Todd Fatheree wrote:


Do you suppose the Normans considered themselves French? I really don't
know the answer, but I have my doubts.

Given that they adopted the French language, religion and customs
and intermarried with the Gauls, I tend to think they did think
of themselves as French. Just like the Norse who settled in Ireland
and in various parts of Europe rapidly assimilated themselves into
the loccal cultures.

....


What did the French have to lose by saying "no"?

They lost very little by saying 'no'. Had they said 'yes' they would
have signed on to a dishonest resolution, false to fact.

Personally, I think their reasons were more pragmatic, the French
wanted to retain their options on the Iraqi oil fields and maintain
good diplomatic relationships with other parts of the world ALSO
opposed, for various reasons, to the invasion.

However, when statesmen do take a morally correct course of action,
even if they have ulterior motives, the common people should praise
not condemn them.

It's not as if the stakes
were "agree with us or we start dropping bombs on Paris". Heck, I still
hold a grudge that we couldn't get clearance to fly over France to bomb
Khadaffi, and he definitely had it coming.

Maybe if our pilots had taken that shorter route they would have
been better rested and so woudl have had better aim. They might
not have hit the French embassy in Tripoli, for example. One
wonders if that particular bomb was a dud by accident or not ...

--

FF