Bush Celebrates Reconciliation Between Paris and Washington

The American President ends his European farewell tour with a two day visit to France

A long good bye. In Paris, where he arrived on Wednesday, George W. Bush pursued his farewell by celebrating Franco-American reconciliation next to his “friend” Nicolas Sarkozy. The two presidents and their wives had to leave for a private dinner Wednesday at the Elysée. The chief of the White House will return there this morning for discussions with the president of the Republic. The French overture in the direction of Damas, who provoked the reluctance in Washington, figures to be [a part of] of their international horizon.

Despite this light shadow, George Bush has not been forthcoming with praise for his French counterpart, yet also, will turn the page on [recent] years of conflict. In his discussion Wednesday at the seat of the OCDE, the American president praised the decision of Nicolas Sarkozy to send reinforcements to Afghanistan, a country where, he stressed, the United States collaborates with her allies to “[destroy] the network of terrorists [who operate securely in certain areas]. George W. Bush has once again exhorted Europe to engage itself more in Afghanistan, Iraq, and against the efforts of Iran to obtain a nuclear bomb.

“A New Transatlantic Era”

Poking fun at the fact that his hair has “become grayer” since his last visit to Paris four years ago, he [Bush] added, “The friendship between America and France has not changed.” “Recent history has proved that no discord can break the profound links that exist” between the United States and France, “the first friend of America,” he noted.

Beyond this rediscovered amity with Paris, the American president pronounced Wednesday that from now on, [there would be] a “new transatlantic era,” carried on by the likes of Silvio Berlusconi, Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel and his French host. “I see a commitment to one mighty continent determined to place in front the values of liberty within its borders and beyond,” he highlighted this by making a remarkable allusion to the efforts of the Old Continent to endow a common defense. In Paris, the congeniality and the perspectives outlined by George W. Bush [are taken better because] the government and [general] opinion has already shifted towards his departure from the White House in seven months.

The image of this “lame duck” (a designation given to presidents at the end of their term) has reinforced the popularity of Barack Obama who, according to recent polls, has an 84% favorability rating in France. The democratic candidate should come and visit before the [Democratic] Convention on August 25 in Denver