A PRESIDENT MORE CRAVEN THAN THE FRENCH:

Barack Obama rejects Normandy trip to avoid offending Germany (Toby Harnden and Henry Samuel, 2 Apr 2009, Daily Telegraph)

Barack Obama, concerned about offending Britain and Germany, rebuffed strenuous attempts by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France to persuade the new American president to make a trip to Normandy this week.

White House officials travelled to France at the start of March to discuss a visit by Mr Obama to Omaha Beach, the site of the American Cemetery, established in 1944 just after D-Day and where 9,387 American personnel are buried. Among them is Theodore Roosevelt Jr the eldest son of the 26th US President.

French officials and senior American military officers walked with White House staff through the cemetery discussing how the two presidents might follow the same route. But even before their trip, the White House had decided that Mr Obama would not travel there this week.

A cemetery stroll would have been particularly appropriate symbolism given that Mr. Sarkozy is returning France to NATO whereas when DeGaulle took them out he told LBJ he wanted French soil cleared of American troops and President Johnson asked: Including the ones who are buried in it?

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 7, 2009 6:01 PM