With W Gone, Good Thing We Have France
As Iran gets closer to a nuke each day, France has decided to fill the void Obama has left in leadership, and take the lead on the Iranian problem.
France threw down the gauntlet over Iran’s nuclear program yesterday, effectively eclipsing the United States as it pledged to take the lead in pushing for more United Nations’ sanctions.
“We make a last call to the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to our offer of negotiation,” Gérard Araud, the French ambassador to the UN, said after a Security Council meeting focused on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
“If Iran doesn’t [respond in] the short term, France will propose a new resolution of sanctions.”
The council’s five permanent members — the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China — and Germany have been seeking to advance talks with Iran over its suspected development of a nuclear bomb.
But the United States remained less insistent than France about emphasizing the imminence of a new push for sanctions.
“We have been — and remain [in the process of] — implementing a dual track” approach of diplomacy coupled with the prospect of increased pressure, said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the UN.
The contrast in tone was one of the strongest at the UN since Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, appeared to publicly chastize Barack Obama at a September council meeting, at which the U.S. President led a call for a nuclear weapons-free world.
“We live in the real world, not in a world of postures and communiqués. And the real world expects us to take decisions,” Mr. Sarkozy said then.
OUCH…
December 10th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
It is ironic, isn’t it? I am a fan of Sarkozy.
December 10th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
The French can be bloody minded if they see it in their best interest. And obviously President Sarkozy doesn’t live in the rarified world of a Harvard debating society exercise. Cheers.