Why don't we take advantage of this new opportunity to apologize to France for being so wrong about them?

Question

They still have troops in Afghanistan.

They were right that it was a big mistake to invade Iraq.

They are superior to us in nuclear energy. In fact, they have the best nuclear industry in the world.

Their children are better educated than American children are.

They have better relations with more countries in the world than we do.

They make better movies than we do.

Their language is more sophisticated and more beautiful than our language is.

Their trains are the fastest in the world.

They don't have an obesity problem like we have.

They have cleaner air than we have.

They have a longer life expectancy than we have.

They are more experienced with wars than we are.

I can go on and on giving many more examples of the sophistication of the French people, but I'm sure you get my drift here.

If we apologized to France, we would show the rest of the world that we are sincere about moving forward together and solving some serious problems.

For those who truly seek enlightenment, french fries didn't even originate in France. They originated in Belgium!

Cheap jokes are a dime a dozen and when we try to be cute and simplistic about an entire people, we only end up showcasing our own ignorance!

When the United States entered World War II, we entered the war in our own best interest.

America entered the war for America !!!!

We didn't enter the war to save anyone's a** but our own !!!

We bombed the holy crap out of France and every other country the Germans were occupying.

We liberated countries in the process of defeating the Germans, but we didn't have that as a priority.

The two main reasons we weren't partially occupied by German or Japanese troops, are the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

We've never known the humiliation of being occupied by foreign troops, but we are currently experiencing the humiliation of being occupied by illegal aliens mainly coming from Mexico and with an attitude of entitlement to boot!

Most of you people probably haven't read one book about France or the French people!

You remain ignorant because you feel comfortable in your ignorance!

I can't believe all of the smug and ignorant responses I'm eliciting here!

This is like shooting fish in a barrel !

Ignorant people can be found so easily because they hang out together like a school of fish.

When one darts left, they all dart left!

When one says "freedom fries", they all say "freedom fries"

To think this childish phrase originated in Congress!

How can we claim to be leaders of the free world when we come up with such shallow and childish rubbish from our elected leaders ?!!

The French have not taken their eyes and minds off of the issue of global terrorism.

They haven't allowed themselves to get side tracked like we have in Iraq.

They haven't allowed themselves to take a major detour like we have in Iraq.

They haven't stupidly destroyed a country like we have in Iraq.

They gave us some important early warnings prior to 9/11 and we stupidly didn't heed those timely warnings.

You people have such flawed and selective memories !

Answer 1

Well, as I said in another thread, there is really nothing to apologize for. You have your way of living and we have ours. If everyone's happy like that, why should we care?
Look at braindead-Sam above me, he is persuaded that everything on Fox is true, that money and business success are the way to happiness, that you need 4 cars per family and McDo at every corner to live in a perfect country. We don't. Period. I'm not going to try to convince this guy. Problem could be that he would surely try to convince me that the american way is the ultimate one.

We went with you in Afghanistan, and we are still fighting with you there. We said no to Irak because we thought it was a mistake (as Germany did, by the way), and now, every single forum thread about France is turning into a bashing contest...

So, well, let's do this, no apologize from the US and none from France. Let our governments take their time to establish a better relationship and, eventually, the people will start back to consider themselves as human beings with different point of views and priorities in life.
Cheers.

Answer 2

Look, we have nothing to apologize to France about. If it wasn't for the US they would be doing the Hitler Boogie and speaking German. Can you say - We saved their bacon twice? Can you say - Riots in the street? I've been there many times and they are rude, arrogant and have terrible personal hygiene. Can you say - The Marshall Plan saved their economy? Can you say -Illegal exportation of technology and war materials to the Middle East? Can they spell NATO? No, they cannot. They support France and France alone. Can you say - Allies gone wild? By showing ignorance and generalizing comments about a country and its people it appears that you are the one in that category when you comment on the US and France. Kind of like the old "Why Beer is Better than Women" type argument. Oh, but wait I'm using childish humor to make my point. Can you say - Americans don't GAF for France. Ribbut.

Answer 3

First off I agree with the other poster who stated this is not a military question.

Have you ever actually been to France?

Yes it is a beautiful country with wonderful food! There are good things about every country - INCLUDING OURS. but we aren't the only arrogant ones on the planet.

Ummm some of your points are questionable: depends on what you consider an education; I think the Germans/Swiss and Japanese would beg to differ on the train issue!; if having better relations with the world means waffling on your convictions than be my guest; and if being "experienced" with war means having one on your soil than perhaps they are ,however if it means actually winning one than I think you need to reread your history texts. (although again we've had our share just not in the last two centuries -- unless you count the illegal immigration going on) In my book we repaid our debt with France for their help in the revolution when we bailed them out of two world wars! (timing is not the issue in this conversation. Hey they're not speaking German!)

There are obese people in France as well just not as many -- and yes that's because they walk everywhere and have gorgeous outdoor markets.

We loved living in Europe but I'm American not French. Do I think that makes me better than them? By no means. As I said we loved living in Europe but that doesn't mean they are better than us either.

Answer 4

(1) This is not a military question in the slightest.

(2) Most of your points are debatable if not outright fabrications.

I respect the French greatly myself - only a complete idiot would just out and out slag the French military, considering they DO fight alongside us in the War on Terror everywhere outside of Iraq, and their intelligence agencies fully cooperate with us.

And America owes a debt of gratitude to the French for their role in the Revolutionary War, but the fact of the matter is, under President Chirac, France has been an outstandingly bad member of the international community, let alone to its own citizens.

Things should be different under President Sarkozy (whose pro-American views are well known) but an apology to the French? For what? For Chirac being such a clown? For France being such a paradise to the point where its OWN CITIZENS RIOT IN THE STREETS burning cars and protesting racism?

Sophistication of the French? You mean like Le Pen? Burning McDonalds? Dumping tomatoes into the streets? Sure. Dream on.

No apology is needed between allies when bygones will be bygones. Sarkozy and our next President should see to that.

Answer 5

You're a bit confused. We don't owe them an apology, and their election shows that they know it. Their election is a vindication of American reactions to their past, not a call for an apology.

As far as your opinions on their superiority of culture, I suspect you've never used a toilet in a standard hotel or apartment in Paris. Suffice it to say that they would never pass the local health codes in Paris, Texas. If you've ever been to France, which I doubt, you've stayed at four-star American hotels, or maybe you're French and don't know any better.

As far as their being superior in nuclear energy, that's true. It's because of the French-loving liberals in this country that we've built not a single reactor for forty years. However, I'd guess our technological capabilities are better than France, since we do build one to two nuclear submarines every year, and that's a lot more difficult undertaking than a mere energy producing reactor.

Of course they don't have an obesity problem. Gasoline is so expensive, most ride bicycles, and have you ever eaten in a French restaurant? The old joke about Chinese food is "an hour later, you're hungry again", but in France, you finish dinner and you're still hungry.

Of course they have better relations with most countries. Arguments with the French don't last any longer than the time it takes the French to drop their pants, turn around and bend over.

You can apologize to France, and the liberals can apologize to France, but I'm not apologizing to France for their being "right" about Iraq, because their decision was based on the fact that they were selling Saddam weapons and technology. They weren't right about the solution, they were making money being part of the problem.

I'm hoping their new president stops that, and if so, no apology from them will be needed, and I really don't mind if they never fix their plumbing.

Answer 6

I'm assuming you're from the US? What do you have to apologise for? Japan has the fastest trains, Japanese people live longer than anyone else, they don't have an obesity problem, they have a lower crime rate etcetera. The list goes on. Should you apologise to the Japanese? I live in the UK, my country has a lot of things that are better than your country has, but it also works the other way. Should you apologise to me? I'd much rather live in the US than even in my own country of England. All countries have problems, but we'd be forever apologising to each other for the amount of rubbish we do to one another. There is nothing to apologise for!

Answer 7

I'd like two orders of freedom fries, please.

France has never backed us at the UN. They like to bad mouth and pop off about how bad this country is. France is hiding behind this illusion of culture to avoid the fact that they are a completely shallow country lacking in real culture and taste.

Now, how 'bout those freedom fries.

Answer 8

You forgot that they impose marshall law on their own citizens to quell race rioting last year. That is definitely something to be proud of. Though my other question is have you ever been to France? The times I'm there I find it rather dirty and dingie, and as for air purity, well that depends on where you are and who is standing next to you.

Answer 9

u're not really helping us (us=the french, i'm french) with that question, and certainly not improving french-american relationship, ur question is far too aggressive towards ur own people. i'm looking forward to live in a world where the american and the french could both be proud of themselves and respectful towards - and sometimes inspired by - the other one.

Answer 10

We should NEVER apologize to France. They should apologize to the United States. If it wasn't for us in World War II stopping the Germans from taking over France, they would all be speaking German now and eating sauerkraut!