What French papers say

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | 03/28/03 | Philip Delves Broughton

[Pokey78]

Two cartoons on the front page of Le Monde this week sum up France's morbid amusement at the progress of the war in Iraq.

Thursday's paper showed an American soldier striding over piles of bodies of women and children muttering to himself: "This sandstorm's awful."

Today's shows President George W Bush at the controls of a plane shouting to parachutists as they jump "Watch out! It's full of Arabs!"

French television coverage has focused heavily on the suffering of Iraqis, especially those killed in the bombing of Baghdad The deaths have fuelled anger in the anti-war marches across France this week.

In Paris Match this week, the editor, Alain Genestar, writes: "War is ugly. This one, like others, should be condemned. But to this ugliness is added this unhealthy rejoicing at the difficulties faced by those who decided to launch war.

"Here and there, never, of course, officially in the chancelleries, but in the streets and demonstrations, people take pleasure in mocking the American troops for their suffering, their mistakes and reverses as if these obstacles in the path of war prove they are right to be against Bush."

The loss and damage to Apache helicopters early in the conflict prompted French parliamentarians to joke in private that the Americans would have been better off with French helicopters.

VSD, a popular magazine normally full of minor celebrities on holiday, put on its cover this week a picture of American soldiers walking with their heads down through a sandstorm. The headline read: "Apocalypse now: Bush's mad crusade leads us towards a humanitarian catastrophe."

Pierre Lellouche, the most vocal opponent of President Chirac's stance on Iraq within his parliamentary party, said of his fellow deputies "seeing the Americans and British get a bloody nose makes them happy.

"They don't understand that if they lose, all the dictators, all the tyrants, all the proliferators will have a field day. Then what is the advantage for France in chaos?"

President Jacques Chirac and his diplomatic team find themselves in the awkward position of criticising the war, hoping for its swift conclusion and yet knowing that a successful conflict will be seen as a defeat for French foreign policy.

Le Monde's editorial yesterday said that whatever the outcome of the war, the difficulties already experienced have destroyed the hopes of American neo-conservatives that this war would be a model for toppling dictators throughout the Middle East.

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[PokeyJoe]

Time to remove our war dead.

[exsolus]

Well, well. If things were different on Sept 11, 2001- If the buildings in France were to be destroyed by terroists through airplanes, certainly things would have been different for French. Moreover, won't it be linked to Iraq? Certainly France would have done something in middle east.

:-P

[MEG33]

The French are a hate filled bunch.

[Mister Baredog]

President Jacques Chirac and his diplomatic team find themselves in the awkward position of criticising the war, hoping for its swift conclusion and yet knowing that a successful conflict will be seen as a defeat for French foreign policy.

Well now, we all knew it would come to this, after all France is always defeated, it is their "right". It's going to get real ugly when we get to the Iraqi govt files.

[Burkeman1]

Le Monde is the French equivelent of the New York Times. It is moderate Left Wing (in France that means not quite Communist). But what Americans don't seem to gather is that the opposition to this war crosses ideological lines all over Europe. La Parisean- the conservative daily and the number two paper in France is just as anti war as Le Monde. Left and Right in Europe are united in being against our war in Iraq.

[DoughtyOne]

And when we do it, we shouldn't say a G.D. word to the people around us. We should just let them rant, moan, whatever! When it's over we shouldn't give them the sweat off the family jewels ever again!

[longtermmemmory]

The french are going to try and steal the peace.

[modhom]

Left and right in old Europe maybe.

[Eala]

the opposition to this war crosses ideological lines all over Europe.

As does anti-Semitism. I was shocked a while back when, on a trip over there, I heard the most awful things trip off the tongues of people with whom I'd been acquainted for years. Now, maybe, I can understand how the Holocaust came to be.

[Burkeman1]

We don't even have public support in the Central Europeon regimes that support us- their governments do- but majority opinion doesn't. The Polish government just told Bush and Rumsfeld to shut up and not talk about their special forces successful taking of an oil platform- why? Because two thirds of Poles are against the war.

[Burkeman1]

Haven't been there recently- But when I was in Russia in 90' I was shocked at the blatant racism.

[laz17]

The French are among the most odious, perverse, depraved, corrupt, and evil people on the face of the earth. I cannot even begin to verbalize the utter disgust that they inspire in me. To be perfectly honest, I value the life of an Iraqi far, far more than I do that of a Frenchman. While most Iraqis do not support Saddam, 90% of France supports Chirac. Post-war Iraq will be a far better country than France can ever pretend to be.

REGIME CHANGE IN FRANCE!

The French: A people slimier than the snails they eat.

[MrPeanut]

When I was 15 my family toured Europe. The people of all the countries we visited treated us great- except the French. They denigrated us. My older sister was in tears because she spent four years learning the French language only to find out the people were pigs.

[MEG33]

That's sad.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

[old3030]

The loss and damage to Apache helicopters early in the conflict prompted French parliamentarians to joke in private that the Americans would have been better off with French helicopters

Why don't they ship us some? Obviously they're not men enough to use them.

And another thing -- early in the conflict -- it's been a friggin' week!

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

[modhom]

I saw a recent poll where 70+% of Europeans think we are at war primarily over oil. They are simply wrong.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

[CharacterCounts]

But what Americans don't seem to gather is that the opposition to this war crosses ideological lines all over Europe

But what most French don't seem to gather is that most Americans don't gives a rat's behind what the French think.

[laz17]

Post-war Iraq will be a far better country than France can ever pretend to be.

And let me add that this is so because all of the French culture's veneer of sophistication fails to adequately mask its rank corruption just as much as all the deodorant in the world fails to cover up the rancid stench of a Frenchman who hasn't bathed in a month.

[dyed_in_the_wool]

"They don't understand that if they lose, all the dictators, all the tyrants, all the proliferators will have a field day. Then what is the advantage for France in chaos?"

We won't lose, Pierre. We're giving the Iraqis their country. Comprende?

[Vinnie_Vidi_Vici]

The loss and damage to Apache helicopters early in the conflict prompted French parliamentarians to joke in private that the Americans would have been better off with French helicopters

Alas, we shall never know how french helicopters perform in battle as the yellow bastards haven't the guts to enter into one!

[Burkeman1]

Your post is a overheated but also illustrative of why the world views us this way: Thanks to "The Simpsons".

[Burkeman1]

They are wrong- it isn't over oil.

[Burkeman1]

It seems we do care- since we have done moronic things like rename french fries and french toast.

[Jumper]

Time for the US Newspapers to start carrying Front Page Headlines on French Support for Muslum Terrorists in Africa Against the Legimate Christian Government - and these French call themselves morale and civilized.

[CharacterCounts]

It seems we do care- since we have done moronic things like rename french fries and french toast.

That is just acknowledging they are an annoyance. A cockroach is an annoyance, but I do not care what it thinks of me.

[Burkeman1]

Well- we did the same thing during the first world war with a host of German foods and goods- it causes puzzlement to us now as to why it was done as will this nonsense about France will in less than 10 years (and we are not even fighting France!)

[GunRunner]

What episode is that from?

[Burkeman1]

The visit to Brazil episode. Homer was walking on the beach and the lifeguard called- "hey American"- and HOmer said "how do you know I am an American?" The lifeguard pointed to his T-Shirt with the image on this post.

[ArneFufkin]

The dire character of the French predicament - with American soldiers on Baghdad's doorstep ready to rip open their rat's nest of complicity in WMD production, smuggled oil schemes and under the table Oil for Food kickbacks - is apparent in these media accounts. We are in a bizarre milieu of our allies conducting a furtive campaign of pure, coordinated disinformation and anti-American propaganda. They are openly sabotauging our efforts. They are pathetically desperate for a U.N. intervention before the Americans take Baghdad.

The French need to be seen in the same prism as China at this time. They are our dormant enemies.

[hope]

What else should we expect from the $hitty little country who aligns themselves with Saddam Hussein?

[Mister Magoo]

The French are the most worthless, lease principled people on the planet. They thought by appeasing Hitler with Czechoslovakia that they would avoid war. They didn't. And then, instead, of moving its government to London to continue the war, they capitulated, and then allied, with Germany. They fired on British and US troops landing in North Africa who were to liberate them. They profess to oppose the slaughter of Iraqis, but they themselves had no problem slaughtering thousands of Vietnamese and Algerians using torture tactics that would make Colonel Kurtz squirm. The French know they we are intrinsically generous people -- I have no doubt that after the war is won, the USA, in order to appear magnanimous, will in fact give the French post-war contracts in order to insure harmony. God, the French make me sick.

[Burkeman1]

Yes- the French "capitulated" after suffering 120,000 deaths in a month in WWII. I would love to see the American resolve in this war if they suffered 1000 deaths in the weeks to come. Then you can come and bad mouth the French.

[Bismark]

No, we're not fighting the French... yet. That hasn't stopped them from doing things which have caused the loss of American AND Iraqi lives. They have encouraged the Iraqis
to fight a war they can not win merely to cause us to lose people. I do not think the French are cowards, they are enemies.

[JHrules]

I beleive that French military helicopters are german made. Same company that makes the Huey.

[vannrox]

What the French Newspapers say:

"...Le Président Bush a les pieds stinky. Tous les Américains sont gros et ils ont un sens faible de modèle. Les Américains aiment manger des "hot dogs". Ils sont des peuples simples qui aiment leur "MTV". Ils n'obtiennent pas assez de sexe. Ils trouvent la jeunesse attrayante ! Imaginez cela ! Ils ne boivent pas du vin avec leurs repas. Au lieu de cela, ils préfèrent le ketchup sur leurs pommes de terre frites...."

[TopQuark]

Ivan, you probably either know this already or don't care; but just in case...ping.

[JimRed]

This reply only refers to the headline, for reasons that will be apparent. I did not even read the text because WHO CARES WHAT FRENCH PAPERS SAY??!!!

[Bismark]

Yes- the French "capitulated" after suffering 120,000 deaths in a month in WWII. I would love to see the American resolve in this war if they suffered 1000 deaths in the weeks to come. Then you can come and bad mouth the French.

The French lost around 90,000 killed, 200,000 wounded and surrendered 1.9 million soldiers in the six weeks they fought.

I hope you don't get to see how we would react to 1000 US dead in Iraq, and I'd pointout to you that you're seeing how we react to 3,000 US dead in NY and DC. I don't think you'll see us surrendering regardless of the heartbreak of .4% losses. But then we aren't French.

[Tamar1973]

Well, well. If things were different on Sept 11, 2001- If the buildings in France were to be destroyed by terroists through airplanes, certainly things would have been different for French. Moreover, won't it be linked to Iraq? Certainly France would have done something in middle east.

Actually I don't think they would do anything differently. They surrender to the Germans, they have allowed millions of Arabs into their country so they would just surrender to the Muslim hoards, too.

[tophat9000]

Huey (UH1)are Bell aircraft an American company

[Lx]

Wasn't this after the French and English made the foolish promise to protect Poland in the event of an invasion? This after the capitulation in Munich, you know, peace in our time? This after they let Hitler take the rest of Czechoslovakia after they gave him the fortified Sudetenland.

In fact, I think it took longer to conquer Poland who fought on horses than it did for them to defeat France.

After they brought Petain out of retirement to join Reynaud's cabinet, he practically forced Reynaud's resignation and the armistice quickly followed. Then to cap it off, Petain sought to collaborate with the Germans because he thought it would get the French better treatment and because he thought the real enemy was Bolshevism. (Paraphrased from the book Command)

According to the book Command, the French lost 100,000 to the German's 40,000.

[Mister Magoo]

It's not just that the French were defeated. OK, so their armoured tactical doctrines were outdated, and the troops' elan was non-existent. But they could have continued the fight in exile, like the Dutch, Czechs, Norwegians, and Polish did. But no. The French surrendered and ALLIED with their enemy, actively participating in the exportation of forced labour to Germany and fired upon allied troops in Vichy-controlled territories and in North Africa. Disgraceful.

[Burkeman1]

Hmmmm- The British and French both guranteed Polish sovereignty. The Germans invaded and then the Soviets and they each traded political prisoners to be killed. But Britain and France only declared war on Germany.

At the end of the war- the Brits in the trenches and the families who had lost their sons who had been told the war was about Poland saw Soviet Russia take it over and half of Europe. Great trade off. Hitler for Stalin.

[Burkeman1]

Ah- The Free French under De Gaulle- despite our propaganda they served hard and fought well and took heavy causualities.

[Lx]

Actually, Hitler made the non aggression pact with his mortal enemy Stalin, how he got his party to support THAT is beyond me but maybe not Clinton. Once he knew that he had the East sewn up, then he setup operation Canned Goods to make it look like the Poles had attacked a German radio station and away they went.

The Brits and the French were trying to do the same thing with Stalin.

The funny part is that Stalin was much smarter and didn't attack Poland until it was almost over saving his army.

Then Hitler turned on Stalin, didn't see that one coming.