Obama; France is the USA's Strongest Ally

[Ordinary_Chap]

Pesty said:

I get the impression he hates Britain

It's ok everyone hates him, including the French it would seem.

[Jimbeaux]

Pesty said:

UK troops in AFgan 8,300 in 09
France 2,780

I don't know in what capasity they are there are the French at the front of the fighting or in a suport role?

One of the first acts Obama did was remove a Winston Churchil bust from the white House. I get the impression he hates Britain

He removed Winston?!?! That would get him lynched by torch carrying crowds if the public found out. There is an oil painting or statue of him in just about every state in the Union. New Orleans has a massive one in front of the Hilton and Harrah's Casino.

[grumbledoak]

Forgive me, but is that his wife turning green? If so, that's damn funny.

[Colin 1985]

Jimbeaux said:

This is absolute crap IMO...I am so very sorry. I will do my bit in 2 years.

Whats the wait can't you assassinate him now?

[Jimbeaux]

Colin 1985 said:

Jimbeaux said:

This is absolute crap IMO...I am so very sorry. I will do my bit in 2 years.

Whats the wait can't you assassinate him now?

I don't like him one damn bit, but you really must not say those type things. Seriously.

[Pesty]

Jimbeaux said:

He removed Winston?!?! That would get him lynched by torch carrying crowds if the public found out. There is an oil painting or statue of him in just about every state in the Union. New Orleans has a massive one in front of the Hilton and Harrah's Casino.

http://www.newsweek.com/2009/02/20/busted-the-churchill-flap.html

Has America's even- tempered new president already ruffled feathers in the land that spawned Borat and Benny Hill? That's certainly how the spiky British press responded after the White House sent back to the British Embassy a bust of Sir Winston Churchill that had occupied a cherished spot in President Bush's Oval Office. Intended as a symbol of transatlantic solidarity, the bust was a loaner from former British prime minister Tony Blair following the September 11 attacks. A bust of Abraham Lincoln—Obama's historical hero—now sits in its place. A White House spokesperson says the Churchill bust was removed before Obama's inauguration as part of the usual changeover operations, adding that every president puts his own stamp on the Oval Office.



Maybe it's no surprise that Obama wouldn't want Churchill watching over his shoulder. After all, it was Churchill who, in 1952, ordered a crackdown on the Mau Mau rebellion against British colonial rule in Kenya, Obama's ancestral homeland. Obama's grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama, was labeled a subversive during the uprising and spent months in detention

[Gargamel]

Say what you like about Bush, I liked his quote on France

"Thats the French, they are always there when they need you. "

[grumbledoak]

Gargamel said:

"Thats the French, they are always there when they need you. "

He hid his intelligence very well, and with quite a bit of humour if you could see it.

Not remotely the power behind that 'throne', though.

[Victor McDade]

Shay HTFC said:

Bluebarge said:

Ooh - Politician in buttering up someone he needs something from shocker!

I find the most disturbing aspect of this article is the pathetically needy attitude of some Brits towards the Yanks - they don't love us, they're our allies because they need something from us, and vice versa.

We'll all be China's bh in 30 years' time anyway.

I couldn't quite describe what I was thinking about this, but that is the perfect way of saying it. We sound like a desperate little school boy whose getting upset because the bigger, better looking boy we idolized and followed around has started paying attention to someone else, leaving us crying in the corner saying "how could he hurt us like that".
fk me, some people need to get a grip and stop getting so worked up that America wants to make the most out of (and hence try to flatter) other countries too.

+1

[Pesty]

see above

In that link it says it was removed before he got there. But then again they would say that to defuse the situation, funny how they then say every president makes his own stamp on the oval office, so who was it that moved it then and what else was removed if anything.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Shay HTFC said:

We sound like a desperate little school boy whose getting upset because the bigger, better looking boy we idolized and followed around has started paying attention to someone else, leaving us crying in the corner saying "how could he hurt us like that".
fk me, some people need to get a grip and stop getting so worked up that America wants to make the most out of (and hence try to flatter) other countries too.

Fact is, France is a fully committed member of the EU and Euro. UK is still fannying about nearly 40 years after joining. So if Mr America is looking for a useful ally in Europe it's not surprising he's brushing up his French.

[tinman0]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Shay HTFC said:

We sound like a desperate little school boy whose getting upset because the bigger, better looking boy we idolized and followed around has started paying attention to someone else, leaving us crying in the corner saying "how could he hurt us like that".
fk me, some people need to get a grip and stop getting so worked up that America wants to make the most out of (and hence try to flatter) other countries too.

Fact is, France is a fully committed member of the EU and Euro. UK is still fannying about nearly 40 years after joining. So if Mr America is looking for a useful ally in Europe it's not surprising he's brushing up his French.

If France wants a blow job from the US, then it needs to put it's soldiers in the firing line in Afghanistan.

[Tadite]

Honestly.... I'm not sure if you're being serious. How stupid can you or this idiot commentator be to think that the fluff said at a photo-op means anything?


Photo-ops are all about hugging, being nice, and smiling for the cameras. That's the point. If the Irish are in town you talk about how close your relationship is, or Poland, or Canada, or whomever else. Every single President since the dawn of time in every single country on earth knows to play nice for the cameras.

The idea that the President is going to be standing next to Sarkozy, who is a close personal ally to the US and the head of a country roughly as important as the UK, and say how much he likes the French but that he likes the British, Canadians, Japanese, Mexicans, et cetera more is nothing short of ludicrous.

[powerstroke]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Shay HTFC said:

We sound like a desperate little school boy whose getting upset because the bigger, better looking boy we idolized and followed around has started paying attention to someone else, leaving us crying in the corner saying "how could he hurt us like that".
fk me, some people need to get a grip and stop getting so worked up that America wants to make the most out of (and hence try to flatter) other countries too.

Fact is, France is a fully committed member of the EU and Euro. UK is still fannying about nearly 40 years after joining. So if Mr America is looking for a useful ally in Europe it's not surprising he's brushing up his French.

He has 2 years then hopefully a republican will be elected and normal service will be resumed... re Europe yes we have ducked its grasp for 40 odd years maybe we will end up a little wet cold island that is a tiny part of the rapidly becoming comunist superstate or we will manage to get a referendum and disintangle ourselves

[allnighter]

s2art said:

MadMullah said:

why not?

what does england in realistic terms have anymore? even its international credibility is shot to pieces.

at least the french stood up and believed in their own policies

What 'International credibility' does France have?

FFs give them a chance, maybe the Yanks have discovered that a French BJ has more of that 'Je Ne Sais Quoi'? I'd say let's have a break, the knees are hurting, and maybe we should s2art seeing other people?

Edited by allnighter on Tuesday 11th January 23:00

[El Guapo]

Bluebarge said:

We'll all be We're all China's bh in 30 years' time now anyway.

EFA

I'm slightly confused; I thought Mexico was the USA's greatest ally. That's what Dubya said.

[mybrainhurts]

Obumma and Sparkhozi have one thing in common...

......Zut alors



...........................................................Wiz zese ass, you are really spoiling us, Mr President...

Edited by mybrainhurts on Wednesday 12th January 00:44

[Jimbeaux]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Shay HTFC said:

We sound like a desperate little school boy whose getting upset because the bigger, better looking boy we idolized and followed around has started paying attention to someone else, leaving us crying in the corner saying "how could he hurt us like that".
fk me, some people need to get a grip and stop getting so worked up that America wants to make the most out of (and hence try to flatter) other countries too.

Fact is, France is a fully committed member of the EU and Euro. UK is still fannying about nearly 40 years after joining. So if Mr America is looking for a useful ally in Europe it's not surprising he's brushing up his French.

Committed member? Are you implying that GB's committment is any less genuine because it follows a different path than your personal love affair with the E.U.? You are bad mouthing the U.K. as "fannying about".....you see it that way, I see it as standing their ground for the sake of their own identity and free will.

[ErnestM]

I guess it's agood thing for Sarkosy that Barry's grandfather wasn't Algerian...

[Shay HTFC]

Tadite said:

Honestly.... I'm not sure if you're being serious. How stupid can you or this idiot commentator be to think that the fluff said at a photo-op means anything?


Photo-ops are all about hugging, being nice, and smiling for the cameras. That's the point. If the Irish are in town you talk about how close your relationship is, or Poland, or Canada, or whomever else. Every single President since the dawn of time in every single country on earth knows to play nice for the cameras.

The idea that the President is going to be standing next to Sarkozy, who is a close personal ally to the US and the head of a country roughly as important as the UK, and say how much he likes the French but that he likes the British, Canadians, Japanese, Mexicans, et cetera more is nothing short of ludicrous.

Fact is that this is the actual truth. He said "We have no closer ally than the French" which isn't exactly a snuff to us in the UK. Its generic politics talk. He'd have said the same about Estonia. Or do you expect him to add a "except the UK" onto the end of that quote?

Jimbeaux said:

Ozzie Osmond said:

Shay HTFC said:

We sound like a desperate little school boy whose getting upset because the bigger, better looking boy we idolized and followed around has started paying attention to someone else, leaving us crying in the corner saying "how could he hurt us like that".
fk me, some people need to get a grip and stop getting so worked up that America wants to make the most out of (and hence try to flatter) other countries too.

Fact is, France is a fully committed member of the EU and Euro. UK is still fannying about nearly 40 years after joining. So if Mr America is looking for a useful ally in Europe it's not surprising he's brushing up his French.

Committed member? Are you implying that GB's committment is any less genuine because it follows a different path than your personal love affair with the E.U.? You are bad mouthing the U.K. as "fannying about".....you see it that way, I see it as standing their ground for the sake of their own identity and free will.

You seem to be getting confused between what you think and what actually matters. What you think about the UK standing our ground for the sake of our identity and free will is irrelevant when a foreign nation is weighing up its options as to who it wants to get friendly with in the new EU power bloc.
Getting friendly with France gets the US directly involved with the EU and a fully committed EU member.

But more than that, we are reading far too much into this... It was a Daily Mail story designed with nothing in mind other than to stir up a frenzy among its unfortunate readers.