How's that Reset Button Working So far?

Remember how Barack Obama was going to rebuild the reputation of the U.S. in the eyes of the world, so badly damaged by the "Cowboy" diplomacy of President George W. Bush? Within a year after his inauguration, Obama has managed to antagonize almost every foreign ally worth having. Oh sure, the elites in European intellectual circles still adore him, but policymakers and power brokers inside the European Union undoubtedly view Obama with scorn and suspicion.

Consider France. President Sarkozy may have harbored doubts about Obama for months, but those doubts turned to contempt in late September when Obama addressed the U.N. General Assembly and then went on to chair the U.N. Security Council. Obama lectured the world body about the urgency of removing nuclear weapons from the globe, even while possessed with the knowledge, yet to be made public, that Iran had a second secret weapons development site. Instead of using his platform to call out the mullahs, he instead acted like a dreamy adolescent prattling about a world without nukes.

"President Obama dreams of a world without weapons...but right in front of us two countries are doing the exact opposite," Mr. Sarkozy said, referring to Iran and North Korea.

A few days later at the G20 summit, with Sarkozy and British P.M. Gordon Brown flanking him, Obama announced the new secret Iranian facility. Sarkozy was reportedly furious that Obama had been acting as if the mullahs could be trusted when he knew the extent of their deception.

Sarkozy has since referred to Obama and/or his foreign policies as "arrogant," "immature," and "empty." He may as well have called Barack Obama the Chauncey Gardner of statecraft.

Now comes word, courtesy of the foreign press (which seems to be the only media source for news critical of our Dear Leader), that France is accusing the U.S. of fumbling the Haiti rescue operation. According the the Financial Times, France complained about the U.S. military tying up resources at the airport in Haiti and waving off French aid flights trying to land with supplies. According to FT.com., "the French news agency AFP also quoted people trying to leave Haiti as complaining that the US was giving priority to its own citizens."

Granted, earthquake-ravaged Haiti is not going to yield operational perfection or perfect cooperation between competing players. With one airport runway, lack of fuel and anarchy on the ground, the tension between military and security considerations on one hand and rescue and aid concerns on the other are bound to result in chaos and confusion. Still, the extent to which the Europeans are already pointing the finger at the U.S. is remarkable.

I suppose this explains Obama's appointment of George Bush--of Hurricane Katrina fame-- as special envoy to the Haiti relief effort, along with Bill Clinton. If the U.S. shines in its response to the Haiti disaster, Obama and Clinton will share the credit.

And if all goes awry, who better to blame than the Cowboy diplomat himself.