so obama says the french are the united states ''greatest ally''....

[stokemaveric]

well we ought to pull our 10.000 troops out of afghanistan and let the u.s forces fight alongside the 3.850 frenchmen fighting there and remember the 350 british troops who have lost their lives compared to the 53 that the french have lost...obama ought to realise who his true allies are before mouthing off...he will want us before we need him..and cameron ought to tell him to sling his hook...ungrateful yank hypocrite....

[Whickerman]

do you also get upset when you see your favourite band on tv screaming that the crowd they're playing to are the greatest crowd ever?

It's rhetoric. And surely you wouldn't fall for a politician's rhetoric ?

[stokemaveric]

''rhetoric''???...he is supposed to be a world leader.....its all about ''statesmanship''..you dont keep peter happy whilst shooting paul in the back do you???...

[eyethenkyew]

Yep, let's all stamp our feet, cross our arms, pout out our bottom lip and shout;

"No, no, naughty Mr Obama! Go away - won't play with you anymore!"

[jake-the-peg]

So we have 3 times as many troops as the French and they have lost 1/7 as many soldiers?

That must mean their soldiers are 2.14 times as good as ours!

[jno]

or that the walls they hide behind are 2.14 times as thick.

Agree, stoke, this is foot-in-mouth diplomacy. Comparing the value of allies in public is crazy. What got into him?

(Not saying he's wrong, mind. There is no special relationship.)

[standian]

I would support Presiident Obama in his efforts at bridge~building especially where the French are concerned Thanks to the monumental mess he inherited,his time in office appears to be taken up by his having to mollify all that have been insulted,neglected or abused by the Bush regime!
A very grave insult inflicted will take a good deal of diplomacy and time to heal!

[jno]

he didn't actually say France was the greatest ally, as I recall, just that Americans didn't have a greater one. Even so, that does slight nations (Britain mainly) who have snuggled up much more closely, and I think that's clumsy. Why couldn't he just have said "a great and long-standing ally" or something?

[rowanwitch]

because he appears to be a young man promoted above his actual abilities

[Fitzer]

Bearing in mind that France (well Lafayette) essentially helped pay for the US War of Independence from Britain and the US and France have never fought each other then you'd have to say that he's probably right in placing them among the A list of America's allies. Britain (or parts of it) being over sensitive I'd say.

[jno]

well, sort of, Fitzer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-War

[R1Geezer]

well it was a Yank general who said he'd rather have a Germann division infront than a French one behind! So I can't imagine there is really a Froggy/Septic love in going on. Remember the CESM quip after 911, etc must be rhetoric from Bazza if you ask me!

[Ogre368]

This isn't just the attitude of Obama but this is shared by many soldiers too. My older brother has served in Iraq and Afghanistan and would tell me that many Americans were like brothers and sisters to us but then many fell into the Clichéd stereotype of the loud brash "we don't need anyone to help us win the war as we are AMERICA "type who would often be found putting us down because our lack of equipment/hardware compared to theirs. My brother actually quoted one guy that before operations would look at us i a pitiful and prod at a uniform someone was wearing or kick at the wheel or armor plating of our vehicle and shout "Well at least we know who's gona be Taliban fodder today" and then he would be laughing and hi fiveing his friends. There was so much anti brit grafitti in the latrines and we generally would get put down and bullied on a constant basis as we were always seen as the weaker force that didn't need to be there especially with unsatisfactory uniform, weapons that didn't work, under armored vehicles etc.. Again not all of them were like this and many many Americans did come to our aid during these verbal assaults.
I remember Blair saying "We will stand shoulder to shoulder to the Americans" Just a pity no one asked the Americans first as my guess is it would've been a case of "we thank you for the sentiment but we are the superior firepower o this planet and maybe would only ever need you if the french were busy"

[jake-the-peg]

You still peddling that myth Geezer?

[brionon]

Just like any other schoolboy-you wanna take your ball and leave if he's not Best Friends.

[Booldawg]

Obama is entitled to his opinions but doubt the sentiment is shared by US military staff.

"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion." — Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf

[tufty7]

To be honest the yanks are welcome to the frogs , In my opinion the yanks could start an argument in an empty room and they cause more trouble in the world than anyone else , People are fast seeing through there "we protect the world" banner and finally seeing " we protect our oil" banner and stuff anyone else" .........

[birdie1971]

The idea that we are America's blue-eyed boy is a myth. It's never really been true in any meaningful sense. It may have been briefly true for a period during the Thatcher years (when Thatcher and Reagan had a perceived common enemy and an agreed strategy on how to deal with that enemy) but those times have long gone. It's a political lie told in order to try to make ourselves look more militarily powerful than we actually are. It's the delusional philosophy of cosying up to the school bully in order to make oneself look 'hard'.

And that always ends up looking pathetic and desperate.