I can just hear the French whining now...."Why do the Americans hate us?" Ironic, isn't it, and delicious.

No need to cover up all the evidence, just take your pride as enemy of the United States, and its evil "decadence" and unviled women, and devil music (blues) and beer, and football, and the ever bergious[sp?] right to ignore.

I'm shocked that the French are shocked. What? Were we suppose to forget about their behavior in the UN? I was angry before the war. Other revelations concerning the French is a bonus. (Weren't they the ones who said we should just get over and forget about 9-11 ?

While the French are busy watching us, merdeinfrance is busy thinking up ways to enjoy your time at the Louvre.

Oh my G-d,
the bastards are chicken shit!

Well, some of the accusations thrown at France are so severe,
that they had better damn well be true, or else heads need
to roll in the US media. And if they are not true, then France is
justified in monitoring the scene.

we have decided to count the untrue accusations which have appeared in the U.S. press and which have deeply shocked the French,

Did France not attempt to thwart the U.S.'s every move to completely disarm Saddam?
Did France not wish that the Iraqi war would go badly for the coalition?
Did France not aid Saddam's cronies, Saddam himself, and the corrupt Iraqi government (the Osiraq reactor etc)?

er....un deux trois..er,,,,alors can anyone ici count to a hundred in arabic

Charles:

The kooky (no pun intended) attorney dropped the case against Kraft. Our Oreos are safe, at least for now. Methinks the person is just a shill for the food police, or he has WAY too much time on his hands. (No hat tip necessary.)

There was one poster who mentioned that Trader Joes' version called Joe Joes were way better than the Oreos themselves. I will try them for myself and report back to you.

Perhaps the French like Oreos. We can send them a few cases along with some milk and they'd agree to anything..."Sure, go right ahead and take the Mona Lisa to the National Museum for a few boxes of Mint Double Stuf..."

Everyone point your tin foil hats east and block their signals.

[Sigh!] As usual, the French have got it wrong; it wasn't in the US media most of the recounting of finding of documents etc. in Iraq occurred; it was in the British press. So right off, they're looking in the wrong place.

In fact, a number of accounts of these findings appeared in the Independent, the Observer and the Telegraph as well as The Toronto Daily Star.

But the whole thing is so childish. These were not 'made up' stories. I myself, and I'm sure many of you, saw those drums near a chemical plant when the first report of possible WMD sightings occurred. There were some drums in a ditch and then in a nearby chemical plant, some grey drums with "made in France" written in French on them.

If the accounts of what have been found are true, then the fact that items are listed as having been received from France by Iraq doesn't make the finder guilty of anything.

France has been caught with it's pants down and is shouting "rape" but it's BOGUS!

#9 Brian Colby

Perhaps the French like Oreos. We can send them a few cases along with some milk and they'd agree to anything..."Sure, go right ahead and take the Mona Lisa to the National Museum for a few boxes of Mint Double Stuf..."

I don't know about the French, and I don't care. But I do like Oreos, which cannot be found in France at all. So please do send your gift of a few cases of Oreos to me. Forget about the milk -- just send more Oreos!

We have been reacting pretty harshly. After all, according to the French best-seller, 9/11 was all a staged event anyhow. And we've certainly dropped the ball (yes, pointing the finger at YOU, dear reader) by wasting our non-TotalFinaElf petroleum products and using them to light our barbeque grills instead of Jews, their property and synagogues. But what can a simplistic people like us do?

Methinks, protest, you know the drill.

Now the funny bit. France could have made this all better, even after the war was won. Yes, even after all their betrayal and obstructionism. Chirac could have made a very visible public statement, preferably in Bush's presence, praising him and the coalition for their success and vision. Say there were obviously disagreements and that it pained him to stand against "a great ally," but that he's been impressed with the humane way the war was conducted and the opportunity for freedom now at hand in Iraq. And that he was shocked, shocked I tells ya, at the "recently discovered" abuses and atrocities committed by the Hussein regime.

But no, they just have to ride the anti-American tiger, it seems almost like a genetic defect. Praising America would hurt them more than anything they can possibly comprehend. But their elitism and sense of entitlement prevents them from taking the lumps they've asked upon themselves without squawking and sniping.

Keep it coming frogs, your soul-mate neighbors in Germany are about to sink into a recession, yet your socialist populace think the Continental economy is doing so great that they can pull off crippling strikes as a monthly event. Guess those 35hr work-weeks have a way of frazzling the nerves. Enjoy.

I hope dear Rummy and Dubya are having a good laugh at this hysteria...

and what will les greneuilles do after they do the count..?

eh...?

But no, they just have to ride the anti-American tiger, it seems almost like a genetic defect.

Pretty close to one. The French are incapable of appreciating anything or anyone from an English-speaking country. Remember, this is the country that decided it was better to be a slave to the Nazis than an equal to the British.

Every time I belive that my respect for the French can go no lower and my hatred no higher, they just seem to find a way. What's to say. I give up. Just nuke em.

Yo! Hey France, READ THIS!

'I think it was Churchill that said, "The United States is like a gigantic boiler. When aroused there is no limit to the amount of heat it can generate."

How well done do we want our French lobster?

If they count the untrue
accusations, they wont need many fingers. Now the TRUE accusations--that will be another matter.

Whew! I'm relieved.

Unlike Indymedia, we are not a news source; therefore we have nothing to fear.

;^))

Paul Newman's Newman-O's are a pretty good substitute for Oreos too. I personally don't eat the stuff any more - too fattening.

We all knew the French would either come back crawling and asking forgiveness or would be so dumbass stupid to accuse the US of making shit up. As someone posted on another thread, the French are becoming more like the Arabs everyday - they blame others for their ills. They take no responsibility for their actions. Yawn! So what else is new?

#21 Maui Girl

Paul Newman's Newman-O's are a pretty good substitute for Oreos too.

Yes. And they aren't imported in France, either.

The French government has officially joined the tinfoil hat brigade. They're going to count the "untrue accusations" in the U S press, then what? Sent harsh letters to the editors? Demand equal time on the op ed pages? Publish an English version of "Le Monde" in the U S? Campaign for abolition of the 1st Amendment? What a bunch of maroons. It would be better if the French addressed the lies and distortions in their own media.

So... the French government is going to show us how it measures media bias? It is going to "count untrue accusations" and catalogue instances of discrimination?
Make sure to pay attention to their methods.
When CAMERA, MediaWatch or other organizations that monitor media bias decide to apply those same methods to Le Monde, we will see what bias really looks like - a la francaise. And they will have no way to claim that the methods are skewed against them. Because those will be their methods. Media bias, huh?
They have no idea how much they are playing with fire on that one.

Well, this lizardoid minion wonders what if the shoe were on the other (unwashed) foot: if, perchance, the US Gubm'nt were to monitor the French media for "untruths" what would be the reaction of our sophisticated Continental friends? Or better yet, their Morlock supporters at IM or DU?

Hmm, do I hear Barking Moonbat Weasels in full song? :^)

Worse comes to worse, we just give 'em Jayson Blair.
/obvious

The Churchill quote in "full":

"Silly people - and there were many, not only in enemy countries - might discount the force of the United States. Some said they were soft, others that they would never be united. They would fool around at a distance. They would never come to grips. They would never stand blood-letting. Their democracy and system of recurrent elections would paralyze their war effort. They would be just a vague blur on the horizon to friend or foe. Now we should see the weakness of this numerous but remote, wealthy, and talkative people. But I had studied the American Civil War, fought out to the last desperate inch. American blood flowed in my veins. I thought of a remark which Edward Grey had made to me more than thirty years before‹that the United States is like "a gigantic boiler. Once the fire is lighted under it there is no limit to the power it can generate."

Winston Churchill, The Grand Alliance, 540 (English edition), 607 (American edition)

They're going to count the "untrue accusations" in the U S press, then what? Sent harsh letters to the editors? Demand equal time on the op ed pages?

No, Paul, they'll taunt us a second time and fart in our general direction.

Caton (#22),

Do they let ya have anything over there?

The scary French are watching us. Holy shit we better straighten up.

I think the French should be more concerned about us watching them. And just laughing.

#29 Geepers

Poor Caton will probably tell us that, in addition to not having Oreos or any edible substitue for Oreos, the French government requires him to purchase... Hydrox!

Just how much does the French government control the French news media? I get an undercurrent in Chirac's statement that he wants the US Govt to come down hard on the US media -- in effect -- to control it better. How little he knows of how the US media operate!

I'm usually a calm person, but you know what?

FUCK the French. I'm tired of hearing their bitching, and whatever we find won't be as bad as what they really did.

#15 Robert Crawford

You're so right. The expression "anglo-saxon" is about the most contemptuous term the French can utter.

But I've got to wonder, have they become delusional, or what? I keep reading in the French press how they say they are our allies, and that they want to smooth over this "minor"rift and work together in the future. But every time they say it, it's accompanied by a reiteration of the rightness of their position, an admonition to us of our violation of international law, etc. They just can't stop lecturing those uncultured, uncivilized Americans. And by doing this, they think we're going to wish to mend fences with them? Is this for real? And now they're pointing their fingers at the Pentagon, calling them liars, and they're going to monitor our lying press, to boot? And they actually think that we're going to see them as "friends?" They've got to be kidding. They must think we're the biggest fools on earth. Well, actually, that's what they do think. But I hope we show them that we're not all that foolish.

#27 Jim:

I wish I could read Churchill quoting Edward Grey and be optimistic about our prospects for eventually triumphing over Islamic fascism. But we have something to cope with, a perhaps insurmountable obstacle that didn't exist in Churchill's day - a media/opinion/academic elite and chattering class willingly collaborating to bring about our downfall.

Talking about the French, any want a go at fisking this article?

Money quote (hey Caton):

Endorsed and encouraged by opportunistic, self-serving politicians and irresponsible media, the campaign to smear France with charges of anti-Semitism was already on.

#29 Geepers

Newman's Own Steak Sauce and pop-corn is available. The real oppression is the cookies department.

#28 Spiny

Only if our mothers were hamsters..!! LOL!

MISINFORMATION, however the hell you spell it in weasel..er french, is spelt TRUTH in english...

#36 Stupified Gaser

No, thank you. I read until:

Anger at the French solidifies America’s complicity with the most militant, ruthless, intransigent elements of Ariel Sharon’s Israeli government. Anger legitimizes any and all aggression as a fitting response to 9-11. Finally, anger at the French is preferable to admitting the dismal failure of American diplomacy, preferable to acknowledging what seems to be the aim of our Middle East policy: transforming the region into a vast plantation where a major portion of the globe’s oil reserves can be securely harvested and profitably traded, with Israel, militarily dominant, our untouchable proxy, the overseer guarding American interests.

Short version: it's the International Zionist Cabal conspiracy for OIL!!!

Napoleon's Spirit and Waterloo

#11 Elizabeth said:

"[Sigh!] As usual, the French have got it wrong; it wasn't in the US media most of the recounting of finding of documents etc. in Iraq occurred; it was in the British press. So right off, they're looking in the wrong place.

In fact, a number of accounts of these findings appeared in the Independent, the Observer and the Telegraph as well as The Toronto Daily Star."

>

Exactly!! How this can be laid at the US' doorstep is beyond me. Also, the UK newspaper 'The Sun' took delight in pointing out these items and elaborating on them.

'The Sun' also had a series of articles about the history of the French betrayal of the British, going back many years. They even published a 'special French edition' calling Chirac a worm. (Chirac threatened to sue.)

I was unaware, until I had read the article in 'The Sun' how many times, recently, the French have screwed the British. Actually, are still screwing them by not guarding their end of the 'Chunnel' and allowing all sorts of illeagals to enter Britian.

I think, sometime in perhaps the next 10 years, the EU will have a civil war. I just can't see, especially the British, going along with the new EU constitution that's been written mainly by France, Germany and Belgium.

France wants to rule the EU, the UN, and the USA. Napolean is alive and well, in spirit, in France.

Napoleon had his Waterloo once, he will have it again.

I was not a fan of Bush's at first (didn't vote for him), but I'm glad we have a "cowboy" in the White House who isn't afraid of 'plain talking' with the French.

Let the French look down their noses and laugh at the unsophisticated Americans!! We'll get the last laugh.

#39 Caton

Is there any easy way to explain how whiffs of anti-Semitism are considered respectable opinion, especially from the left? Has it always been like this, or is it a new development?

One should make sure they are talking about the french government and press, not the average french citizen. Bill Clinton came from Arkansaw but that doesn't make all citizens of Arkansaw
sex offender.

#41 Stupified Gazer

For me it's a relatively new development. It started sometime in the 90s, and is a result of the Israel demonization campaign run by the Arab and their willing lefties proxies.

Hey, that article is giving an error now, just after I posted here. Are one of you folks messing with it?:)

#42 Sticky Toejam

About the average French citizen. What was it, 80% of the French supported Chirac's position? In a poll taken at the start of the war, 33% of the French wished for a Saddam Hussein victory over the US, and 16% couldn't decide! And if you read the anti-American invective on French message boards, you'll see that many average French citizens think just like their government.

#45 kent

92% supported Chirac position.

Someone knows if there's any truth in Tom Clancy's story? Prove it, publish it, and Chirac is out in less than a week. Cheap regime change.

Bil Jeferson (#31),

France must be powerful against the cookie Lobby.

Hydrox debuted in 1908, the signature product of the nascent Sunshine Biscuits, and ruled the category until 1912, when National Biscuit (later Nabisco) launched the remarkably similar Oreos. Given Nabisco's superiority over Sunshine in everything from distribution channels to advertising budgets, it was no contest--Hydrox never had a chance. Over the years, Oreos' popularity and market hegemony became so overwhelming that the product transcended the consumer realm and came to be viewed as a cultural icon,

And alas Hydrox have been relegated to the history books:

[Keebler] acquired Sunshine in 1996 and, after a careful review process, is now bringing Sunshine's cookies under the Keebler brand umbrella. Most of the products will simply get a packaging revision, but Keebler decided that the Hydrox situation called for more drastic measures. The cookies themselves have been given a kid-oriented design face-lift, with an updated flavor formulation to follow this spring. The biggest change, however, is the name: Hydrox will henceforth be known as Keebler Droxies.

#40 Chris J.:

YES! I'd forgotten about the Sun's worm cartoon with Chirac's face on the head of the word. [Loud Guffaws].

This whole thing is laughable and sophomoric. The French can dish it out but they can't take it and this show or thin-skinnedness will not endear them to Bush or Rummy either. They'll just have a good laugh.

The sanctions Americans have self-imposed (WITHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE WHITE HOUSE) are working BIG TIME! Wine purchases are down in a big way and manufacturers in France have been getting cancellations like confetti from American customers.

Here's a very recent item from Drudge at about 1:30 est:

"France Protests 'Plot' by US"

[Link: www.iht.com...]

France is just going to have to learn the tough lesson we all learned in the schoolyear when we were 6 and 8 years old; if you betray your buddy and tell stories out of school and it gets back to him, you won't have any friends and no one will play with you, starting with him.

And if he punches you in the nose for behaving like a pr*ck, take your lumps like a man (woman?) and shut up about it. To keep whining and looking for sympathy will lose you any sympathy you may have left.

The French could give us all lessons in chutzpeh. Phuck the Phrench.

"As part of the campaign of explanation we are undertaking in the United States, we have decided to count the untrue accusations which have appeared in the U.S. press and which have deeply shocked the French," spokeswoman Marie Masdupuy said.

Must have been traumatic for them, poor things.

She told a regular briefing that France had denied all such accusations "with the utmost force."

Well yes, and your hysteria is telling. The truth about their fraternizing with the enemy is coming out. Rumour has it that Chirac put through an urgent call to Arafat and had him immediately fax over the cheat-sheet on methods of whining, ranting and lying when you're being outed as the fraud that you are. The French are beginners compared to the Arafat & Co Big Lie Propaganda Machine, but I see potential.

I'd like to know if the French spokesliar is "deeply shocked" by the despicable anti-Semitic acts that have been occurring in that "shitty little country" called France. I am also interested to see how that shitty little Chirac responds to Simon Wiesenthal Center's request that France give out "tougher sentences for anti-Semitic hate crimes"

President Chirac, in his reply, said, "I will not accept or stand by in the face of racism and antisemitism. I am determined and resolute in this fight."

Like hell you won't. Like hell you are. Liar.

Ooops. Thanks for the tin foil hat tip, Charles ;-)

Why We Scapegoat the French

A leading African-American novelist and intellectual considers the ongoing American excoriation of an ally

By John Edgar Wideman

Are we sure that is NOT 'FISK'?

OT: Secret masters under every rock!
[Link: news.bbc.co.uk...]

Paranoia, Paranoia, yaddadadada!

[Link: www.telegraph.co.uk...]

France faces further strikes after pension talks fail

[Link: news.independent.co.uk...]

"utter nonsense".

[Link: news.bbc.co.uk...]

WooT. This whole thing by France is a big laugh. Damned Vichists.

The really remarkable , and delusional, aspect of the French whining about how the US has refused their offer of a raprochement is the fact the French appear to feel that the US and the world should make some gesture of aknowledgement of French magnaminity in that the French are not demanding the US apologise about their recent boorish behaviour.

This dispalys both contempt and then a doubling of the contempt by believing that the object of your contempt is too stupid too notice.

Where as before they were guilty of simple Treachery , they now add insult to injury.

Oh well , delusions have always been a hallmark of civilisations trying to adjust to their own downfall, and the further the fall, the greater the delusions - reality is never welcome amonsgt failures.

Tongue in cheek: so, what, the French government is running around tarring as a "Francophone" anyone who dares criticize French government policy?

As we all know, that's just one of the ways in which the French muzzle legitimate criticism of their racist, colonialist, illegitimate behavior.

Well, that and the powerful French lobby.

#55 Billy the:

Do you mean "Francophobe"?

With the MSN article, I like at the bottom "More Newsweek Entertainment" - so this article was also entertainment? That'd be a relief!

One thing I noted with the article was that it never addressed any of the criticisms of France. (The same was also true of France's complaint)

If anyone asks "Why Iraq not North Korea? NK has nuclear weapons.", I'll answer "Why North Korea not France? It has hundreds of nukes."

A "campaign of misinformation to discredit" the French is not necessary. Not by a long shot. The plain naked truth more than suffices.

55, i think you mean tarring with the accusation of being a francoPHOBE.

though in honesty there's some truth that to be called a francophone is a bit of an insult.

#25 Spiny Norman

Hmm, do I hear Barking Moonbat Weasels in full song?

Damn, three slams in rapid succession... Trifecta! I may have to borrow that for daily use.

#39 Caton

Short version: it's the International Zionist Cabal conspiracy for OIL!!!

JOOOOOOOOS?

Please bear in mind that the French always accuse other people of what they are themselves guilty of... In other words they don't have the mental capacity to extend themselves into grasping the simple notion that someone else's brain is not necessarily an exact replica of their own...
Remember all the pre-war accusations towards the US or their fellow Eastern Europeans. Chiras and De Villepin were constantly and implicitly referring only to themselves and their own actions.
So if this new charge is about an "orchestrated campaign of misinformation to discredit [France]", you know what they really mean, right?

Btw, French press all over it this morning...

French Ambassador : "Mr Bush, I make (sic) you a letter" (ed. wtf??)

"French diplomats in the US have been invited to "monitor the media" to track signs of this disinformation."

"France exposes American disinformation"

And of course, not a word about the accusations themselves, which were not so much "denied" as given the silent treatment by the French govt.

They still have a whole lot of explaining to do...

To The Grand High Poobah Kisser of Tin Plated Dictator Butt Weasel in Chief Chiraq

Sir, you, your administration, your country and your opinions are irrelevant.

anyone else out there still boycotting french products?

Attention French Diplomats:

I admit to orchestrating a campaign demonstrating French duplicity, venality, and jew-hatred.

We simply must live up to our Lizards Goading the French moniker!

Does anyone know if the "shitty little countyr" remark was made in English or French?

I was just thinking that the french, being such a cultured people, often say "merde" (shit) for the word no.

Maybe the diplomat meant israel was the "county of no"

Of cource by Ochams Razor we know that "shitty little country" is exactly what he meant.

c'est dans anglais.

#41, #43

The anti-Semitic "whiff," as someone called it, coming from the left is not new and, I think, predates the 1990's. There was a spot-on interview with a German writer in the Jerusalem Post, a humanitarian worker in Iraq, one of the few who is mildy pro Israel, who explained the connection between the Left and anti-Semitism.

If you think about it, the Nazi's were nationalists who believed in self determination of Arab states and India and a breaking free of colonialism. They also railed against the bankers, foreigners and Jews. This is stuff coming from the anti-globalists and Third World and has never changed. Either it's big business that's bad, or corporations or foreign investors, it's all a smoke screen to some extent, for anti-Semitism because it reeks of conspiracy theory. It's just what the French are now doing about the American media and what the Leftist said about Bush's reason for going to war.

The connection between the Left and anti-Semitism is so entrenched, that it is possible to be talking about anti-Semitism and its themes witihout mentioning Jews.

#62

Yup. It's new van time and the new Nissan Quest, as sexy as it may be (for a mini-van :-/ ), is off the list of considerations, as are all other Nissan/Renault products. Only American and Aussie wines in the cellar. Only drinking domestic micro-brews and Bass Ale. Won't fly JetBlue since they fly AirBus products instead of Boeings. Phuque de Phrenche (hawck, ptoo...)

#62 nr

"anyone else out there still boycotting french products?"

I am. I haven't read much lately if boycotts are having any effect. Also, is American tourism to France down? I don't think the ambassador's letter is going to do much to help Air France ticket sales in the states. Or French-American relations in general.

Last night on NPR there was an interview with Jacques Myard, member of the foreign committee for the French National Assembly to comment on the original "disinformation" story. Even lefty NPR commentator Melissa Block couldn't resist holding his feet to the fire on this ridiculous claim and he cited "French experts who I 'aven't in mind right now (sic)" as his source for the allegations. When pressed he claimed an unnamed French Defense Minister as his source. She also brought up the monitoring story. Check out his closing salutation.

[Link: discover.npr.org...]

Obviously the boycotts are having an effect. If anti-French sentiment wasn't hitting France in the pocketbook, I doubt they would give a shit about what the U.S. media has to say about them.

The French did all they could to cover their tracks with Saddam. But they know that we know it wasn't enough. This letter shows they are panicking, and paradoxically, desparately want to mend their relationship with the US.

Let us never forget how they enjoyed fomenting anti-Americanism around the world.

al Jabir on TV now.....whining

The French are crying "foul"!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I get tired of many of these European countries who expect the Americans to provide liberally in tourism and trade dollars while at the same time their media and "intelligentsia" engage in constant, crude America-bashing.

Even the Brits, though they stood by us in the war, are starting to piss me off, as much of their press turns out anti-American propaganda around the clock.

I've seen several recent articles in the UK press bemoaning the fact that American tourists are not as plentiful in London as they were previous to 9-11, and they blame Americans' fear of terrorism as the cause.

Little do they know -- it's not their terrorists who are turning me off from ever considering traveling to Britain for a vacation. I'm more alarmed by BBC reporters, Al-Guardian and Das Independent readers, and Oxbridge "intellectuals."

In an NRO article, France vs. Colorado, Miller discusses conflict between France and Colorado over trade. Regardless of the trade issues, I think this incident illustrates a basic difference between Europeans and Americans.

At a Francophone forum I attended in college, speakers complained that, on 9/11, the media focused on the tragedy here in the US when other tragedies are occuring all the time elsewhere in the world. "It's as if the US thinks it is the world," said one speaker.

What they don't understand is that compared to most European countries, the US indeed is the world. For example, guess what the CIA World Factbook uses as a reference in illustrating the size of France? Mmmhmm, Colorado.

At a Francophone forum I attended in college, speakers complained that, on 9/11, the media focused on the tragedy here in the US when other tragedies are occuring all the time elsewhere in the world. "It's as if the US thinks it is the world," said one speaker.

Yeah, two skyscrapers get knocked down killing +3000 people. That kind of thing happens every day. Nextly it's only natural that countries (and people) have greater concern for things that happen to themselves. What the heck would these idiots expect the US media to do, and why should they care how the US media handles a US story.

I love this pic on the BBC site showing the Villepin doing British sign language for "wanker"

[Link: news.bbc.co.uk...]