Taking a Stand on France
Re “French Hall of Shame,” editorials, March 12: Did I miss something? Has The Times been bought by Fox News?
No. 1: Who cares what the French cultural elite do regarding the Frenchness of the movie “A Very Long Engagement.” I realize that we live in Hollywood, but who cares?
No. 2: At least France’s finance minister, Herve Gaymard, resigned under pressure from the public and the Chirac government, versus the fate assigned to members or associates of the Bush administration involved in scandal. Rather than resign or be fired, they get rewarded with promotions and more no-bid government contracts.
Lastly, regarding the current French reluctance to assist President Bush for his folly in Iraq, the French are fighting side by side with our soldiers in Afghanistan.
Further, the French had previously offered to send post-invasion troops to Iraq, but the U.S. would have no part of it unless those troops were put under the control of the U.S. military.
Rather than scourge the French for their arguable misjudgments, Times [staffers] should act like the responsible journalists I thought they were and investigate scandals on our own soil -- like the Jeff Gannon affair.
Karen J. Pordum
Marina del Rey
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I do not agree with most of your editorials, but there are infrequent exceptions to this rule.
Your trilogy of editorials on French debauchery made me laugh and laugh. My wife thought I had lost total control of my senses.
The editorials were not only funny, they were correct. What is not funny at all is that some of the issues are deadly, such as the symbolic French “help” of $660,000 in Iraq.
I hope France will never again need any “help” from the good old U.S.A. World War I and II were quickly, and conveniently, forgotten.
Dro Amirian
Studio City
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The Times once again takes a cheap shot at France (and by extension, other countries that refuse to enthusiastically support U.S. policy in Iraq).
Anybody who thinks France should expend treasury money and risk the lives of its citizens in support of a war it opposed, and a policy that it considers deeply flawed, should try to imagine how this would play out if the roles were reversed.
Who seriously believes that the U.S. would bail out France after an invasion gone awry, an invasion the U.S. repeatedly warned about, an invasion that France tried to sell to the world based on lies?
Christian Haesemeyer
Princeton, N.J.
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I am amazed that The Times would devote three concurrent editorials to bashing the French. Why? Is it so newsworthy and important that they promote their cinema, or that the French have some corrupt, abusive ministers?
French-bashing is no different from the need to put down other peoples or nationalities. It must make us feel better in some way; enhance some sense of tribal superiority.
Further psychological analysis is needed to understand the intense criticism of a people who, in times past, helped us gain our independence and celebrated our freedoms.
Mario Ashla
Rancho Palos Verdes
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Your March 12 editorial, “The French Definition of Help,” contains two typical misconceptions: that France is providing only symbolic aid to Iraq and that it is attempting to weaken NATO.
In Iraq, no one can afford the luxury of a failure, as the consequences would be disastrous both for the country itself and for the Mideast in general.
France is determined -- contrary to your assertion -- to provide real support for the new Iraqi authorities.
Significant gestures have already been made, such as the cancellation of 80% of the Iraqi debt and unequivocal backing for the elections. Additional ones will be forthcoming as soon as a new Iraqi government agrees to them. They include the training of 1,500 Iraqi policemen and aid to strengthen civilian institutions (parliament, the administration, the justice system).
In this context, France’s contribution to NATO’s fund is just one element among others, and its size is similar to that of other major NATO partners.
As for NATO, let me remind you that NATO’s two military operations, in Afghanistan and in Kosovo, are commanded by a French general. France is the largest contributor of troops to NATO’s military operations after Germany, ahead of the United States.
The development of a strong European defense entity will strengthen the Atlantic Alliance rather than weaken it.
To meet the challenges facing our democracies, it seems to me that pooling our strengths is a much more constructive method than arguing about our supposed weaknesses.
Jean-David Levitte
Ambassador of France to the United States Washington
