AOL story: Kerry Tries to Mend Fences W/ France - Meets w/ Pres Chirac

[pbartch]

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050114160909990026&_mpc=news%2e10%2e3&cid=774

Updated: 05:07 PM EST
Kerry Tries to Mend Fences With France
Senator Meets With President Chirac in Paris
By ELAINE GANLEY, AP

PARIS (Jan. 14) - Sen. John Kerry's French connection was treated as a liability during his bid for the U.S. presidency. On Friday, he used his popularity here to try to help rebuild strained ties between Paris and Washington, and expressed confidence that would happen.

The Massachusetts Democrat was in Paris at the close of a tour of Europe and the Middle East that included trips to Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Israel and the West Bank.

In a more than 45-minute meeting with President Jacques Chirac, the former presidential candidate discussed frayed relations between France and the United States.


"I'm convinced there's an opportunity here to bring that relationship closer," he said.

He and Chirac discussed Iraq, Iran and the Middle East peace process, Kerry told reporters.

"Succeeding in Iraq and winning the war on terror will take a global effort, and I have conveyed that in my meetings with heads of state in the Middle East and Europe," Kerry said in a statement. "We all have a stake in the outcome of Iraq, and I believe they have a responsibility to do more."

"This has been a good trip. It was very important for me personally to thank our brave men and women in uniform for their service and assess the situation in Iraq," said Kerry who visited U.S. forces in the volatile northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Kerry, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, forecast a meeting between Chirac and Bush. "I hope President Bush will have an opportunity to meet the president," he told reporters. "I'm confident that will happen, not just the meeting but the movement in the right direction."

Kerry spoke English during the meeting and Chirac spoke French, presidential spokesman Jerome Bonnafont said. Kerry, accompanied by his daughter Vanessa, declined to speak in French to reporters, saying it was rusty.

Kerry has a Gallic clan in Saint-Briac-Sur-Mer, in western France, including cousin Brice Lalonde, a former environmental minister. As a boy, Kerry spent summers there. However, the relatives kept a low profile during the campaign so as not to spoil his chances.

France's adamant opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq left ties between Paris and Washington in tatters, and put France-bashing in vogue in the United States.

Kerry has a high sympathy rating in France where polls ahead of the U.S. election showed that he would have won by a landslide if the French could vote.

Kerry's meeting with Chirac came hours after talks in London with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the prospect of peace in the Middle East. He met Thursday with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

With the Jan. 30 Iraq elections on the horizon and the election of a new Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, still fresh, Kerry's Middle East tour came at a critical time.

Kerry said he and Chirac "talked about efforts we can make, all of us together, to try to guarantee the success of all our interests in the Middle East, which are very, very significant."

In London, he told reporters the elections in Iraq were "one marker" on the road to democracy, but are not the ultimate goal.

In a remark that the French would appreciate, Kerry added: "I believe there needs to be a larger political reconciliation, as well as a broader involvement of other countries in decision-making in order to build a greater stability in Iraq."

Paris is trying to raise its profile on Iraq and make room for a French role. Severely strained ties between Paris and Washington over France's hard-line stance against the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq have limited the French voice. Chirac met here Thursday with Iraq's interim president, Ghazi al-Yawer.


01-14-05 1505EST

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

[Jon8503]

1. Is he doing this on his own?

How did he get involved in all of this? What exactly is he doing?

[kerrygoddess]

4. He's acting presidential is what he is doing

Kerry knows a lot more about diplomacy than Bush and that has been evident from the news buzz on Kerry's meetings with European leaders today...

Kerry Works on Fence Mending with European Leaders
14 January 2005

In the past two days, John Kerry has wound down his trip to the Middle East meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, and French President Jacques Chirac. Perhaps, Bush could take a few lessons from Kerry’s diplomacy skills…

Kerry was in Paris at the close of a trip to Europe and the Middle East including visits to Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Israel and the West Bank.

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=229

Kerry slideshow on Yahoo - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?p=news&g=events/pl/021103kerry&e=1&tmpl=sl

[AgadorSparticus]

6. but why? he's not the president. yea, i know he is the actual elected

president. but that doesn't mean anything, apparently. so why is he doing all this? i don't get it...

[Jon8503]

7. I agree, don't get it, he may be acting presidential but is he doing

this for Bush? Did Bush ask him to do this. There is almost absolutely no coverage on it except for us talking about it. This post is the first I really saw and knew about it.

[HeeBGBz]

2. Interesting how he's meeting with leaders of many countries

Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall for those conversations.

Is he telling them our current president stole the election and we didn't really vote him back in office? Geez, I hope so.

[Donailin]

3. Criminey

I had the same thought.

"Hey Jaques, good to see you. I just thought you may want to know that Bush stole the election. Again. See those exit polls? Yup, ripped me off big time. Rigged the machines."


May be a fantasy, but it puts a smile on my face.

[Moderator]

5. pbartch

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.

DU Moderator

[neweurope]

8. Good that he did... BUT:

(he also talked to Schröder and Fischer):

"We all have a stake in the outcome of Iraq, and I believe they have a responsibility to do more."

Now that really makes me angry. The EU is putting a hell of a lot of money into helping Iraq. The US went in and bombed it to smithereens and KERRY - like BUSH - says we have "a responsibility to do more". A responsibility??!! We have a responsibility to be humane to the poor Iraq victims of the USA and we're fulfilling it. But what the HELL is that man talking about? It's as if Bush were speaking.


----------------------

Remember Fallujah!

Bush to The Hague!

[dutchdoctor]

9. Absolutely! Whatever happened to "You break it you buy it?" eom

[cestpaspossible]

10. .