President of France addresses U.S. Congress

American Diplomacy, Jan 8, 2008 by Michael Hornblow

"Long live French-American friendship"

Nicolas Sarkozy (President of France)

Text: www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/11/the_frenchamerican_alliance_is.html

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlt2GE4EYo4

What a difference seven months can make. Prior to last May when Nicolas Sarkozy became President of France, US-French relations were in the sewer. France had refused to help us in Iraq in 2003 and massive Francophobia ensued. All things French--cuisine, wine, language, cinema, fries (remember "freedom fries")--were shunned.

Now, we have rediscovered each other, and our oldest ally has become our newest friend. President Sarkozy is largely responsible for this transformation. He came to power with a vision of France once again becoming a major power on the world stage, defending western values and restoring French-American friendship.

Thus he chose a bucolic town in New Hampshire as his vacation spot last August, almost unheard of for a European leader. In November, he came to Washington for a whirlwind visit, which included a lavish state dinner at the White House, a visit to Mount Vernon, and an extraordinary address to a joint session of Congress.

Sarkozy began his address on a highly personal note, recalled Lafayette and Washington, and paid homage to the universality of the American dream saying, "What made America great was her ability to transform her own dream into hope for all mankind."

He added moving remarks about the debt France owes to America: "Whenever an American soldier falls somewhere in the world, I think of what the American army did for France. I think of them and I am sad, as one is sad to lose a member of one's family." The French President also mentioned Eisenhower, JFK, Martin Luther King, Elvis, John Wayne, Ernest Hemingway and others in this love letter to America.

Regarding 9/11 Sarkozy defiantly remarked, "The terrorists thought they would weaken you. They made you greater." He assured Congress that "America can count on France," and expressed his solidarity with our policies toward Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Lebanon, and held out the possibility of France resuming its full role in NATO.

Reviewed by Michael Hornblow