Sarkozy hails 'strong' France-US friendship

[Wabash]

French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the friendship between France and the United States and paid tribute to American sacrifices in World War II, in a rare address Wednesday to the US Congress.

"Since the United States first appeared on the world scene, our two peoples, the French and the American people, have always been friends," Sarkozy said, as he emphatically drew a veil on years of cross-Atlantic tensions.

Arriving for a joint session of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, the French leader received a lengthy and warm applause, including several standing ovations, as he praised the United States for its world influence.

"We may have differences, we may disagree on things, we may even have arguments, as in many families," he said, "but in times of difficulty, in times of hardship, one stands true to one's friends, one stands shoulder to shoulder with them, one supports them, and one helps them."

Sarkozy was speaking a day after receiving an effusive welcome from President George W. Bush at an exclusive reception.

French-US ties had soured under Sarkozy's predecessor Jacques Chirac who firmly opposed the war in Iraq and the US-led invasion in 2003.

But Sarkozy, who is often called "Sarko the American" is one of the most pro-US French leaders in decades and clearly aims to show Bush and Americans that France has turned a page on the past.

"The United States and France remain true to the memory of their common history. Our duty is to remain true to the blood spilled by our children on both sides of the Atlantic in common battles.

"France will never forget the sacrifice of your children," Sarkozy said, referring to US involvement in World War II and the arrival of American troops on the beaches of Normandy to liberate the France from the Nazi occupation.

"At a time when my country had reached the final limits of its strengths, the time when France was exhausted, had spent its strength in the most absurd and bloodiest of wars, France was able to count upon the courage of american soldiers," he said.

"I have come to say to you on behalf of the French people that never, never will we forget that," he said.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071107170044.ctsk1ycd&show_article=1&lst=1


Yet, the Left wants everyone to believe that we are hated in Europe and elsewhere...a pack of lies yet again by Haters of America within America!

[Wabash]

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 — France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, burst onto the Washington scene on Tuesday, clearly reveling in his first official visit to the White House and asking the United States to embrace him as a friend.

Mr. Sarkozy has met President Bush several times, so the brief visit was a vehicle for Mr. Bush to reward him for his friendship and for the French leader to introduce himself and his team to official Washington.

Setting aside the recent anger he has shown because of his divorce, Mr. Sarkozy backslapped and hugged his way through the day. He also proclaimed his determination to be a reliable partner of the United States.

“I come to Washington to bear a very simple message, a message that I bear on behalf of all Frenchmen,” he said in a toast at a formal White House dinner in his honor. “I want to reconquer the heart of America.”

In his toast, Mr. Bush welcomed his guest with the words “Bienvenue à la Maison-Blanche.”

Earlier in the day Mr. Sarkozy, calling France’s opposition to the American-led war in Iraq “a disagreement,” told the French American Business Council: “I never quite understood why we had to fight with the United States. I never quite got it.”

He also distanced himself from the American presidential race, saying, “Regardless of who is president — male or female — we will work hand in hand together.”

Mr. Sarkozy arrived in Washington without a spouse but with some of the women who reflect the diversity of his cabinet: Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, a former chairman of a Chicago-based law firm, Baker & McKenzie; Justice Minister Rachida Dati, who has a Moroccan father and an Algerian mother; and Rama Yade, his 31-year-old Senegalese-born subminister of foreign affairs and human rights, whom Mr. Sarkozy calls his “Condi Rice.”

At a reception at the French Embassy, he announced that he would take the women to the black-tie dinner in his honor at the White House, saying that they and the rest of his cabinet represent “a new France.”

Among the other members of his party were the chef Guy Savoy, holder of three Michelin stars; Henri Loyrette, director of the Louvre; and several members of the French Parliament.

Mr. Sarkozy awarded the Legion of Honor on Tuesday to seven World War II veterans, including Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Democrat of Hawaii, who, as a 20-year-old lieutenant, lost an arm leading an attack in Italy in 1945.

On Wednesday, Mr. Sarkozy will address a joint meeting of Congress, as his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, did before him, before having lunch and holding a news conference with Mr. Bush at George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon. He will also meet with American Jewish leaders.

The entire visit is to last 26 hours.

“Sarko l’Américain,” as he is called, is considered the most pro-American French president in decades. The son of a Hungarian immigrant and a French-Greek woman whose father was Jewish, he unabashedly confesses his admiration for the United States, particularly its work ethic and popular culture.

He told the business council that during his presidential campaign, “I said I was a friend of America, and with that, they elected me — not bad.”

Mr. Sarkozy’s relationship with Mr. Bush is said to be warm, and his tough stance on Iran’s nuclear program — which envisions new punitive sanctions that will hurt French business interests — is welcomed by the White House.

Mr. Sarkozy has brought France closer to the position of the United States on dealing with Afghanistan, where France has troops; the Middle East, where he has called himself a friend of Israel; and Russia. The French leader also supports Washington’s position that the province of Kosovo will eventually become independent of Serbia.

“The tide has really turned in this relationship,” R. Nicholas Burns, under secretary of state for political affairs, said in a speech in Paris last week.

But Mr. Bush is resigned to the fact that Mr. Sarkozy will do nothing to support the American war effort in Iraq. Mr. Sarkozy sidestepped a question at the business council meeting on an American troop withdrawal, saying: “No one is saying that there should be an immediate, unconditional withdrawal. What we want is that as soon as possible, the Iraqi people can decide their future and secure their unity.”

French officials said that Iraq was not even on their agenda.

Nor is France ready to rejoin the military wing of NATO after a four-decade break, despite Mr. Sarkozy’s flirtation with the idea. He has called the possible admission of Turkey into the European Union, which the Bush administration supports, “nonsensical,” saying that 98 percent of Turkey is in Asia Minor, not Europe. He has sharply criticized Mr. Bush for failing to make the environment a high policy priority, a criticism he repeated Tuesday.

Mr. Sarkozy has also faulted the American health care system, which leaves many Americans uninsured, and the fact that much of America knows and cares little about the rest of the world.

“If I was in love with the American model, I’d go and live there,” he wrote in “Testimony,” his 2006 campaign book. “This is not the case.”

Since Mr. Sarkozy’s divorce from his wife, Cécilia, was announced Oct. 18, he has piled even more events onto his already frenetic schedule.

Cécilia Sarkozy said in interviews following their divorce that she wanted to retreat from the limelight and lead a tranquil life. That doesn’t seem to mean the absence of movement, however. The New York Post on Monday ran a photo of her and her daughter Jeanne-Marie leaving Orsay restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Mr. Sarkozy has refused to speak about the collapse of his marriage. He stormed out of a recent interview on “60 Minutes” when pressed, before the divorce was announced, about Mrs. Sarkozy’s whereabouts.

Yet in “Testimony,” he confessed his hurt that his wife had left him for several months in 2005, saying that openness in explaining the trauma was in order.

“This evolution toward transparency in public life, unimaginable only 10 years ago, has become inevitable today,” he wrote. “So you might as well deal with it head on and not try to dodge it.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/world/europe/07france.html?_r=2&ref=world&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

[issac the dragon]

There is nothing that warms some Americans hearts more than to hear a French citizen suck up about the world war, thanking us for 'saving them.'

What exactly did we save them from? "The French are Germans with food." The French did not want a German government, but that is not saying that they did not wholeheartedly embrace Nazism. They did. So, did we save them from their fascist selves? I am not sure.

[Wabash]

There is nothing that warms some Americans hearts more than to hear a French citizen suck up about the world war, thanking us for 'saving them.'

What exactly did we save them from? "The French are Germans with food." The French did not want a German government, but that is not saying that they did not wholeheartedly embrace Nazism. They did. So, did we save them from their fascist selves? I am not sure.

Sure we did...only to lose them for awhile to Communism. There are many Commie groups working over France and Italy as we speak.....many true Frenchmen and Italians are appalled...
Finally, after 50 years of socialism under Charles De Gaulle and Jacques Chirac, we may just have an ally!

The idea here issac is to embrace him and hope and pray for the best! From what I've seen, the man is self made and get's it done. He put Leslie Stall in her place too, and that always makes me cheer!

[Trueblue]

Wabash, I just love that avatar. That picture is so cute, it could be in one of my old photo albums.

[Wabash]

Wabash, I just love that avatar. That picture is so cute, it could be in one of my old photo albums.

Yep, pretty cute ...even Hillary looks kinda yummy...some people get better with age and some don't....
It sure as hell wouldn't be in my photo album thou...well, maybe bacxk in the 60s when I was a lib...:rofl:rofl

[Wabash]

The photo goes with this...
BILL CLINTON's MILITARY CAREER

Bill Clinton registers for the draft on September 08, 1964, accepting all contractual conditions of registering for the draft. Selective Service Number is 326 46 228.

Bill Clinton classified 2-S on November 17, 1964.

Bill Clinton reclassified 1-A on March 20, 1968.

Bill Clinton ordered to report for induction on July 28, 1969.

Bill Clinton refuses to report and is not inducted into the military.

Bill Clinton reclassified 1-D after enlisting in the United States Army Reserves on August 07, 1969, under authority of COL. E. Holmes.

Clinton signs enlistment papers and takes oath of enlistment.

Bill Clinton fails to report to his duty station at the University of Arkansas ROTC, September 1969.

Bill Clinton reclassified 1-A on October 30, 1969, as enlistment with Army Reserves is revoked by Colonel E. Holmes and Clinton now AWOL and subject to arrest under Public Law 90-40 (2) (a) registrant who has failed to report...remain liable for induction.

Bill Clinton's birth date lottery number is 311, drawn December 1, 1969, but anyone who has already been ordered to report for induction is INELIGIBLE!

Bill Clinton runs for Congress (1974), while a fugitive from justice under Public Law 90-40.

Bill Clinton runs for Arkansas Attorney General (1976), while a fugitive from justice.

Bill Clinton receives pardon on January 21, 1977, from President Carter.

Bill Clinton becomes the FIRST PARDONED FEDERAL FELON ever to serve as President of the United States.

All these facts come from Freedom of Information requests, public laws, and various books that have been published, and have not been refuted by Clinton.

After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, President Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1995 bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed five U.S. military personnel, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 and injured 200 U.S. military personnel, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa, which killed 224 and injured 5,000, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 and injured 39 U.S. sailors, Clinton promised that those responsible be hunted down and punished.

Maybe if Clinton had kept those promises, an estimated 3,000 people in New York and Washington, DC. who are now dead would be alive today.

THINK ABOUT IT! It is a strange turn of events. Hillary gets $8 Million for her forthcoming memoir. Bill gets about $12 Million for his memoir yet to be written. This from two people who spent 8 years being unable to recall anything about past events while under oath.

Sincerely, Cdr. Hamilton McWhorter USN (ret)

We don't want this woman who has never even run a country store, a business or any thing that requires management skills to even THINK of running for President is insane!

YES...I ran it thru snopes and some of it about Slick Willy committing a felony is false...but Snopes could not give a definitive answer on a lot of it.....What we do know is that they hate the military, are anti War and neither should e be President...oh ya...and Bill never served!

[Lone Laugher]

"YES...I ran it thru snopes and some of it about Slick Willy committing a felony is false."----Wabbass


BUT---you posted it anyway. Just another inventive way that you have found to be a liar.


:scared Wabby-The-Liar is watching me...........

[Wabash]

"YES...I ran it thru snopes and some of it about Slick Willy committing a felony is false."----Wabbass


BUT---you posted it anyway. Just another inventive way that you have found to be a liar.


:scared Wabby-The-Liar is watching me...........

Lie about what...that the Clintons are scum leeches on society? I put in the disclaimer! I'm covered! Snopes could not disavow all the info...and a lot of it is true and public record...so go Fuck yourself you pathetic moron!!
Damn right I posted it anyway...anytime I can point out what FRAUDS the Clintons are ...I will!
People are digging real deep on Hillary...bet on it!

[Lone Laugher]

Lie about what...that the Clintons are scum leeches on society? I put in the disclaimer! I'm covered! Snopes could not disavow all the info...and a lot of it is true and public record...so go Fuck yourself you pathetic moron!!
Damn right I posted it anyway...anytime I can point out what FRAUDS the Clintons are ...I will!
People are digging real deep on Hillary...bet on it!

Wabby....you are sooooo romantic!

[Wabash]

Wabby....you are sooooo romantic!

Pffttttt!

[Saguaro]

How many years ago was it that the Repubs were so irate with the French because they told the US that they wouldn't support the war in Iraq ???

How fast they change when the French are on Bush's good list

[Ringo]

How many years ago was it that the Repubs were so irate with the French because they told the US that they wouldn't support the war in Iraq ???

How fast they change when the French are on Bush's good list

Sag, France has been Anti World for at least 60 years! Hell they even fired upon American Troops in N. Africa, a FACT some don't know about! But listen to the Press and their BS, you know the Press YOU rely on for getting out of bed and making any decisions in life!!:mw:mw

http://www.forward.com/articles/10686/

[patriotsblade]

How many years ago was it that the Repubs were so irate with the French because they told the US that they wouldn't support the war in Iraq ???

How fast they change when the French are on Bush's good list

I know it. Does this mean no more freedom-fries? Dang it. :kickcan

[Wabash]

How many years ago was it that the Repubs were so irate with the French because they told the US that they wouldn't support the war in Iraq ???

How fast they change when the French are on Bush's good list

How fast they change when you have a NON-socialst leader in France!
I have already commented on this yesterday....DeGaulle and Chirac were socialist Big Time and borderline Commies....
Sag, France has been Anti World for at least 60 years! Hell they even fired upon American Troops in N. Africa, a FACT some don't know about! But listen to the Press and their BS, you know the Press YOU rely on for getting out of bed and making any decisions in life!!:mw:mw

http://www.forward.com/articles/10686/

Yep!

I know it. Does this mean no more freedom-fries? Dang it. :kickcan

Nope Freedom Fries WILL continue...but they are meant for True Americans, the ones that support their country....the ones that LIVE here! :wink
All others can have the Leftover, socialist fries!

[Wabash]

I bet the Prozac popping Socialist Lefties in the Demo party, and Libs in general, were just pulling their hair out yesterday when the "Frenchman" came to town!


:rofl:rofl:rofl