Well, bye!
Posted on 11/01/2007 2:04:49 AM PDT by Republicain
PARIS (AFP) — A top US diplomat said Wednesday he regretted the French-bashing that took place in the United States over France's refusal to join the US-led war in Iraq.
Nicholas Burns, number three in the US State Department, called a decision to rename French fries as freedom fries in the US Congress foolish and he welcomed a new closeness between France and the United States.
"I surely hope that those Americans who renamed French fries into freedom fries, and those Americans who poured perfectly good French wines down American drains, I hope that they realise what foolishness that was," Burns told an audience at the American University of Paris. "I think that now we regret that an honest disagreement over a very important issue -- whether of not to go to war -- was taken to such lengths by so many people in our country."
Five food outlets in the US Congress heeded calls by House Republicans in 2003 to inject patriotism into their menus and rename French fries as "freedom fries."
Relations between France and the United States have warmed noticeably since new French President Nicholas Sarkozy came to power earlier this year.
"There is no question that we are entering a new period in the relationship between France and America, and there is no question it's a dynamic, positive and optimistic period," said Burns, who is the US under secretary of state for political affairs.
"The tide has really turned in this relationship."
Here’s what I was listening to just before I came on FR this morning - my little contribution to trans-Atlantic understanding:
Carla Bruni: “Quelqu’un m’a dit”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNqTH3mb314
Jerry Lewis Fries, with the KETChup and the Salt ON Ummmmggn thing and the CoLESTerOLL, Laydee!
Well, bye!
Some diplomat he is, freedom fries and french bashing were a wake up call for the average frenchman.
Telling them we weren’t going to be there for them because they weren’t there for us got a whole new government elected.
Enchante,
I found Atlantic Bridge’s comments very interesting and I very much appreciate his sharing of the European perspective. His observations seem to confirm my view that for sometime Europe has wished to insulate themselves from reality with a blanket of socialism, pacifism and America bashing. The situation worsened rapidly after the immediate threat of the USSR disappeared. Over the short run, it’s much more comfortable to be against America than to dirty ones hands dealing with the world’s real problems.
RedDog#1
Burns’ statements are sure to propel him right to the top of Charlie Rose’s
guest list.
He’s another example of why the State Dept. is considered by many to be the enemy within.
Yes, I do appreciate the comments from AB and didn’t mean to suggest otherwise. I actually have a trans-Atlantic family (across 4 continents, in fact) and do have a lot of interest in what the thinking is there, even if I may not agree with it a lot of the time. I think a lot of my cousins in France voted for Sarko, although we don’t talk politics much. I know there are some sensible people in France because many of them are relatives of mine!! In fact, they are as disdainful toward a lot of EU socialist weenies as I ever could be.
As for the reasons that AB describes politicians in both Germany and France seizing upon tensions over the Iraq war to push away from the USA, I agree he’s right on the money. I simply don’t think it’s avoidable when we’re talking about spineless charlatans like Schroeder and Chirac and the people around them. Sure, we could have tried to paper over the differences more, but the differences are there. The attitude of people like our so-called “top diplomat” Nicholas Burns is that now it’s time for Americans to apologize and act contrite. Au contraire, I would say it’s more appropriate for Europeans who supported Chirac/Schroeder to re-think their foolish ideas......
Hey, don’t sugar coat it, just tell us what you really think.
:-) I just flat don’t like the french. I loved watching the french whine when Armstong won their bike race 7 times in a row, and no french pussy has won it in over 20+ years!! Ha ha.
“Some diplomat he is, freedom fries and french bashing were a wake up call for the average frenchman.
Telling them we weren’t going to be there for them because they weren’t there for us got a whole new government elected.”
Er, nope. Neither of these “issues” played any role in the campaign, sorry. How can someone actually think that millions flock to vote for candidate X or Y just because of rather childish insults spouted from 3,000 miles away ? I doubt American voters vote in reaction to what the the rest of the world want them to do - why would French voters do otherwise ?
The 2007 elections hinged upon the economy, a need for institutional changes, a strong desire for a more assertive policy both at home and abroad.
The only actual impact of “Freedom fries” and general French-bashing was to actually comfort Chirac in 2003-2007, as it insulted a whole nation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.