Washington DC - Newly elected French President François Hollande is coming to the White House next week to meet with President Obama ahead of the G8 and NATO summits. Two items are sure to be on the agenda: Hollande's call for a "New Deal" (as it were) in European economic policy that would restore growth rather than continue budget austerity, and Hollande's promise to speed up the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan.
Press reports suggest that Obama's agenda for the meeting will include trying to induce Hollande to renege on his pledge to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan. That would be a mistake, a terrible waste of a unique opportunity for Obama to agree with Hollande on a common position for speeding up the withdrawal of all foreign forces that they can announce at the NATO summit in Chicago.
The fact is, at the level of rhetoric, Obama and Hollande already agree on ending the war, as they already agree that the European austerity policy has failed and should be replaced by a policy of restoring economic growth. A common Obama-Hollande front on ending the war and ending European austerity would be in the interest of the American 99 per cent, the European 99 per cent, and the Afghan 99 per cent. (As the Obama Administration has correctly pointed out, austerity in Europe hurts Americans too, when Europe is in recession, Europeans buy fewer American goods and services.)
In his weekly radio address on Saturday, President Obama said the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan would free up money to help rebuild the US economy: "After more than a decade of war, it is time to focus on nation-building here at home."
So, Hollande and Obama agree that US and French forces should be withdrawn from Afghanistan; they agree that the US and France should refocus on their domestic economic problems Read more
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