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Luvin1stdegree

France:Forgive or Forget?

Should the US forgive France and get back to the way things were or forget them and import substitute products from other countries?  

30 members have voted

  1. 1. Should the US forgive France and get back to the way things were or forget them and import substitute products from other countries?

    • Forgive them, and get back to the way things were.
      14
    • Forget them, we don't need France.
      15


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Hi all, I'm hoping you can help out with an assignment I have. I need to write a report on the American/French relationship and would love some opinions. Don't worry, I won't be using names or quoting anyone in my report, I just want to get a feel for the publics emotions about France now that the war is supposedly over.

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I have not voted because I do not live in America, but I do think it would be ironic if the US halted importation of certain French produce, especially after the French Government would not allow the exportation of British beef even though it was illegal to do so after being proved safe.

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The French are an arrogant lot that have no idea of how to remotely show any form of appreciation.

 

Thousands of American tourists visit France, pouring beaucoup American dollars into their country every year, yet the French treat the Americans like they are dirt under their feet. They are rude to them, and if the Americans attempt to speak the language, the French ridicule them.

 

American pilots do not dare speak French over French air space, because the air traffic controllers purposefully try to confuse them. I know this for a fact since my brother-in-law flew for the U.S. Air Force and a commercial air liner. Needless to say this could present a potentially lethal situation. That doesn't seem to bother the French that they may cause the deaths of hundreds, both in the air and on the ground.

 

Let's not forget the fact that the Americans liberated France from the German occupation during World War II. If for that reason and no other reason, they should at least be nice to us.

 

You can probably guess that I voted FORGET THEM!

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i voted to forget them since they are not a major ecinomic influence in the U.S. the thing the really miffed me about the french is that on D-Day they 2,000 free french troops refused to help in the liberation of the country becuase they could not have a landing area they wanted. thier lack of suppourt in the iraq war has only made i loathing of the frogs worse.

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I voted forget France,how quickly they forget we saved their butts twice from being dominated. I've been to Paris and it was the worst place in Europe I visited,the people were rude to us once they found out we were U.S. soldiers. Back in the early days of fighting terrorist when the U.S. went after Kadaffi in Libya the french refused to let American fighter planes fly over French airspace,then the whole Iraq war refusal at the U.N. was outragous.It was not because they wanted to keep the peace it was because they wanted to keep their contracts with Saddam going so they would make money from him.

To heck with france,next time a dictator invades and captures france I say let them have it.

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So did you start this post on Bastille Day on purpose?

 

I voted forget - they're entitled to their opinion of course. But as one commentator stated by emboldening Saddam with their support they (the French) endangered American lives. They have every right to choose not to be our ally...but it was their choice.

 

I am sick of giving money to countries that look down America. Despise us if you want but do it on your own dime.

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As much as I'd like to say, forget them, I think that the U.S. should maintain the same level of integrity and compassion that it's had since it's inception, the U.S. should take the high road and extend the olive branch to as many as will receive it. Because of events prior to WWI, the U.S. has chosen not to maintain itself in isolationism, and I guess that if it suddenly became isolationist, there would still be those who complained.

 

Here's something interesting that happened to me recently. I was in Philidelphia a few

weeks ago at a conference, and I decided to see the city. As a freedom-loving-eating-drinking-breathing American, I really enjoyed seeing the city where this

"great experiment" all began. Standing in front of Independence Hall were a some French people. Since I speak French, I could hear that they were insulting the place. It's tough to

forget something like that, and I do hope that they are the victims of propaganda, and know no better....

 

I think the U.S. is capable of rising above it all. It won't be the first time. That's why I love this country so much.

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Stardate:213537.1

 

 

I say forget them.But we should start boycotting french stuff thats already in our country.I saw those people poruing perfectly good wine down the drains a few months ago and I wanted to slap the tastes out of their mouths :clap: My school renamed our fries Freedom Fries and I thought it was BS.Now Im not saying that because im not patriotic but thats not what those fries were called. :( Sorry had to vent

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Amy, you know my feelings on this I'm sure.

 

They need the U.S. a whole lot more then the U.S. needs them.

I agree they do need us more than we need them. If it wasn't for us they'd be a part of Germany. They only care about something if it benifits them they could care less about what's better for the world. But we have to remember that not all french people think the same way some of them fell the same way we do just not as many of them. But that's my opinion.

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I voted to forgive them at some point. They didn't support our reasons for invading Iraq and we should respect that. The only thing that irks me is the way that they worked against the U.S in it's atempts in gaining support for the war which IMO was for their own economic reasons.

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Wow you are saying this, KM?

 

I don’t mean that in a bad way. (Don’t get me wrong)

 

I never would have guessed that you thought that:

“[France] wanted to keep their contracts with Saddam going so they would make money from him.”

 

I agree with that completely.

 

 

However, even though I don’t like the France government at all - we must be aware that this whole thing with France has been blown way out of portions. “Freedom fries” and all the rest just proves to the world that we are immature.

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

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Amy, you know my feelings on this I'm sure.

 

They need the U.S. a whole lot more then the U.S. needs them.

:laugh:I have agree , too, with VBG on this. I voted to Forget them. We really don't need what they have.

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I voted for forgive. :lol:

 

Being English we had quite a few skirmishes with France over the past thousand years, but they are still Englands closest neighbours. And there's a lot of the French words that are used today in our language.

 

And I still think the French spoken language is the sexiest in the world. :lol: :laugh:

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Because of the Norman invasion of England, English has many French words.

 

Because of Lafayette, American armies fought better during the American Revolution.

 

Because of France's military threats, England sent fewer troops to America during her revolution, helping the colonists break free.

 

We repaid our debt during the last two World Wars, at least. I'm not a French Fan, and never have been, but they went over the line this time. Treat them kindly, or treat them in kind...that's a tough decision.

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France blew it big time! My personal opinion is that we do not forgive, but we should also not forget about them either. I say we should me mature and try re-working our relations with the country, and this time, make it known that they'll have to earn our nation's trust back.

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i voted to "forgive" france. As because of all their past efforts to help us. They enabled us to win the Revolutionary war, and the war of 1812....And besides, big deal if we had opposing views.....toward Iraq. It was not that France didnt want war...It was that they thought the Peace ful means of the UN should have been given more time.

 

But If we, as The United States, holds grudges for opposing us....How can we expect to be the role model for most of the World, Since we are the only superpower left in the world. :bow:

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i voted to "forgive" france. As because of all their past efforts to help us. They enabled us to win the Revolutionary war, and the war of 1812....And besides, big deal if we had opposing views.....toward Iraq. It was not that France didnt want war...It was that they thought the Peace ful means of the UN should have been given more time.

 

But If we, as The United States, holds grudges for opposing us....How can we expect to be the role model for most of the World, Since we are the only superpower left in the world. :bow:

Well there were also other reasons France did not want war. The major one was for oil, as France had signed a deal with Hussain and that is why they wanted him to stay in power, even though he is a ruthless dictator who used fear as a means of oppression.

 

Also, France seemed rather unrational with the statement that they would 'under no instance' support a war and would use their veto, even if it was proved beyond all doubt that Saddam had his weapons of mass destruction. That does not seem like a rational responce to me and make you question their real motives.

 

Also, it was France, not the US, that has undermined the credibility of the UN and the EU by carrying out private meetings with the intention to drum up an opposition group against the US and UK, and not a group against the proposal.

 

Finally, France has a history of crying 'shame' and shouting out about legalities, yet they also are the ones who are willing to break internation law with an unreasonable ban of British Beef, even though it was illegal to do so. The French do not like to be reminded of how other countries have saved their freedom in both World War, but it is a part of history and is a fact. But we still see the defacing of the monuments in France for those who died.

 

In the end the French are only after what is best for them (no matter what propaganda they try to spread) and at least the US does seem to care about the entire world with one billion dollars of funding for aids campaigns in Africa.

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By the way, I just want to apologise to captainekim as the post about could sound a bit like an ear-bashing, but that was never the intention. When I talk about politics I do tend to go on a bit.

 

Anyway, welcome to the boards! :bow:

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In the end the French are only after what is best for them (no matter what propaganda they try to spread) and at least the US does seem to care about the entire world with one billion dollars of funding for aids campaigns in Africa.

I'm Canadian, so I null my vote. (Or I should have null it)

 

I wont tell my opinion here, because I don't want to start a war, since it seems to be a USA based Message boards.

 

But if USA says that they don't need France, I guess they don't need the rest of the world either.

 

We all live on the same planet, and some problem are collective ones. Some nations may disagree, but that's not a reason to leave them.

 

And, just a last point to think about...

 

Which Country help the US againts England for his independance?

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Alterego raises a good point, just what do you think we should do as forgiveness. Trying to see their point of view and not having anger in our hearts is something I do think we should strive for. But if you know from past experience how someone is going to treat resources you share with them and you don't like the outcome.- I think you're justified in ceasing to share.

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Forgive the French people but hold their government accountable for their actions which apparently include so far passing on US Intel to Iraq, Violating The Trade Embargo Established by the UN, Withholding knowledge of terrorist activities including 9/11, and failing to support UN resolutions they signed.

 

As far as a running tally of who did what for whom, we are about equal and do not owe the government of France anything. And they owe us nothing so we do not expect their assistance in the future. In fact, the new political attitude in the US is to not expect assistance from anyone. How we got to be the bad guys is beyond me but I doubt that we will just allow another 9/11 to happen and if that means striking first from now on, then I am all for it. And yes, Im one of the guys who has to fight that fight.

 

By the way, did anyone notice that our French compatriots are all set to assist us in rebuilding Iraq. A lot of Lucrative contracts up for grabs you know...

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