Obama to Europe: Let's Be Friends

All better? Speaking at a town hall meeting today in Strasbourg, France, President Obama pledged to repair relationships with Europe, saying global cooperation was “sidetracked by Iraq.” "We must be honest with ourselves," Obama said. "In recent years, we've allowed our alliance to drift." Obama also appealed to Europe to pledge more troops to Afghanistan, saying “This is a joint problem and it requires a joint effort.” Summarizing the recent rift between the United States and Europe, Obama said “In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world," Obama said. “But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual, but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans chose to blame America for much of what's bad.”