There is no alternative. Either appease again, hoping to put off the day of reckoning, or face them down and fight for France. The second choice is America/Bush's choice...and we were smart enough to fight the battle where our enemies lived and trained. France has to find some way to blame this on America and Bush. That's a given. What they do about it is another matter.
I'm sure the DNC is already putting together their talking points for the Sunday shows on how to blame this on Bush.