.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Emet m'Tsiyon

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Sarkozy Tries to Bring Obama back down to Earth

One blogger wrote that Sarkozy "emasculated" Obama at the special Security Council meeting last Thursday in New York, that was supposed to be devoted to avoiding nuclear proliferation. I would not go so far as that blogger, but it seems to me that Sarkozy embarassed the American president, in remarks that Sarkozy apparently made in sincere exasperation after listening to Obama talk about universal nuclear disarmament as his dream when the current problem, the immediate problem, is the obtaining of nuclear bombs by Iran and North Korea.

Sarkozy said:
Mr President Obama, I support the outstretched arm of the Americans.
What have these proposals for dialogue brought to the international community?
Nothing.
More enriched uranium, more centrifuges, and to top it off, last but not least [Sarkozy's words in English], a declaration by the Iranian leaders proposing to erase a member of the United Nations from the map. There is a time when the facts are stubborn and one must take decisions. If we want a world without nuclear weapons on the way, let us not accept violations of the international rules. [additional text translated here][CNN video]

And in the original French:
Monsieur Président Obama, je soutiens la main tendue des Américains.
Qu'ont amené à la communauté internationale ces propositions de dialogue?
Rien. Plus d’uranium enrichi, plus de centrifugeuses, et de surcroît, last but not least [en anglais], une déclaration des dirigeants iraniens proposant de rayer de la carte un membre de l’Organisation des Nations Unies. Il y a un moment où les faits sont têtus et il faut prendre des décisions. Si nous voulons un monde sans armes nucléaires à l’arrivée, n’acceptons pas la violation des règles internationale. [L'article sur ce suject sur L'Express, 25 Septembre 2009, ici]
At least somebody among the world's political leaders, understands reality. While Obama avoided talking about how to deal with Iran, which violates its signature on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, speaking more generally instead about "a world without nuclear weapons," Sarkozy was quite specific. He mentioned Iran's violation of international law referring implicitly to both its violation of its signature on the Non-Proliferation Treaty and to its threat to destroy Israel, whereas threats against other states are also forbidden by the UN Charter.

The American people probably did not realize what problems they were going to get into by electing President Obama. With all his delays and postponed deadlines and evasion of the issue, one might think that he wants Iran to get nuclear bombs!! Zbig Brzezinski would be proud of his protégé.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Previous posts on the Iranian Bomb project at Emet m'Tsiyon:
Arab states too oppose an Iranian Bomb [here] & US delegate to the IAEA (Int'l Atomic Energy Agency) talks a good game warning of Iranian deception in working towards a bomb, but the Bush Administration does little concrete against the Iranian Bomb project [here]
Sarkozy govt in France more evenhanded, less pro-Arab than before [here]

Labels: , , ,