George,

I read this quote from the governor of Louisiana today on your web page:

"People are really fed up with France," the governor said. "We have good relationships with the French people. They must have slipped up and elected somebody who doesn't like us."

The honourable governor has it dead wrong, in my opinion. I wouldn't matter who was president of France, if it had been the left-centre Socailist Party candidate Lionel Jospin or the ultra right-wing National Front candidate Jean-Marie le Pen who had won the presidential election in May of 2002. They and their administrations would have done the same as Chirac regarding the Iraq issue, more or less. A French president who had gone along with Bush would have paid a heavy political price, given that about 85% of the French public opposes the war (It's not like the French would have made a difference in the outcome of the conflict anyway). There's not a day tha goes by without a protest against the war somewhere in France, and not a week that goes by without a protest in the town where I work.

It is the French (and people of plenty of other nationalities) who think we slipped up in electing a president like George Bush, who seems to be more and more in conflict with world opinion. I'm not saying this to promote a particular political viewpoint; I'm just saying it as an American who lives in France, watches the news, reads the papers, works with and talks with French people on a daily basis, and feels that the American public has the right to know why Chirac took the position that he did. The American media seems unable to give balanced coverage of the war. It focuses more on the military action and the home front in the States and far less on international sentiment. It is quite easy to see this living in Europe and having access to multiple news sources in multiple languages with multiple spins on the subject.

I find it disturbing when our political leaders feel the need to resort to childish tantrum-throwing whenever other world leaders are in disagreement with them. When I was a child, I was taught that people will always have conflicting viewpoints - even the best of friends, that disagreement an unavoidalbe fact of life and that one should deal with disagreements in a polite and civilised manner. Apparently some elected officials were never taught this, and it's about time they grow up.

I often make fun of the French when I get together with other foreigners. It's almost a requirement for expatriates living in France. But I certainly think the anti-French sentiment in the US has gone way too far. The next time I'm in the States I will not eat in an establishment exhibiting any childish attitudes towards the French (i.e. renaming French fries and French toast). I refuse to patronize childish stupidity.

Warm regards from the land of the frogs.

Joseph Cheek (electronic mail, March 31, 2003)