President Nicolas Sarkozy has nominated two generals to head NATO command posts that France received when it rejoined NATO's integrated command in April after a 43-year absence. Sarkozy has proposed Gen. Stephane Abrial to head the NATO transformation command in Norfolk, Va., and Gen. Phillippe Stoltz to lead an operational command of rapid reaction forces in Lisbon. They would succeed two American officers. NATO must formally approve Wednesday's nominations. Gen. Charles de Gaulle withdrew France from the allied command structure in 1996 as part a strategy to assert French sovereignty over its territory following World War II. Since then, France gradually has assumed a more important role in the alliance, and Sarkozy's decision formalized the trend.
