I personally have no ill will toward France. In fact, I hope to visit Paris at least once in my lifetime. Many of the things they get criticised for are things I have said. Not that I approve of every single thing they do and say, so don't give me a catalog of French high crimes and misdemeanors and ask which ones I support.
As anotehr example of why I expect teh knock on the door any day now... I
Looove France. always have, always will.
To misquote Steve Martin, them froggies has a different word for everything. At age 13, feeling inadequate i suppose, i decided to learn French. Later to my mortification, i learned i had not learned to speak it; however, by age 14 i could read it with nearly the facility of English. Eventually, i was immersed for several years in a francophone environment, and learned to speak it fairly well. Those from whom i learned were mostly from west Africa, and the majority of those were Senegalese. But through them, i met many Africans, and was greatly warmed by their natural charm, good humor, hospitality and generosity. I also met many Muslims, of North Africa, and of Syria and the Lebanon. I met all of these people because they have the French language in common, and French culture to a lesser extent. There is a vast world of francophones which English-speakers commonly ignore, or of which they are simply ignorant. Without great ado and international fanfare, France has for 50 years sent material aid, and when needed and wanted by the locals, troops to support the people of their former colonies. The most notable recent example was Gotdaffy's invasion of Chad. The French offered the Chadians whatever support they wanted. They asked for air support and material support, but wanted the French to stand aside while their army dealt with the Lybians. Gotdaffy's army had their collective ass handed to them by the Chadians, and this event was pivotal in the decline in the fortunes of Lybia, which have lead Gotdaffy to embrace a little civilization.
But this is not the sort of thing one hears about in the American press. Has anyone ever hear of Les medecins sans frontîères?--doctors without borders? While so many Americans are willing to castigate France, and comdemn the French as an entire class of people, they ignore that nations efforts ot honor her past commitments, and to make the world a better place--things every nation does, and something which Americans resent if it is not recognized that they have the same good motives and take the same good measures.
As i recall, Chirac is the elected French head of state. As i recall, the overwhelming majority of the French public were opposed to an American invasion of Iraq. Sounds like democracy to me.
well I'm planning a day trip to france in 2 weeks time so I can stock up on ciggies & booze. the french have lower rate of sin tax the the UK. cheap boat tickets over & a nice day out as well.
ps to walter -- i know i'm anti euro but so are the swedes.
ps to olk
I know that you know it - but still you'll have to use 's in France :wink:
yes walter, as the old saying goes ----- "when in rome..................................so on & so forth"
Reason #32 why France should suck it.
Quote:With France as a friend, you don't need enemies.
The French are a funny lot & seem to have a perenial chip on their shoulder.
They still can't cope with the fact that they had to be rescued in WW2 & liberated, got thrown out of Indo China in the 1950s, North Africa in the 1960s & the invasion of British & American culture. They are the biggest obstructors to other countries plans & ideas. The English language is their nightmare & makes them feel very unstable & unloved
Quote:For all of that OAK, they still have some intuitive knowledge they are the leading military stratigists of the world.
Suck it, Frenchie.
It's past time for the Times to put Friedman out to pasture.
A stinging retort from my man
Greg Palast:
Quote:Friedman calls voting a, "loopy symbolic transfer of Iraqi sovereignty." Friedman, Rumsfeld and Saddam Hussein all have the same line: Iraqis aren't ready for democracy. Well, I suppose Tom Paine would have disagreed -- but, hell, he moved to France.
(Maybe Friedman and his White House well-wishers are offended by the idea that Iraq would count ballots before Florida.)
France's election suggestion was prompted by our Secretary of State, the pitiable Colin Powell who, on his boss Rumsfeld's orders, demanded the European Union pony up $5 billion cash to rebuild the parts of Iraq we bombed. (Dollars only, euros not accepted.) And, says Rummy to Elderly Europe, "Send us 25,000 troops and put' em under US command." After all, didn't we graciously replace France in Vietnam after Dien Bien Phu? Apparently, Rumsfeld thought France would jump at the chance for another game of Colonial Quagmire.
This is no longer a fight about whether the invasion was right or wrong. The question now is occupation or, bluntly, re-colonization. Saddam's gone. Therefore, our kids are dying over there for a single purpose: to prevent an election. Remember when General Jay Garner called for a vote in 90 days?
Here's why we can't have an election (and why the General got the boot): Bush's oil patch buddies can't complete the sell-off of Iraq's oilfields under an elected Iraqi government - no elected Iraqi government would let it happen. Rather than take on the issue of oil and blood, Friedman fries the French.
Get off it, Tommy - this is not about France. This is about a bunch of half-baked cowboys in the White House who made a mess in Mesopotamia and now want Europe to pay the bill before an enraged, bankrupt American electorate throws the Bushitas out on their big fat deficit.
And how DARE Friedman say that France doesn't care about the War on Terror. France declared war on Osama and his madmen years before September 11 got Bush to change from the view of his advisor, Robert Oakley, that we shouldn't have a "fixation" on getting rid of bin Laden. French intelligence warned Bush to stop playing footsie with the Taliban, to stop coddling the Saudi Islamic dictatorship, to stop running interference for the bin Laden family. But would Little George listen? Noooo.
Friedman's line -- like Rumsfeld's -- is arrogant, self-delusional and dangerous. Tres French.
