Before I get to Sarkozy's staggering contempt for Obama's asinine foreign policy, lets review the basis for Dennis Ross's endorsement of Obama:

I was with Obama in Israel and in Europe, and I saw how he focused on the urgency of the Iranian threat. Obama understands that weak sticks and weak carrots -- the current policy -- can't work. We need strong sticks... [and] strong carrots... Engaging without illusions might be one way to describe how diplomacy would be conducted in an Obama administration.

Ross was so overwhelmed by Obama's Iran-related discussions that he repeated the narrative in several interviews. And now let's see what some actual European leaders - who, in contrast to Dennis Ross, have not helped usher a 15 year Middle East terrorist war - thought about Obama's understanding of the "urgency of the Iranian threat":

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is very critical of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama's positions on Iran, according to reports that have reached Israel's government. Sarkozy has made his criticisms only in closed forums in France. But according to a senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate's stance on Iran as "utterly immature" and comprised of "formulations empty of all content." Obama visited Paris in July, and the Iranian issue was at the heart of his meeting with Sarkozy... Sarkozy fears that Obama might "arrogantly" ignore the other members of [the UNSC] front and open a direct dialogue with Iran without preconditions.

I'm surprised to hear him say that, because the Speaker of the Iranian parliament is actually pretty psyched about Obama getting elected. I suppose world leaders will differ. One can only wonder how the British are feeling about Obama's "strong carrots" now that Iran's threatening to attack them too. That's two out of four of the other permanent UNSC members who are probably terrified about Obama's Iran policy. At least we've still got Russia and China!

This morning the IAEA complained that Iran is blocking access to its nuclear sites. I don't know why Iran dropped their IAEA bid in favor of Syria. It would have been so perfect. Tick tock.

References:
* Dennis Ross: "I'm Endorsing Obama Because He'll Make Iran And Iran's Financial Backers Like Us" [MR]
* Dennis Ross on why he's working for Obama and how he'd talk to Iran [Ha'aretz]
* Sources: Sarkozy views Obama stance on Iran as 'utterly immature' [Ha'aretz]
* Speaker Of Iranian Parliament: Of Course We Want Obama To Win [MR]
* Iranian official calls for attack on UK [JPost]
* UN nuclear chief says Iran blocking progress [WaPo]
* Iran drops IAEA seat nomination for Syria [AFP]

Previously:
* US Military: "Nearly Daily" Incidents At Sea Between US Navy And Iran
* Surprise: Ahmadinejad-Hugging, Israel-Condemning UN General Assembly President Is An Anti-Western Marxist Hack
* Iran: We're Going To Preemptively Attack Israel