France issues 'please explain' to US

[Menlas]

Originally posted by Lancer
Perhaps, but France came crawling to the US looking for forgiveness. :

Lol ...we probably didn't read the same article...
I just saw a country asking another to stop the stupid bashing, that's probably what you consider beeing "looking for forgiveness"

[Lefty Scaevola]

Originally posted by cia
The French only have velvet gloves oh, and maybe silk...

Whats the famous quote about Talleyrand and French dimplomacy?

"A piece of s**t in a silk stocking"

Seems nothing changes.

[SlowwHand]

If Menlas is correct, the French are just, once again, pissing on their shoes.

The bashing has it's reasons.
All they want to do, is call for a do-over.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
If Menlas is correct, the French are just, once again, pissing on their shoes.

May you enlighten me with an explanation of this sentence ?

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by BeBro
Now this was really an insult

Menlas: If it is any consolation, I didn't start the thread with such things in mind.

[Menlas]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Menlas: If it is any consolation, I didn't start the thread with such things in mind.

I know, I wasn't speaking about you

[Shi Huangdi]

Why is France all of a sudden whining about anti-Europeanism, what does exist of it here, in the US? There has been a strong Anti-Americanism in Europe for a very long time, especially moreso since Bush became President in the US. In fact you yourself Spiffor admit you boycott US cultural products(though at least you didn't vanadalize a McDonalds like others did, though from what I heard that got the perpertrators considered heros). If Europe wants to dish it out, it should be ready to take it.

[DAVOUT]

Originally posted by HershOstropoler
Nope, what seems to baffle the French is that anti-french jingoism is running rampant even in the better US news media, and that it is fed by rumours and propaganda lies from Washington. That's somewhat new.

This summarizes perfectly the point.

As we are always indulgent with the Americans, till now we believed that the 1109 trauma explained that you acted as if history had begun this day. But two points make this attitude no longer appropriate :

- if history started on 1109, why do so many posters base their hatred on extremely old facts occurred in the Middle Age?

- it is unprecedented, except in the cold war period, that one country speaks in such uncivilized manner about another country with which it is not at war. This technique is only used for preparing the public opinion to the war. As nobody is expecting the US to break the sacred rule that democracies do not fight each other, there is an incoherence to solve. This is the meaning, IMHO, of the question asked to the US government.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by DAVOUT
As nobody is expecting the US to break the sacred rule that democracies do not fight each other,

This is neither a rule nor is it anything sacred. [/pet peave]

PS - if history started on 1109, why do so many posters base their hatred on extremely old facts occurred in the Middle Age?

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't 1109 in the period commonl;y refered to as the Middle Ages? [/yet another pet peave]

[DAVOUT]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
This is neither a rule nor is it anything sacred. [/pet peave]

PS - if history started on 1109, why do so many posters base their hatred on extremely old facts occurred in the Middle Age?

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't 1109 in the period commonl;y refered to as the Middle Ages? [/yet another pet peave]

I am willing to edit the sentence in order to please your pet :

nobody is expecting the US to break the consistently observed fact that democracies do not fight each other.

... and the date which I aknowledge was ambiguously formatted : I was referring to September 11, 2001.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by DAVOUT
nobody is expecting the US to break the consistently observed fact that democracies do not fight each other.

It isn't consistently observed either.

[DAVOUT]

Exemples, please.

[Jaakko]

Looks like the military knowledge of certain posters on the other side of the big pond is getting dangerously low.

We need an MBT thread, stat!

[Whaleboy]

Have any of the Americans posting against the french, calling them "not the sharpest knives in the draw", "screwed", "immature behaviour" etc etc, ever actually been to Franch, understood the society, culture and history, or indeed have any experience with that nation other than what they read and see in the media?

Before you arrogantly start spouting xenophobic, ethnocentric propaganda at other nations, at least try to be objective and understand, otherwise you would merely be playing into the stereotype of the isolationist, patriotic American, which I know to be false, but many do not.

America should ensure that its negative stereotypes are destroyed, and realise that it is a nation of individuals, who are capable of thinking for themselves, and taking the media and government with a pinch of salt.

As for the French, they did what they felt was the best thing, as did the Americans, in having respective opposing views. I think it is somewhat silly to penalise France for doing that, it really doesn't help anyone, it is an emotion, irrational, subjective action, that should form no basis for international relations in this day and age. Lets leave that kinda thing in the 19th century, where it belongs.

[Kirnwaffen]

"immature behaviour"

If you're referring to my post, that phrase referred to the behavior of the Americans. I'm not taking sides in this issue, just pointing out that it is a bit silly that the French are so surprised that they are being smeared in the US media(the scope of which is being exagerated, to a large extent), when they used the same tactic pre-war.