Take Your “We Are All Americans” Headline And Shove It, France

12 Sep, 2006 by John Hawkins

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From the AP:

“The nations of the world joined Monday in solemn remembrance of Sept. 11 – but for many, resentment of the United States flowed as readily as tears.

Critics say Americans have squandered the goodwill that prompted France’s Le Monde newspaper to proclaim “We are all Americans” that somber day after the attacks, and…”

Stop right there. I am so sick and tired of hearing people talk about that one headline in the cheese-eating-surrender-monkey journal, as if it actually represents how France and the rest of Europe really felt. Moreover, the whole idea that we must have “squandered” that “good will” (which is really just another variation of, “why do they hate us”) is completely asinine.

Let’s do a little recap of the last hundred years or so, shall we?

WW1: After the Russians left the war, the Germans started driving the French and Brits back. They were actually shelling Paris when we showed up and saved them.

WW2: This time around, the Germans ran over the French like Lance Armstrong at the Tour de France. We liberated them from the Germans.

Vietnam: Remember Vietnam? Wasn’t a lot of fun, right? Know which nation’s mess we were cleaning up? That’s right, the French.

The Cold War: Which nation kept the Commies from swallowing Europe, including the French? That’s right; once again it was America.

Bosnia: How pathetic is it that Europe sat around twiddling its thumbs because they were scared to take on Serbia (Serbia!) in their own backyard without our carrying 75% of the load? Once again, it was France, among others, begging America to come take care of their problem.

Then, 9/11 happens and what help do we get from the French? A few special forces troops in Afghanistan and a newspaper headline — whoop-de-doo.

Here’s a thought: we didn’t “squander” that good will. To the contary, the real problem is that the French in particular, and most (but, not all) of Western Europe in general, are selfish ingrates. The truth is that they want — no — they demand America’s help when they’re in trouble, but then when the shoe is on the other foot, they’re just not willing to give back even a tiny portion of the sort of help that they’ve gotten from us over the years.