“European leaders enthusiastically praised President Barack Obama‘s new Afghan strategy at a NATO summit Saturday but held their ground on a central disagreement and offered only military trainers and extra security forces for upcoming elections.”
Lekic, Slobodan. Europe praises Obama, pledges few Afghan troops. Retrieved on April 4, 2009 from [Source]
In a variation on his message to Europe during the G-20 Summit, President Barack Obama on Friday described an America that needs to change as he arrived for the NATO summit but appealed to Europeans to set aside their own “insidious” anti-U.S. bias in return. It was a twist on the conciliatory approach Obama has relied on over the past four days as he travels through Europe, spelling out a new U.S. foreign policy and attitude that differ sharply from those of his predecessor.
But as leaders of the NATO alliance gathered for Saturday’s summit, it was far from clear whether the White House campaign would bring immediate results for the president’s main goals, in particular cementing new commitments of help in Afghanistan.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that France would commit no new troops to the effort. German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed support for the Obama administration’s plans to expand civilian rebuilding efforts and training programs for Afghan security forces. Between those diplomatic meetings, Obama employed a strategy he has honed at home: pairing talks with high-level leaders with pep rallies catering to the leaders’ bases of support.
On Friday, the president held a town hall meeting in a local sports arena, where hundreds of screaming teens filled the room and lavished Obama with displays of approval. The images were broadcasted from the site on the German-French border and surely were noticed by Sarkozy and Merkel.
Obama told the crowd that Americans had turned away from partnerships and failed to recognize Europe’s “leading role in the world.” He acknowledged the U.S. has at times shown “arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.“
As the crowd signaled its agreement, however, Obama went further, turning the critique on the audience. Obama stated:
“In Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual but can also be insidious.” “Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what’s bad.”
Obama’s job of finding extra help from NATO allies for Afghanistan was complicated Friday, expressing Afghanistan was enacting a fundamentalist law on marriage that human-rights advocates said would allow a husband to rape his wife.
Afghanistan is seen as a crucial test of the power and relevance of the alliance, which was founded at the height of the Cold War to counterbalance the Soviet Union and now is struggling against a rising insurgency far beyond its borders. This support will play an integral role in winning the war in Afghanistan by stabilizing the region, training the police force and protecting interests that still remain.
***
CS
