Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- May 7, 2012

U.S. Marine Sgt. Ryan Brown, right, uses his interpreter to converse with Hajji Ayatollah, left, a village elder in the Durzay region of Helmand province's Garmsir district, inside Ayatollah's compound while on a security patrol in Durzay, Afghanistan, April 30, 2012. On the final patrol of their seven-month deployment, the Marines toured the Durzay region of Helmand province's Garmsir district to disrupt possible insurgent activity. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Reece Lodder

What The French Elections Could Mean For Afghan Security -- Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor

Newly elected French President François Hollande pledged to withdraw French troops by end of 2012. This will increase the burden on other NATO allies as Taliban fighting season begins.

In France, voters have ushered out one of America’s closest strategic allies and voted in a new president, François Hollande, who promised during the campaign to pull out France’s remaining 3,500 soldiers from the NATO mission in Afghanistan by the end of 2012.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials

Francois Hollande’s election victory is a symbol of the EU’s decline -- Nile Gardiner, The Telegraph

France's electorate has voted for years of decline under a Socialist leader -- Richard Waghorne, Daily Mail

François Hollande: the change France needs -- The Guardian editorial

How DSK's fall led to Hollande's rise -- Peter Wilkinson, CNN

The End of Sarkozy, the Decline of the French-German Partnership -- Max Fisher, The Atlantic

For Chancellor, Torturous Months Lie Ahead -- Roland Nelles, Spiegel Online

Greek tragedy is that centre is unlikely to hold -- The Irish Times

Those Revolting Europeans -- Paul Krugman, New York Times

Gulf has a role in how much influence Iran has on Iraq -- Hassan Hassan, The National

Never Mind Europe. Worry About India. -- Tyler Cowen, New York Times

Arab Spring has washed the region's appalling racism out of the news -- Robert Fisk, The Independent

Russia Threatens Missile Defense As Obama Scuttles It -- IBD Editorial

The Bin Laden Raid, a Year Later: Al Qaeda is down but not out. -- Benjamin Runkle, Weekly Standard

Every president is a war president -- Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune

he 2013 Fiscal Cliff Could Crush Stocks -- Donald Luskin, Wall Street Journal