President Bush looms large on French political scene

[Flagg]

President Bush looms large on French political scene

PARIS, Sept 19, 2006 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush's ability to polarise electorates and political classes has spread to France, where the two leading candidates in the 2007 presidential election are divided in embracing or in despising him.

Ségolène Royal, the leading left-wing contender, on Tuesday taunted her right-wing rival, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, for meeting Bush in Washington last week.

"When Nicolas Sarkozy aligns himself with George Bush, that means he supports the criterion of preventive war, that means he accepts this theory of a war between good and evil, that he tolerates all these destabilisation attempts in the world," she told LCI television.

She said there was a difference between an "alliance with the Americans" and "alignment" with Bush and his policies.

"My diplomatic position will not consist of going and kneeling down in front of George Bush," she said.

A trailing left-wing presidential hopeful, Laurent Fabius, has also mocked Sarkozy as Bush's "poodle".

Sarkozy's supporters, however, said the meeting showed that Sarkozy, who has unashamedly brandished pro-US credentials, was being taken seriously on the world stage.

<snip>

http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=33167

[enigma000]

1. and who else is there for France to ally with?

Iran and Venezuela? Bush will be gone in three years, America will still be there.

[Virginia Dare]

2. I like your optimism....n/t

[MrPrax]

3. EU? n/t

[hogwyld]

6. Much better them than this criminal regime!

I was in France last month, and the people cannot understand how this psychopath was re-elected.

[demo dutch]

4. His "devisiveness" is going abroad!

[Cha]

5. How could anyone in France embrace

george fucking freedom fried bush?

[Supersedeas]

7. polarizing electorates - not doing much in the way of uniting anyone

but Neo-Cons call that leadership