“In spite of all the jokes about French wimps and cowards”
Which even a cursory look shows is utterly without merit. Its one of the most ignorant lines of humor ever.
Such as the fact that they lost as many at Verdun as we lost during all of WWI, or the reputation of French paratroopers for bravery (and ruthlessness) during the Algerian war.
More to the point, there's the fact that the French today are probably the most awake of all European countries to the threat posed by Third World immigration and multiculturalism. The equivalents to Front National don't get anywhere near the same traction in Germany, Britain, etc (and come to think of it, which party in America takes the immigration question seriously - the GOP is almost as bad on the issue these days as the Democrats).