Poll: Half of French feel no moral debt [for D-Day or their liberation]

MSNBC.com ^ | June 5, 2004 | Reuters

[flyinghorse]

NUKE FRANCE!

[GVnana]

Yep. No real surprise. If you ever have a discussion with a Frenchman about WW2 you'll find they are appallingly ignorant of their own history and complicity.

[GVnana]

Just another fashion statement for the French.

[BelieveNFreedom]

Alternate interpretation: this story tells me a remarkable number of the frogs may still have their heads on straight. The headline could have been: Almost Half in France Recognize Moral Debt to USA for D-Day Liberation. That ain't bad. Do a poll of how many Americans can recite any real details of June 6 and compare the numbers.

[Tribune7]

Actually, I 'm pleasantly surprised that about 50 percent do feel gratitute.

[BenLurkin]

I suspect that the French, in looking back, think it would have been better to have been "liberated" by the Soviets.

It could have been that way if we had not landed in France. Our drive up Italy was stalling and the Soviets might have defeated the Germans in another five or so years - gradually wearing them down from the East.

Of course, if the Germans knew they needn't defend the West coast of Europe then maybe they could have re-deployed those resources and eventually defeated the Soviets.

(Just a little Staruday morning musings. It would have been a different Wold War.)

[television is just wrong]

Unfortunately, this is how they feel. We must not forget.

[Alberta's Child]

One of the best-kept secrets about World War II is that the Allies never really "liberated" France. Most French people at the time were perfectly content to live in a country occupied by the Nazis.

I'm surprised the number of people in France today who fell any "moral obligation" toward the U.S. is as high as this article seems to indicate.

[TADSLOS]

Fewer than 50 percent of French people think France has a moral debt to the United States 60 years after the Allied D-Day landings

Yeah, and the other half are largely muslims with and axe to grind and looking for a head to use it on.

[Thommas]

The best revenge I can think of right now is for America to withdraw its troops from Germany. Without the U.S. forces as a deterrent to Hun aggression, just watch the fun as France begins to crap its collective pantaloons.

[McGavin999]

Well, that's OK. That way we won't have to feel guilty as we find ourselves enjoying the sight of the frenchies being taken over by the Mulim Brotherhood. Thay way we won't even have to think twice about wiping out the entire country to keep nukes from the hands of the Islamists.

[Tamzee]

I'm surprised there is a half of the French population that does... I wish they'd speak up a bit more.

[Paul Atreides]

It's just a shame that there are so many great works of art housed in the Louvre. You know that the Muslims will destroy it all. They can have the rest of the cesspool, that is Fr*nce.

[jwalsh07]

No surprise here, there Vichy socialist have always outnumbered the liberty loving French. It's simply a fact of life like being born with brown hair and blue eyes.

[Thommas]

Over twenty years ago, while stationed in Europe, I took a trip with my wife to Paris. Among the many historical sites visited, the one that was most stunning was the Arc' de Triumph. In this interesting edifice was a room dedicated to the triumph of Charles DeGaul and the brave French forces who defeated the horrible Nazi machine of Adolph Hitler. Yep. In the history of France, the soldiers of Britain and their colonies were minor players in the great French victory of WWII.

The only other major player mentioned was good ol' Russia, and when the troops of Joe Stalin met with the noble French in the ruins of Berlin, the war terminated. To the appellative "cheese eating surrender monkeys" one could add "besotted revisionist ferrets."

[Thom Pain]

What would they have done if we had teamed with the Germans??!!

[PigRigger]

I'm starting to believe that the French tendency to be @$$holes maybe genetically based.

Nothing else that I can think of explains the insanity of this once noble nation except inbreeding.

[Carolinamom]

You're on to something!

[coldpatriot]

They have the EU going right now, but it always seems that "the more things change the more they stay the same". It may take a while, but who's to say our "good" friends the Germans won't someday turn again into the Germans of the 1930's & 40's, and go after France. I like your idea