Replies

This commenter says: "In fact, Obama responded to a letter Chirac had addressed to him in the name of his Chirac Foundation for Peace and the Environment. This was not, in any case, an expression of disdain from Obama to Sarkozy. It's a shame that the article did not specify the actual context of this letter."

In other words, there is no faux pas here, nothing to see, everyone, move along.

I found that same comment after I read the link AAC posted to me as well. But that's just one comment someone posted, and we don't really know if Obama was responding to a letter Chirac wrote to him, though there are a couple of other comments saying that Obama wrote to the Chirac's Foundation (but no else mentioned that Obama was replying to Chirac), and I have read all the comments (over 80 of them).

We DO know that Chirac has publicly described the letter as "very nice."

So, even if Obama wasn't confused about who was the President of France, the letter is still offensive in that he deliberately wrote to Chirac: "I am certain that we will be able to work together, in the coming four years, in a spirit of peace and friendship to build a safer world."

When the US President writes a formal letter to a world leader (or an ex-leader) of another country, that letter carries the weight of the formality and is an official message from the USA. It's no longer an informal conversation, but an official document that carries some weight. Obama likely knew the effect this would cause, and he purposely and carefully crafted his words to undermine Sarkozy. He writes about working with Chirac for the next 4 years. He writes about peace knowing full well that Chirac was totally against the US intervention in Iraq, while Sarkozy was largely in agreement with GW Bush.

And from the same source - Le Figaro - here are two more comments related to Obama's letter:

"Je trouve que c'est un manque de respect envers la France et les Français que M. Obama s'adresse à notre ancien Président, en ignorant celui qui est en exercice, même s'il n'apprécie notre président actuel. Qu'en serait-il si un président français agissait de la sorte envers un président des USA.?"
I find it disrespectful towards France and the French people that Mr Obama contacted our ex-President, and ignored the one who is fulfilling the duties, even if he does not appreciate our actual president. What would've happened if a French President acted in this manner towards a president of USA?
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"Enfin n'oublions pas que CHIRAC devrait être en prison aujourd'hui vu ses magouilles au RPR (caisses noires et emplois fictifs de la ville de Paris) et son enrichissement personnel et divers frais pantagruelliques à l'Elisée... il s'en sort bien. Pas de quoi être nostalgique."
Finally let us not forget that CHIRAC should be in prison today due to his strong cronyisms in RPR [Chirac's Party] (slush funds and fictitious jobs paid by the city of Paris) and his cool personal largess and various enrichments he appropriated from the Elysee Palace. Nothing to be nostalgic about.