US flatters ‘oldest ally’ France after shock UK vote on Syria

[Surya Gayatri]

Source: France 24 (france24.com)

US Secretary of State John Kerry called France America’s “oldest ally” Friday as he praised the country for its support of military action in Syria. France is now the US’s only major ally over Syria after the UK ruled out taking part in any strikes.

.../...

After the US’s traditional ally Great Britain ruled itself out of any military strikes against the Assad regime in a parliamentary vote Thursday, Washington has looked in danger of becoming internationally isolated in its efforts to push for a military intervention.

.../...

Washington's warm words for France represent a significant turnaround from the hostility of a decade ago, when France refused to back the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

France was then viewed with such animosity by the US that there were attempts to boycott French products and French fries were renamed “freedom fries’ in some American restaurants.

Read more: http://www.france24.com/en/20130831-syria-with-uk-out-us-flatters-oldest-ally-france-john-kerry

---

Is this the beginning of a new "entente cordiale"? Will freedom fries now be dubbed "pommes frites"? Whatever the future of Franco-American relations, let's hope cooler heads prevail on both sides of the Atlantic.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

1. All politics.....

.....does indeed make strange bedfellows.

[Surya Gayatri]

6. You know the other old saying: "The enemy of my enemy

is my friend."

For nearly a thousand years, the Brits and the French have been bickering and occasionally lobbing projectiles at each other.

Ergo, since the Brits have left us in the lurch, the French must be our friend right now.

[Posteritatis]

53. Uh, none of the three countries have been enemies for most of a century now. (nt)

[Surya Gayatri]

54. Wha...? You don't do tongue-in-cheek very well, apparently.

The "enemy" figure of speech was intended to be taken at the second degree.

Obviously, France and GB haven't been on opposite sides of an open conflict for two centuries. Nevertheless, their cross-channel animosity continues apace. Nowadays they lob insults in the press rather than cannon balls in the channel.

[dipsydoodle]

2. French fries ok again now then.

[Surya Gayatri]

3. Like I said, maybe they'll go so far as to call them by their

Last edited Sun Sep 1, 2013, 01:05 PM - Edit history (1)

original French name, "pommes frites". LOL!

[dipsydoodle]

5. They're lame cynics

They didn't stop using French letters.

[Surya Gayatri]

9. Are you referring to "capotes anglaise" by any chance?

[dipsydoodle]

14. In a word

Yes.

[TexasTowelie]

13. Meanwhile, fish and chips are off the menu.

[Surya Gayatri]

21. Relegated to the dumpster!

[SDjack]

23. Out with "London Broil", in with "Oklahoma City Broil" nt

[Surya Gayatri]

25. Non! In with "la bavette grillée"! LOL!

[alsame]

37. But I just realized that we Americans

have to rename our LANGUAGE!!

[Surya Gayatri]

51. Well, the French insist on calling the North American

version of English "la langue americaine". They've already re-christened it!

[bemildred]

4. Oh my God! We're trying to make Britain jealous. nt

[mazzarro]

7. Well, that means "english muffins" will be renamed "freedom muffins" now -- n/t

[bemildred]

8. Or something similarly juvenile. One thing you can bet on is it will be juvenile. nt

[Surya Gayatri]

10. Guaranteed!

[icnorth]

38. And the gerbil wheel just keeps on a spinning...

"I was ecstatic they re-named 'French Fries' as 'Freedom Fries. Grown men and women in positions of power in the U.S. government showing themselves as idiots." ~Johnny Depp

[Surya Gayatri]

22. Or "les muffins", à la française.

[Solly Mack]

27. lol!

I thought the same thing.

[bemildred]

30. It's really at that level, isn't it? nt

[Solly Mack]

48. Fall back date (the long time friend) for the prom.

I believe John Hughes made millions on this concept.

[Bosonic]

11. Roast Beef Eating Abandon Bulldogs?

[Surya Gayatri]

15. "Les rosbifs" is one French nickname for the Brits! LOL!

[Supersedeas]

66. Funny

[John2]

12. They didn't

cite the Poll that claims 65% of French oppose it and 58% distrust Holland. So this is only his Government and doesn't represent French Public opinion just like the U.S. This guy is only following corporate interests within his country also.

[Surya Gayatri]

20. Yes, Hollande's political capital is at rock bottom right now,

so this stance carries great risk for him and his admin.

[William769]

16. Was it not the French who aided us in the break with England back in the 1700's?

Just saying.

[Surya Gayatri]

18. "Lafayette, nous voilà!"

"These words were spoken during World War I at the tomb of the Marquis de Lafayette during a speech honoring his heroic service in the cause of the American Revolution. On 4 July 1917 Paris celebrated American Independence Day. A U.S. battalion marched to the Picpus Cemetery, where several speeches were made at Lafayette's tomb. The historic words uttered on that occasion, 'Lafayette, nous voilà' (Lafayette, we are here), have been popularly, but erroneously, attributed to General John J. Pershing. He stated that they were spoken by Colonel Charles E. Stanton, and 'to him must go the credit for coining so happy and felicitous a phrase'."

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/lafayette-we-are-here-1#ixzz2dZ9HmCYg

[Paulie]

45. Don't forget about Poland!

They gave us Casimir Pulaski! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_Pulaski

Pulaski was one of the leading military commanders for the Bar Confederation and fought against Russian domination of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. When this uprising failed, he was driven into exile. Following a recommendation by Benjamin Franklin, Pulaski emigrated to North America to help in the cause of the American Revolutionary War. He distinguished himself throughout the revolution, most notably when he saved the life of George Washington. Pulaski became a general in the Continental Army, and created the Pulaski Cavalry Legion and reformed the American cavalry as a whole. At the Battle of Savannah, while leading a daring charge against British forces, he was wounded, and died shortly thereafter.

[Surya Gayatri]

46. Thanks for the link. I didn't know much about Casimir!

[MADem]

39. Indeed, Sir William! France, in essence, bankrolled our little "Revolution."

Ben Franklin wasn't hanging about in Paris just for the charms of the petite mam'selles and the delightful wine and cuisine...!

I'm amazed at how many people have so many profound gaps in their own nation's history!

I thought, with that Freedom Fries bullshit, that only Republicans were that stupid!

Kerry, FWIW, is very fluent in French. Not just a bit--he's comfortable in the language.

[William769]

40. Glad to know some people know our history!

P.S. or if they do know they try to rewrite it for their argument.

[MADem]

41. Mais oui, mon ami!!!

[William769]

42. ...

[daleo]

57. That was about two decades after colonial America was at war with France

So these alliances come and go.

[William769]

58. But the Statue of Liberty is there forever. nt

[TexasTowelie]

17. The song "I Melt With You"

will now be performed by the band "Modern Peaceniks".

[iamthebandfanman]

19. thats factual

'oldest ally'

whats wrong with saying that?


some of us are still living in the Bush years apparently... the faux surprised at a 'turn around' in opinion of the nation of France should have been expected since this is a different administration.

[Surya Gayatri]

24. True, true. The French were the first ever to come to our

aid. Without their tactical support, George W. and the Continental Army might not have won the day.

[polichick]

26. "Mon amour mon ami"

Toi mon amour, mon ami
Quand je rêve c'est de toi
Mon amour, mon ami
Quand je chante c'est pour toi
Mon amour, mon ami
Je ne peux vivre sans toi
Mon amour, mon ami
Et je ne sais pas pourquoi
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah

(You my love, my friend
When I dream, it's about you
My love, my friend
When I sing, it's for you
My love, my friend
I can't live without you
My love, my friend
And I don't know why
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah)


Carla Bruni song

[Surya Gayatri]

29. Carla sang it, but it goes back much further...

Marie Laforêt sang it way back in 1967.

[polichick]

32. Love that video - such pretty eyes! Merci beaucoup :)

[Surya Gayatri]

34. Je t'en prie! De rien!

She really did have spectacular eyes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Lafor%C3%AAt

"Marie Laforêt (born Maïténa Marie Brigitte Doumenach, on 5 October 1939, in Soulac-sur-Mer, Gironde) is a French singer and actress. In 1978 she moved to Geneva, Switzerland and took out Swiss nationality."

[orpupilofnature57]

28. Ambiguous on France since Lafayette helped us with that little skirmish .

[Surya Gayatri]

31. Yes, Franco-American relations have had "des hauts et des bas"...

Many ups and downs over 200+ years.

[L0oniX]

33. So I guess it's ok to call fries "French fries" now? All fixed ..made better now huh.

[Surya Gayatri]

35. Why not go back to the source and call them by their

original French name, "les pommes frites"?

[alsame]

36. Does this mean I don't have to send

a baby gift for Prince George?

[Surya Gayatri]

47. I'm sure he won't notice if you don't!

[Diclotican]

43. Oh well

Hey

Now French suddenly is one of USAs closest allies after being treated ratter unfriendly by the US a couple years ago when they refuses to play game when the USA wanted the war against Iraq, and as they refused was nothing more than cowards Who newer had Won a single war, and Who also was just wine drinking, Frog eating cowards... And This is just what i rememberer on the top of the hat...

And now the mighty united states of america want france to help THEM out in Syria??? Sorry if i lost something in the translation here, but is This not one of the biggest irony in the history of the States?? First You insult them, then You Ask them to help them out when Your other closest allied the UK used some common sense in the house of commons and told the government to show it and was not accepting the government reason for going to,war against Syria..

If i had being in the office of great power in Paris, i would not Even bother give USA a reply on it, or asked for a clarification for it all...

[Surya Gayatri]

49. Not so sudden, really. France/US relations go back to the very beginning.

They were instrumental in our fight for independence, don't forget.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=581836

[Diclotican]

52. Hey

I know, i know well about that little independence war where the frenche was rather instrumental in making sure the rebbelious colonies got Their independence in spite of the fact that UK at that tine was the biggest player in the worl, in fact a superpowe of its day...

[fedsron2us]

56. Hey whatever happened to Louis XVI

I hear he was a victim of regime change

[Hulk]

44. France gets it's chance to jump out front....

Now that President Obama is going to bring this to the clowns in Congress to debate and "show their insanity to the rest of the country and world", France might just get tired of waiting on us and do something insane on their own. Was that the intent? Pull back and let the French make the mistake? Then, we can go in, like we did in Vietnam, and take their place in the slaughter?...(when a repuKKKe administration takes over the White House?)

[Surya Gayatri]

50. Don't expect Hollande to do anything too rash...

His popularity is in the toilet and there's sure to be a lot of resistance once the political class gets back to town after the August doldrums.

[dipsydoodle]

55. He's as a popular as nasty rash.

.

[happyslug]

59. Where is the French Aircraft Carrier?

Britain HAS NO CARRIERS at the present time (The UK does have a Helicopter Carrier, but nothing that can carry combat planes).

France has a Carrier, the US Carriers are in Home Waters, Home port, and the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf at the present time (The USS Harry S Truman is to relieve the USS Nimitz, it is expected for the Nimitz to leave via the Pacific since its home port is in Everett Washington).

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=217811069988644259786.000489a6f745d8c886913

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_aircraft_carrier_Charles_de_Gaulle_(R91)


The Charles de Gaulle is based in Toulon France.

Thus the Charles de Gaulle is the nearest carrier to Syria, the rest are at least a week away. The British has air bases in Cyprus, but Cyprus gets its oil from Greece, who in turn gets it from Iran. The nearest US Base is n Sicily, which is at the furthest range from Syria a F-15 can fly to and back without refueling. Turkey gets its fuel from Iran, so it is out as a base for any attack (You do NOT attack your energy source, and as far as Iran is concerned an attack on Syria is an attack on Iran).

Thus the importance of France in any attack on Syria.

[Surya Gayatri]

62. Haven't heard anything about Hollande ordering French

forces closer to the intended target. In any case, the debate in France hasn't even begun.

[Ghost Dog]

71. Here:

[center][/center]

... According to an unnamed French military source quoted by the magazine, the Chevalier Paul (pictured) is en route to join a growing flotilla of warships including US navy destroyers and British and American submarines, which are armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Contacted by Le Point, the French ministry of defence refused to confirm that the Chevalier Paul was headed to the eastern Mediterranean, saying the frigate was on “routine manoeuvres”.

The vessel is one of France’s most up-to-date destroyers of the Horizon-class, which Le Point says will be “extremely useful” if Syria decides to launch its air attacks against the international flotilla.

Nuclear-powered French aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle remains in dock at the southern French naval port Toulon, according to news agencies...

/... http://www.france24.com/en/20130829-france-russia-warships-mediterranean-syria

But:

... French military officials confirmed the frigate Chevalier Paul, which specializes in anti-missile capabilities, as well as the hulking transport ship Dixmude were in the Mediterranean for training and operational preparations but denied any link to possible Syria operations...

/... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/a-look-at-syria-developments-around-the-world/article14063387/

... And this was published earlier by the BBC:

[center][/center]

[Surya Gayatri]

72. Are you one of those guys who reads "Jane's Defence Weekly"?

Jeez, you know more about the French military posture than I do, and I live here!

I've been perusing France24 regularly, but didn't catch this story. Thanks for posting!

[Ghost Dog]

73. No, it just came up in my usual news stream or net...

... but I have just now looked into this a little, see here (Horizon Class) and here (PAAMS), and feel as it were horribly amused to see we're contemplting a Windows 2000-based anti-aircraft naval warfare system here...

... An essentially defensive system, it appears.

[Surya Gayatri]

74. Yikes! If Windows works as well in anti-aircraft systems

as it does on my computer, we're in the "merde"!

[Ghost Dog]

75. Royal Navy too (same PAAMS)...

... During its first major warfare sea exercise aboard HMS Daring the ship's Combat Management System crashed while under simulated air attack due to a power failure and the ship lost use of its combat management system; the ship's crew reverted to use of binoculars to spot incoming airborne threats until the CMS had been restarted...

/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAAMS

Edit to add:

... The PAAMS is designed to allow equipped vessels to protect themselves and escorted vessels against missile and aircraft threats. The PAAMS will also be capable of operating close inshore to provide air defence for ground forces, e.g. amphibious landings.

The PAAMS will provide a step change in capability over current systems, e.g. the Type 42's Sea Dart system which is vulnerable to low level and saturation attacks. The PAAMS Aster missiles were designed from the outset to intercept sea-skimming missiles. Utilising the SYLVER launcher, the PAAMS can launch 8 missiles in 10 seconds. Unlike the Sea Dart, however, the PAAMS has no anti-ship capability...

Edit to ask: So, the Chevalier Paul's rôle would be to, um, defend against Russian naval/air attack?

[Surya Gayatri]

76. ..."the ship's crew reverted to use of binoculars..."

Oh, thank God for the computer age! Fortunately, somebody thought to bring along a pair of binocs or that airborne threat would've gone unchallenged!

[JDPriestly]

60. France is our oldest ally although the Alien and Sedition Act was put in place to thwart what

John Adams thought were supporters of France in the US at a time when we were at war with France.

The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists in the 5th United States Congress in the aftermath of the French Revolution and during an undeclared naval war with France, later known as the Quasi-War. They were signed into law by President John Adams. The Sedition Act and the Alien Friends Act were allowed to expire in 1801 and 1800, respectively. The Naturalization Act was repealed in 1802. The Alien Enemies Act remains in effect as 50 USC Sections 21-24[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts

[Surya Gayatri]

63. Haven't heard about the Alien and Sedition Act since

US History 101 back in the day. Thanks for the quick historical review.

[David__77]

61. Here come's "Thomas' French Muffins."

Extra-Frenchy French Fries even...

[Surya Gayatri]

64. "Les muffins" are very popular in France now. Thanks to

the invasion of "le fast food", you can find them in many bakeries and in most supermarkets. (Not to mention Starbucks and MickeyD's, of course).

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restauration_rapide

La restauration rapide ou le fast food est un mode de restauration dont le but est de faire gagner du temps au client en lui permettant d'emporter rapidement les plats commandés, et ce, pour un prix généralement moindre que dans la restauration traditionnelle.

[Lenomsky]

65. Refreshing ...

I'm so glad UK decided against any action although we may be used as an Aircraft Carrier.

Human suffering is horrible but we must allow countries to find their own direction even if a Civil War.

[no_hypocrisy]

67. They were "weasels" a dozen years ago when they refused to join the "Coalition of the Willing".

[Surya Gayatri]

68. "Plus ça change plus c'est la même chose"...

Just wait, the wheel will certainly turn round once again. France will do or say something to offend American sensibilities.

That said, what an embarrassing and laughable front page. Thanks for digging it up--Never saw it at the time!

[actslikeacarrot]

69. tea will now be known as FREEDOM JUICE!!! N/t

[Surya Gayatri]

70. Good one! What about scones and marmalade?

[Dawson Leery]

77. What a neo-con statement.

[Surya Gayatri]

78. Sorry? You mean Kerry's statement, I suppose?

That said, Kerry hasn't been known for his neo-Con leanings...

[derby378]

79. While some of you are busy feeding the anti-Britain beast...

...keep in mind that when this whole "freedom fries" thing started, Ginny and I travelled to one of our favorite pubs, and I told the waitress, "I want French fries, not freedom fries. I want those fries as French as you can possibly make them. And I'd alos like a cheeseburger, but could you use the Frenchiest cheese you have?" Her response, "We do have chevrion cheese, if you want to try that on your burger." And my reply was "Yes, please, definitely."

[Surya Gayatri]

82. And I'll bet that chèvre cheese was yummy on a burger, too!

Real French goat's cheese is a "délice"; the "mâconnais" type, from the wine growing region of Mâcon, is especially prized.

[LiberalElite]

80. "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys" no more? n/t

[Surya Gayatri]

81. Frog-leg and snail eating "collabos" (collaborators in French slang) no more, either!