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The language was in keeping with Mr Putin's fondness for coarse imagery. More here.

Hat off to the French president who, like it or not, can be really persuasive. A lawyer by training and a professional politician by vocation, the man is quick witted and a pragmatist par excellence.

Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with French broadsheet Le Figaro today, Russian chief executive Dmitri Medvedev declared that Russia is prepared to cancel its plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Kalinigrad if the new US president (Barack Obama) renounces American plans to build an anti-missile shield in Poland.

Medevdev will be in Nice shortly to attend a Russia-EU summit and will be in Washington this weekend to attend another summit aimed at tackling the global economic crisis.

Clearly, President-elect Obama cannot or shouldn't refuse this proferred Russian hand of "world peace". Question is how will he do it without making America appear or at the very least, his presidency weak? Hmm... Wonder if President-elect Obama plays chess...

Cross-posted from Hillblogger3: Sarkozy to Putin: "Do you want to end up like (President) Bush?"

Landslide French vote for Barack Obama

Americans will elect the 44th president of the United States today. Polls have consistently forecast Obama as the winner. Same is true the world over.

Aucun doute pour les Français, qui plébiscitent le concurrent démocrate dans la course à la Maison-Blanche. Un soutien qui transcende les clivages sociologiques et politiques. Crédits photo : AFP (No doubt about it for the French who prefer the current Democratic candidate for the White House. Barack Obama transcends all social and political divisions.)

In France, Le Figaro reports that 80% of the French voted for Barack Obama.

Le départ de George Bush de la Maison-Blanche ne pourra qu'améliorer encore l'opinion, déjà bonne, que les Français ont de l'Amérique. Surtout si Barack Obama, plébiscité par nos concitoyens, est élu. (The departure of George Bush from the White House could only improve the already good opinion of the Franch towards the United States, particularly if Barack Obama, who's preferred by our countrymen, is elected.)

Les Français ont plutôt une bonne opinion des Américains. C'est George W. Bush et la politique de son Administration qui se sont chargés de dégrader l'image des États-Unis dans l'Hexagone, le jugement de nos concitoyens n'étant d'ailleurs pas différent de ceux recueillis en Europe et partout dans le monde. Conséquemment, l'opinion que les Français ont de Barack Obama, le successeur le plus éloigné possible de l'actuel hôte de la Maison-Blanche, est excellente. (The French have a rather good opinion of Americans. It was George Bush and the politics of his heavy handed administration that damaged the image of the United States in France, a judgement call of our countrymen that isn't any different from those in other countries in Europe and elsewhere in the world. Consequently, the opinion of the French of Barack Obama, the successor who is as far from the current White House tenant as possible, is excellent.)

Here's the rest of the report in French....

Selon l'enquête menée par l'institut TNS Sofres et Logica, les 2 et 3 septembre dernier, pour la French-American Fondation et publié en excusivité par Le Figaro, le candidat démocrate est ainsi préféré par 80 % des sondés, John McCain ne recueillant que 8 % des souhaits de victoire pour l'élection de novembre prochain à la présidence des États-Unis. Dans cette étude auprès d'un échantillon de quelque 1 000 personnes, 66 % des sondés ont une «bonne opinion» des Américains.

Sympathie pour l'Amérique

Dans ses précédentes enquêtes, la French-American Fondation avait mesuré la «sympathie» des Français à l'égard de leurs alliés d'outre-Atlantique. Au début des années 2000, nos concitoyens, à peu près 40 % d'entre eux, ont exprimé cette «sympathie» pour les Américains, 10 % des sondés avouant plutôt de l'antipathie, quand le reste se refusait à se prononcer. Mais après le déclenchement de la guerre en Irak, en 2003, ils n'étaient plus que 31 % - 10 points de moins -, à éprouver de la «sympathie» pour les cousins d'Amérique. Bien que l'énoncé de la question ne soit plus le même, faut-il en conclure que le prochain départ de George Bush - seulement 18 % d'opinion favorable dans le sondage TNS Sofres -, commencerait à raviver la flamme pro-américaine en France ?

Aucun doute possible sur Barack Obama, dont l'image auprès des Français est des plus nettes. Parmi les personnes interrogées, 86 % ont une «bonne opinion» du représentant démocrate - contre seulement 35 % pour McCain -, 80 % des sondés souhaitant voir le candidat démocrate élu. Un tel soutien transcende tous les clivages sociologiques et politiques. Barack Obama est ainsi plébiscité par les hommes et les femmes, les jeunes et les vieux, les cadres et les ouvriers, les ruraux et les citadins, les électeurs de gauche et ceux de droite. Son arrivée au pouvoir, selon les sondés, aurait des effets positifs sur la société américaine (84 %), les relations des États-Unis avec l'Europe et la France (82 %), la protection de l'environnement (81 %), le conflit en Irak (76 %), l'économie mondiale (72 %).

Les Français ne sont pas les seuls à déclarer leur amour à Barack Obama, qui, selon un sondage de la BBC réalisé dans 22 pays, est préféré par 49 % des personnes interrogées, contre 12 % pour McCain. L'avance d'Obama sur son rival va de 9 points en Inde à 82 points au Kenya.

» L'intégralité du sondage TNS-Sofres-Logica (pdf) (Complete TNS-Sofres-Logica poll results)

L'election présidentielle aux Etats-Unis en anglais simple

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok_VQ8I7g6I by leelefever