Thank You, President Sarkozy and Thank You, France

The world has an eternal love-hate affair with France. We love her cuisine, her wine, her fashion, her joie de vivre. But, we wonder at her frivolity and narcissism.

But, all these characteristics miss the essence of France. She is built upon the declaration of the rights of men, written by the French assembly in 1789 during the French revolution, based on Thomas Jefferson’s American Bill of Rights, and the model for the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The French are so attached to the ideal of human rights that it forms the core of their internal political debate. It is also the reason that France allows herself to take in and welcome waves of refugees and illegal immigrants looking to her as their last hope.

For two weeks, the world has watched as French President Sarkozy stood alone and majestically calm in his call for the world to support the people of Libya, suffering at the hands of a murderous Muammar Qadhaffi. Nicolas Sarkozy lent his personal reputation and that of his country to the simple principle that every human being has certain rights that no one can take away from them.

One would have hoped that America would have led the battle, but she seemed to be paralyzed by practical questions.

One would have expected Britain to be the leader, and she did her best, but her voice lacked the Churchillian rhetorical power required.

One would have thought that common sense would have brought Germany onto the side of the angels, but she allowed petty internal political agendas to sidetrack her and make her voice irrelevant.

President Sarkozy alone stood firm for the French ideal of humans rights, as a simple, uncomplicated principle that no one deserves to be slaughtered if the world can stop it. He won the day.

It is no wonder that a French flag was flying last night in Benghazi alongside the Free Libya flag.

Time has moved on with the adoption of the UN resolution that supports the Libyan people. The practical Americans and the determined British will see that all is done properly.

But, if you are breathing a little easier today, if you no longer have that lump in your throat when you see TV images from Benghazi, if you feel that, at least for one day, human beings did the right thing - remember to thank France, and her foreign Minister Alain Juppé, and above all, French President Sarkozy.