It's even worse than that -- they think they should replace us at the top, even though they've done absolutely nothing to earn that distinction and couldn't maintain it if they did have it. Concerning Germany, the really embarassing open secret there is that Schroeder has driven the German economy so deeply into the red that they couldn't afford to lend military or even logistical support to us even if they wanted to. They are, as always, utterly dependent on our protection for their very survival, just as France is.
You just may be right -- both the French and German are indeed wildly delusional on all counts....As usual.