You have our boys confused with another French speaking army...:-)
Our former Prime Minister 'ti Jean definitely did not endear uu to the Yanks. He not only refused to join the US adventure in Iraq, which is the right of any sovereign nation, but he did so in an extremely insulting manner and he allowed his sherpas, and even Privy Council Members like Axworthy and Copps to be personally insulting to their president. So they have a right to be annoyed.
But when they take cheap shots at soldiers and seamen who are just doing their job, well, don't you know, that vexes me.
But mitcbert, don't talk about Vimy Ridge. That was a long time ago and any Yank that might have been there was there because he had joined the Canadian forces. (Canadians and Americans have a tradition of joining each other's forces when the other side is in a fight and their own country won't join, witness WWII where Yanks came to Canada to join and Vietnam where Canadians went to the US to join.)
Vimy, for those of us who read out history, is the point from which we date the beginning of our separate existence as a nation, but it is ancient history and Yanks were not there.
Old Sarge, whatever you think about our politicians probably is a mere shadow of what I think of them, but our soldiers and seamen don't deserve your cheap shots.
While Chretien was saying, in effect "no, no, we won't go" our frigates were continuing to mount interdiction patrols in the Arabian Gulf and continuing to participate in the escort screens for US CVs. They still continue interdiction patrols and CV escort screens.
Our soldiers were also continuing to work alongside the 101st Airborne in Afghanistan where one of out snipers took out a taliban at a distance of 2.5 klicks and where 4 died and 8 more were injured in a stupid fratricide episode.
Canadian soldiers cannot be accused of being surrender merchants.
They wern't surrendering at Vimy Ridge, or at Passchendaele or the Somme or several other places beneath American notice in that war to end all wars". But that is ancient history.
They wern't surrendering in the North Atlantic convoys or the Battle of Britain either, but that too was ancient history.
Nor were they surrendering at the rear guard action at Kap'Yong in Korea where the 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, A Company 72nd U.S. Heavy Tank Battalion and, ultimately standing alone, 2nd Battalion Pricess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, along with 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, A Company and 72nd U.S. Heavy Tank Battalion, earned US Presidential Unit Citations. But that too is ancient history.
Not were they surrendering while 100 Canadians died in peace keeping operations around the world. Or at the Battle of the Medak Pocket in the Balkans. Also old news.
Nor were our diplomats surrendering when they extracted US diplomatic personell from Iran. (And let's see the lace panties brigade at Foggy Bottom match that one)
But as I have said, all of that is ancient history, or at best old news.
Mitchbert, we are pissing to windward.
The Yanks' hatred of us has metastasized to the point where ordinary soldiers are fair game for cheap shots.
I had thought that we were welcome on Free Republic, because we are conservatives. We are not, because we are Canadians.