I've just heard President Obama on Sky News say;
"I just want to thank and praise France once again, on its outstanding leadership in Afghanistan."
This comes after France has resolutely refused to send more troops to that precarious theatre, less still into the main combat zones. So we can discount the praise he heaped on Gordon Brown for all his G20 travails yesterday, because the POTUS is dishing out the complements very liberally.
Meanwhile, if this wiki on the deployment of the French military overseas is anything to go by, it makes it obvious that for France, Afghanistan, unlike for the overstretched UK military who will send yet another 2000 trooops, is far from a priority for them.
Maybe President Obama's emerging flaw is that he really wants to be liked, for very little in return, not just by France, Saudi Arabia and Nancy Pelosi, but by Iran and Russia too.
My fear is that this is one charm offensive, that will not end well at all.
