Smart power.

Barack Obama has declared that France is America’s greatest ally, undermining Britain’s Special Relationship with the U.S.

The President risked offending British troops in Afghanistan by saying that French president Nicolas Sarkozy is a ‘stronger friend’ than David Cameron.

The remarks, during a White House appearance with Mr Sarkozy, will reinforce the widely-held view in British diplomatic circles that Mr Obama has less interest in the Special Relationship than any other recent American leader.

You’ll recall that Obama previously gave then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown a set of 25 DVDs as an official gift and removed a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office. America’s relationship with Great Britain has effectively become weaker since Obama entered office, this comment being just the latest example of Obama’s dislike for the British.

The United Kingdom has lost nearly 350 brave men and women in the war in Afghanistan alone. As the Daily Mail notes, that’s nearly 7 times as many men as France has lost. There are more than 10,000 British troops stationed in Helmand, compared to 3,850 Frenchmen.

Tory MP Patrick Mercer, a former commander of the Sherwood Foresters regiment, said: ‘I’m getting a bit fed up with the American President using terms like “best ally” so loosely.

‘It’s Britain that has had more than 300 servicemen killed in Afghanistan, not France.

‘That to my mind is a lot more powerful than any political gesture making.’

Thank goodness we have Obama to repair our most important relationships, huh? That Bush guy was totally screwing things up, of course, but now we have the philosopher-president to solve America’s problems.