US finds UN and France in low regard
Daniel Henniger:
"...The run-up to the Iraq War earlier this year was serious business, but one of the recurring leitmotifs was the French government's opposition to anything American. So much so that two days didn't pass without a new vintage of French jokes pouring into the inbox. Jay Leno: "Why did we ever think the French would help us kick Saddam out of Iraq? They didn't help us kick the Germans out of France."
Shortly after the war was over, a high official from France's Parliament visited our offices hoping to let bygones be bygones. He said we were all joined in the war on terror and that our countries' long-term interests coincided. He was visiting American editorial boards and going to Washington to see key members of Congress in the belief that if he could convince these influential people--the U.S. networking equivalent of les grandes écoles--Franco-American relations would revive.
Whereupon he was told: "Sir, there is really not much that we or the members of Congress can do for you. France's problems now are not with America's policy makers but with America's comedians."
"...In April, according to Gallup, the percentage of Americans regarding Germany as an ally dropped to 27% from 40% three years ago; France fell to 18% from 50%. So quickly kicking away what others built up in the postwar period is quite an achievement for Messrs. Schröder and Chirac (who this week allowed they'll support reconstructing Iraq)."
"...For decades, Europeans have regarded their American summer visitors as ill-dressed rubes with little sense of history or the grand, complex world beyond Peoria. In the past two years, Americans have learned a lot about history. Out of that history emerged once again the unique combination of idealism and toughness that brought the U.S. into Iraq, and will keep it there. It would behoove this country's critics to try harder to understand both impulses. If only out of self-interest."
Daniel Henniger:
"...The run-up to the Iraq War earlier this year was serious business, but one of the recurring leitmotifs was the French government's opposition to anything American. So much so that two days didn't pass without a new vintage of French jokes pouring into the inbox. Jay Leno: "Why did we ever think the French would help us kick Saddam out of Iraq? They didn't help us kick the Germans out of France."
Shortly after the war was over, a high official from France's Parliament visited our offices hoping to let bygones be bygones. He said we were all joined in the war on terror and that our countries' long-term interests coincided. He was visiting American editorial boards and going to Washington to see key members of Congress in the belief that if he could convince these influential people--the U.S. networking equivalent of les grandes écoles--Franco-American relations would revive.
Whereupon he was told: "Sir, there is really not much that we or the members of Congress can do for you. France's problems now are not with America's policy makers but with America's comedians."
"...In April, according to Gallup, the percentage of Americans regarding Germany as an ally dropped to 27% from 40% three years ago; France fell to 18% from 50%. So quickly kicking away what others built up in the postwar period is quite an achievement for Messrs. Schröder and Chirac (who this week allowed they'll support reconstructing Iraq)."
"...For decades, Europeans have regarded their American summer visitors as ill-dressed rubes with little sense of history or the grand, complex world beyond Peoria. In the past two years, Americans have learned a lot about history. Out of that history emerged once again the unique combination of idealism and toughness that brought the U.S. into Iraq, and will keep it there. It would behoove this country's critics to try harder to understand both impulses. If only out of self-interest."
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