What is the shortest book in the world? “French War Heroes,” or so goes the joke. Kidding aside, anti-French sentiment in the United States has seen a steady rise in the days since French President Jacques Chirac took a hard line against the war in Iraq.
Anti-French sentiment has a long and inglorious history in the United States, but in the year 2003, one would hope we could rise above it. House Reps. Walter Jones and Bob Ney, both Republicans, provided perhaps the silliest example of contemporary anti-French sentiment when Ney ordered his underlings to rename French toast and French fries “Freedom toast” and “Freedom fries” on restaurant menus in House office buildings.
“This action is a small but symbolic effort to show the strong displeasure of many on Capitol Hill with the actions of our so-called ally, France,” Ney told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Jones came up with the idea after the owner of a North Carolina diner pioneered the practice.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., even went so far as to urge boycotts of French products such as champagne and Evian bottled water. This is a bad idea. Americans should allow France and other nations their prerogative to disagree with United States foreign policy without fear of economic reprisal. They deserve to voice their opinions without risking retaliation.
The French may have their eccentricities, but to label them as ungrateful or cowardly is both unfair and inaccurate. France could easily have played America’s puppet and marched dutifully into war. Instead, they chose the tougher route. By standing up to the world’s only superpower, France has taken an enormous risk.
“Old Europe,” as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld referred to France and Germany, inadvertently proved its relevance by providing a counterbalance to potential American imperialism. The quagmire at the United Nations, created by the veto threats of France and others, forced President Bush to at least slow down and consider alternatives to war.
To be fair, France may have ulterior motives for opposing the war in Iraq beyond peace, love and understanding. France has always feared American cultural, political and economic imperialism. The French resent America’s prominence in the world, given France’s past glories, and they certainly want a piece of the post-war pie. Reconstructing Iraq will cost a lot of money, and France wants to make sure that its industries receive some of it.
Besides, it can’t all go to the Halliburton Corporation, though Vice President Dick Cheney might try (his former employer has already received at least one contract for post-war rebuilding). Yet whatever France’s motives, Americans should thank their lucky stars that France does not necessarily do everything President George W. Bush wants it to. Diversity in the world is a good thing.
Interestingly, Americans have focused a great deal of attention on French opposition to the war while largely ignoring opposition from Germany, China, Russia and others. I don’t hear anybody urging boycotts of the Mercedes dealership.
Perhaps the most bothersome aspect of anti-French sentiment is that it reeks of American arrogance. It suggests that American foreign policy is nearly always wise and that what is good for the United States must be good for every other nation on Earth. Other countries, understandably, see it differently. Need we piss off as many nations as possible?
Though we may sometimes wish otherwise, the United States does not exist in a cocoon. Having friends abroad may prove more beneficial than the present administration can foresee. Let’s just hope that the Bush administration doesn’t damage foreign relations beyond repair.