[Burkeman1]

I wonder if we were called potato chip munching surrender monkeys by the French when we didn't think it was in our interests to help them out during the Suez crisis? Something tells me the French were not as childish as the the so called "conservatives" on this site.

[sausageseller]

And some called the tea party participants childish too!

Must have been some of those "high minded" Bostonions like you!

[PeoplesRep_of_LA]

Funny you should mention the Suez.

It is my understanding that since we did not allow them to piece back together their Empire after WWII there that they have been permanently hateful towards us. Like them having one of the most brutal Empires in the 3rd world was some sort of entitlement.

What a waste of good Marshall Plan dollars.

By the way, fantastic site, I forwarded it to all my friends. My favorite joke was from the Englishman that spoke of the difference between hitting with your car a hedgehog and a Frenchman.

[ggekko]

Ike did make a mistake with the Suez crisis but this is about the only thing the French can gripe about during the post-WWII period.

In 1947 we help the French re-float a collasping French Franc; a little while later the Marshall Plan aid started. We allowed the French to manage a dignified exit from Viet Nam after their disastrous military collapse. We have tended to turn a blind eye toward French neo-colonial military episodes in Francophone Africa. The CIA helped De Gaulle during the Algerian crisis.

We have bent over backwards to help the French and our reward has been a lack of cooperation on any number of military and trade issues. To add insult to injury France has been the driving force behind the attempt to turn the EU into "Fortress Europe" with a particularly anti-American slant.

The bottom line is that the French have been rotten friends.