Interesting report from the New York Times:
TBILISI, Georgia — [1] It was nearly 2 a.m. on Wednesday when President Nicolas Sarkozy of France announced he had accomplished what seemed virtually impossible: Persuading the leaders of Georgia and Russia to agree to a set of principles that would stop the war.
This certainly seems to fly in the face of the Rumsfeld construct of New Europe vs Old Europe…. an assesment I still agree with, for the record. But then again, Sarkozy marks a massive change in direction for France, too, particualrly in terms of foreign policy.
Then again, in terms of effectiveness….
It soon became clear that the six-point deal not only failed to slow the Russian advance, but it also allowed Russia to claim that it could push deeper into Georgia as part of so-called additional security measures it was granted in the agreement. Mr. Sarkozy, according to a senior Georgian official who witnessed the negotiations, also failed to persuade the Russians to agree to any time limit on their military action.
So much for the power of negotiation. If you look closely, you’ll note nobody in the Dinosaur media asking Obama about his call for negotation, in every world conflict he speaks on. Obama has yet to understand that there are some people with whom negotiation is futile at best, and often counter productive. Sarkozy has proven that for us.
Maybe Sarkozy, for all that he represnts is still bound by old Europe after all.