Pat Dollard | Young Americans

By Barak Ravid - (Haaretz)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is very critical of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama’s positions on Iran, according to reports that have reached Israel’s government.

Sarkozy has made his criticisms only in closed forums in France. But according to a senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate’s stance on Iran as “utterly immature” and comprised of “formulations empty of all content.”

Obama visited Paris in July, and the Iranian issue was at the heart of his meeting with Sarkozy. At a joint press conference afterward, Obama urged Iran to accept the West’s proposal on its nuclear program, saying that Iran was creating a serious situation that endangered both Israel and the West.

According to the reports reaching Israel, Sarkozy told Obama at that meeting that if the new American president elected in November changed his country’s policy toward Iran, that would be “very problematic.”

Until now, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany have tried to maintain a united front on Iran. But according to the senior Israeli source, Sarkozy fears that Obama might “arrogantly” ignore the other members of this front and open a direct dialogue with Iran without preconditions.

Following their July meeting, Sarkozy repeatedly expressed disappointment with Obama’s positions on Iran, concluding that they were “not crystallized, and therefore many issues remain open,” the Israeli source said. Advisors to the French president who held separate meetings with Obama’s advisors came away with similar impressions and expressed similar disappointment.

According to the Israeli source, Sarkozy plans to begin intensive negotiations with the new American administration, regardless of whether it is headed by Obama or Republican Sen. John McCain, even before the new president takes office in January, with the goal of persuading him to continue the current policy on Iran.

But Sarkozy’s pessimism does not stem only from Obama’s stance; it also stems from the overall behavior of the international community toward Iran’s nuclear program, and particularly its inability to agree on a fourth round of Security Council sanctions against the Islamic Republic. This foot-dragging will make it impossible to effect a change in Iran’s nuclear policy, Sarkozy believes.

The French intelligence community believes that Iran has already obtained about 40 percent of the enriched uranium it would need for its first bomb, and that at its current rate, it will obtain the rest of the uranium it needs in the spring or summer of 2009.

However, French agencies are divided over what Iran is likely to do once it has this uranium. One view is that the Iranians will immediately make a nuclear bomb, in order to demonstrate their capability. The other is that Iran will continue enriching uranium without making a bomb - at least until it has enough enriched uranium for several bombs.

Sarkozy, Underwhelmed

Emanuele Ottolenghi - (Commentary Magazine)

Europeans tend to believe that a potential Barack Obama presidency will greatly contribute to improving transatlantic relations, after the stormy ride of the Bush era. Though Europe expects improvements under a McCain presidency as well, the Obama factor is considerably more powerful in generating goodwill on the continent, as evidenced by recent polls on transatlantic perceptions. It may come as a surprise, then, that at least on the issue of Iran, one of America’s closest allies in Europe is not so fond of Obama.

If reports are accurate, French President Nicholas Sarkozy views Obama’s current position on Iran as “utterly immature.” Not only that: France would view an Obama attempt to open talks with Iran as “arrogant” and “unilateral”–much the same language hurled at the current White House tenant in earlier years.

(Yo! Me: Now, Pay close attention to the next part … because it IS the most important point made in this election cycle that has NOT been seriously stated … until NOW!)

This is not to say that Sarkozy is right. It is just to point out that the main factor in choosing the next president of the United States should not be the desire to mend fences with disgruntled Europeans. After all, electing the President is about choosing the most powerful man in the world, not the most popular. And I suspect that, whatever the choice of the American people, and whatever the wisdom of Sarkozy’s judgment, the coming policy challenges will only further test transatlantic relations, Obama or not.