So good luck to Barack Obama. If he is chosen, then France will be delighted. And if it's somebody else, then France will be the friend of the United States of America."

If that's not an Obama endorsement from the Élysée Palace, I don't know what is. Fair enough: the world has shrunk.

Obama, all silky brilliance, merited the endorsement. He dissected the caricatures that have undermined U.S.-European relations (Europe's militaristic America, and America's won't-get-their-hands-dirty Europeans). He noted Sarkozy's merit in shattering "many of these stereotypes."

He offered a succinct summary of how to wield American might: "An effective U.S. foreign policy will be based on our ability not only to project power, but also to listen and to build consensus."

On specifics, he aced every item, identifying a nascent peace quest between Israel and Syria as a potential "game changer" that has received insufficient U.S. attention; calling for a "steady and prudent" troop withdrawal from Iraq in the light of improved security; pairing two additional U.S. brigades in Afghanistan with a call for greater commitment there from NATO allies "not restrained in terms of their rules of engagement;" and warning Iran not to wait for the next president to stop its "illicit nuclear program" because pressure "is only going to build."

This was a winning performance. .."

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(NYT Op-Ed)