The French non-connection
I just finished gagging down yet another opinion column lamenting the fact that we have a cowboy president making a mess of things and upsetting one of our European "allies." This pile of piffle specifically lamented over France, steadfast sister in democracy and premiere femme de la danse.
Say what? Whoa, not so fast. Most people I encounter believe in the fable, the all-pervading myth of historic friendship between France and the United States. This is utter nonsense and absolutely nothing could be further from the truth.
Today's Drive-by Media talking heads and prating print pundits condescendingly assure us that France is America's oldest friend, that we share two centuries' worth of bonne amitie, and that surely with a bit of contrition, genuflection, and supplication, our administration can persuade France and Jacques Chirac to haughtily smile down on America once again. Don't hold your breath, because the cold, hard historical record states otherwise.
France friendly when it suits
France has been hostile to, an enemy of, or scheming to use Americans since the 1750s and French and Indian Wars (Seven Years' War) through the 1790s Quasi War, U.S. Civil War, World War I and Versailles, the World War II totalitarian Vichy regime, and de Gaulle in the Cold War. When Western solidarity was needed most, France quit NATO in the 1960s with a Gallic thumb of the nose. Ahh, you say, "But what about the American War of Independence and French support thereof?" To this I say that you are extremely gullible, two centuries removed.
French involvement in the conflict was an act of expediency, an exception rather than the rule (Rear Admiral DeGrasse and his fleet were nearly too late to help at Yorktown, by the way). The French assisted our cause only because they hated the British and were incensed over the then-recent loss of Canada. They acted entirely for their own self-interest and afterward tried to stab the infant United States in the back during the Treaty of Paris talks. Even the honorable comte de Rochambeau and the Marquis de Lafayette were looked upon with great disfavor in their native land for expending personal funds to help the Americans. Mind you, not by the public, but by the administrators wielding power in the court of Louis XVI.
America despised, feared, and envied
The French despise Anglo-Americanism in general and American culture in particular, and this disdain bordering on malevolence is deep-rooted and chronic. Jamie Glazov, co-author of Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France, chronicles that Francois Mitterand stated shortly before his death: "We are at war with America, a permanent war, a war without death. They are very hard, the Americans, they are voracious. They want undivided power over the world."
As if that statement from one of France's recent leaders doesn't convey enough, French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin lately announced, "The Iraqi insurgents are our best allies." This is a friendly government?
It should be clear to all that the latest public horse whippings meted out by France upon the United States over Iraq are not novel, nor are they warranted. France has much to hide in its dealings with the Iraqi dictatorship, especially its money-making schemes during the so-called sanctions phase to which Iraq agreed after it was humiliated in its bid to swallow up Kuwait.
France withering from within
Make no mistake, France has a day of reckoning approaching, and it will dawn from within. Approximately ten percent of the French population is already Muslim, and that percentage is growing. The country leads Europe in the voracity of modern anti-Semitism. In 2004, France racked up nearly 400 serious incidents of firebombings, destruction of property, and personal attacks against Jews.
It is hardly any wonder that this nation has earned its reputation for aiding and abetting Arab interests, both politically and financially, while leading the charge to obstruct the anti-terrorist aims of Great Britain and the United States.
Over the years, the French have watched the United States grow in global power and stature, while at the same time being unable to cope with their own diminishing influence and relevance. The scope of national jealousy that is driven by such extreme pride over lost glory is almost indescribable.
So the next time you think that France has always been there for us, and it's only because of a certain administration that they don't support us now, think again. Such thoughts are as ill-conceived as is the foundation of French anti-Americanism.
Of course, that's just my opinion -- just me and the rest of the planet.