Come on, I spent two weeks in France and met nothing but rude jerk assholes years before this war thing started. They are disrespectful, rude, cheats, and generally lowlife in every respect.

Well now that you've just insulted my entire family......Yes they can be rude jerks, but it's mainly a stereotype. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience but they are not all like that.

no, no, he's right. if they want a good example of politeness, they should really look to the americans, a nation that sent its big hamburger chain to a country where a large part of the population thinks cows are sacred. now that is sensitivity for you.

France, the French, etc.,

I am an American. I also question our politics and politicians along some of the same lines as France (namely said, Bush). I too wonder why in the hell we chose to bomb Iraq when we're all STILL trying to find the "smoking gun".

That being said, I don't think you AT ALL understand what AMERICA did for you in WWII (and ALOT MORE). How grateful can you be? Obviously not at all. We could go through every bit of France's history during this conflict (Cowards in many, if not most, eyes). If not for America you would have been left in dire straits, to say the VERY LEAST!!!!!!!

What language do you speak? If not for Americans, it definitely would not be French. I wish the best for your country, but I also know and realize how ungrateful and ignorant your countrymen/women can and will be.

Please respond, I'd really like to know how arrogant, non-grateful cowards feel. My grandfathers fought and died to help save YOUR country!

Uh Excuse me but I am an American. I was born and raised here, however my father was French and I still have a lot of relatives in France.

As to your comments, while America was the deciding factor in the war it doesn't mean to say that the French were ungrateful for what the Americans did or that they wanted Germany to take over. I myself greatly admire anyone who sacrificed themselves in any war, and that one in particular. But being a History major I know that there were many factors that caused France to be more vulnerable to invasion and that in fact they did not have many options when Germany did invade.

France was broke from the pervious war and Germany who was supposed to be repaying them for the cost of the war could not repay. They still had not rebuilt their country which took the biggest beating in WWI, and during the break between wars they had no help from neighboring countries. They had lost at least 75% of their young generation, meaning that when WWII happened the population was mostly women, older men and children under 18. So when Germany invaded they had little chance.

What they did after is not an indication of the whole country. Unfortunately they did not have many options and I'm sure at the time it looked like there was no escaping Germany Control. I don't agree with some of the things that occured in France at the time, but I also see that they had little options in front of them and they were trying to survive. I also think that what resistance there was is over looked and those people were heroic in their actions.

I'm sorry that you think French peple are arrogant, non grateful cowards, apparently you've never met anyone outside of the States. Perhaps you should broaden your horizons before you judge other people.

I think it's very interesting that Dave here was so quick to judge Nuala since he assumed her to be French. I highly doubt he would have accosted her so, had he realized she was American. This just goes to show how being prejudiced towards a group of people can lead to unfair and unwarranted assumptions about individuals. My grandfather also fought in WWII and was shot down and held in a concentration camp for months before he finally escaped. My grandfather was not fighting to win the gratitude of other nations, but was fighting because he did not want to see people oppressed by a regime based on racism and hatred. I certainly hope that Dave comes to realize that stereotypical judgements such as his are exactly what we were fighting against in WWII.

Thank you Erica!

wow, erica, that was eloquent. i was simply going to say he was a twit.

not your grandfather, i mean dave.

It's amazing that most Americans somehow think American troops were single-handedly responsible for the defeat of the Nazis in WWII. Perhaps it was the Hollywood histories, but somehow "Allies" is taken to mean "Americans". IMHO, the major American contribution was $$$ under the Marshall Plan. But the only reason we were even able to do that is because isolationist politics led to America sitting out the entire first half of the war. As a result, not a single U.S. city was bombed. Not a single factory was destroyed.

But just because we helped rebuild Europe doesn't mean that we were solely responsible for the defeat of the Axis powers.

Besides, it's not as if we got involved to save the Jews from persecution. After we got done being distracted by Latin America and so-called "good-neighbor" policies (which were more like: you sit there quietly while we intervene in your internal affairs and take advantage of your resources to promote our own economic interests), we still didn't get involved because we thought the British and French were responsible for controlling Europe. Plus we didn't want any more refugees. Then Hitler launched Kristallnacht and sent 30,000 Jews to concentration camps. We then took in 15,000 refugees...but didn't break off trade relations with Hitler. By late 1942, 2 million Jews had been slaughtered, but the Americans mostly just stood by. We didn't formally get involved until Hitler invaded Russia, and when we did, it was to preserve our own (capitalist) economic interests. The Atlantic Charter told the world that the war was to be fought to protect self-government by all, freedom of the seas, a postwar "general security" system, freedom from fear and want, and a fair economic system that guaranteed equal access to world wealth to all States" -- basically a euphemism for promoting our Open Door Policy.
It's dangerous to assume Americans are ever about being the altruistic heros.