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...Delafon says it already has. "The Socialist opposition is already reminding people of Sarkozy's campaign comment that he didn't favor additional French forces because he couldn't see how it would be 'decisive'," Delafon notes, adding that few analysts see how a modest reinforcement could possibly prove "decisive" now. "This is a political move following through on Sarkozy's pledge to improve Franco-American cooperation. Making a political decision on a military matter, and without a clear military strategy for victory behind it, carries very significant political risks: The French public may sour on an Afghanistan going from...
...probably in anticipation of such complaints that Sarkozy conditioned the troop augmentation to NATO acceptance of a French plan he said will "allow the Afghan people and its legitimate government to build a peaceful future". Sarkozy isn't saying publicly what such a plan would involve, or how it might reverse the setbacks suffered by NATO. But its contents may well decide the fate of French involvement in Afghanistan...
...first state visit by a French president to Britain in more than a decade. But the visitor seemed to feel quite at home in a summit between British and French leaders in London Thursday. The huddle took place at a soccer stadium belonging to Arsenal, a high-flying London club that owes much of its success to a coach and half dozen players who are French. When France's President Nicolas Sarkozy took to the turf for photos with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, it was Sarkozy who looked keenest for a kick about, back-heeling a ball toward...
...pledges marked a "historic" summit; and stacked against the 2003 squabbles over the Iraq war, no one would begrudge some brotherly love. But amid the love-in, Sarkozy "didn't propose anything you can put into policy or take to the bank," notes Gilles Delafon, an author and French political commentator. So while his powerful speech to Parliament "made people take notice, listen attentively, and feel positive and hopeful," Delafon says, "that's what he does. Look for the beef, and you won't find any." Sure enough, there was no firm talk of testy topics like...
...visit to London - even though it won't actually produce anything concrete," says Delafon. That will only get Sarkozy so far, though. Amid the castle walls, fudge shops and quaint tearooms of Windsor, the fairytale town just outside London where Sarkozy was hosted by Britain's Queen, one visiting French schoolgirl recognized a "great president" in Sarkozy, let down only by "promises he's not kept." When he returns to France, things for Sarkozy will no doubt be tougher. With reporting by Bruce Crumley/Paris