“…which stupid Americans bought…”

Why are you attempting to put words in mouth? I never said nor implied that Americans were “stupid.” Quit trying to play the spin game, ala Rove.

Now we have Karl Rove playing up anti-France passions to justify the war which stupid Americans bought…..kay….

As for what happened in early 2003 with Iraq, I am STILL amazed that Karl Rove was able to make the pending US invasion of Iraq into an “Americans vs. ungrateful and whiny French” thing to somehow sell the war to the US public. And much of America did buy it. Not anymore, though, thank God. But a terrible price has already been paid….

But, there is no question but that there is a significant enough anti-France bias in American society (and for the US in France).

What level it is at and what type and what kind is open to interpretation. I think in the US, it is more playful than anything.

For me, the bottom line is — 30,000+ Americans are not stationed in France waiting for Germany to invade with Germany a constant threat to invade or strike out if it finally collapses.

In South Korea, anti-US culture is so much more significant for Americans to pay attention to ——- because we have SO MUCH at stake over there.

We should know how Koreans treat the alliance and overall relationship….

More so on topic, Here is another blog that has compiled a short list of several Korean’s reflections upon 6.25. It is interesting to read.

In the US, there is an anti-France bias…

Can you live with that one?

All of Europe, eh? Well, since anti-US thought in Korea didn’t begin before Bushie and it’s only on policy and it’s a free speech issue and to think differently is racially motivated bias against Korea and pro-US fanaticism……….sigh…..

All of Europe, eh? The UK, Spain, Poland, and other Eastern European nations didn’t count?

Well, no, they didn’t. Not to the cloud of pseudo-intellectuals (with exhibits in this thread) or even our own American media elites.

When E. F. Hutton Paris talks…

France, anti-US?

Well, good golly, yes… And JK, it goes beyond Bushie there too…

It might be worth considering why France and South Korea went that route. De Gaulle was very clear on the issue from the early stages of the war.

He said the only way France would be able to hold its head up in the world once the Axis was defeated was to find ways to oppose the US (and UK). If France allowed the US to lead the war effort and just follow along like Churchill was going to do for the Brits, France would be lost as a great power, he thought, so he sought to kick the allies in the shins even when he was nothing more than a name.

South Korea, too, I’d say, decided it would live down the humiliation of needing US troops to defend itself, and put down the humiliation of having been colonized for so long by Japan, by making anti-US sentiment a key part of Korean patrioticism. Even in the best days under Park Chung Hee, he knew how to play on anti-US and anti-foreign sentiment among the masses.

The North’s invasion and conduct during the Korean War did wonders in preventing this sentiment from becoming the overriding norm. It did create a healthy dose of positive feeling for the US-SK relationship, but that faded over time and was significantly eroded by the end of the 1970s.

In 2003, much of the world, particularly Europe led by France, opposed the upcoming US invasion of Iraq. Much of the US public, manipulated by Rove and Co., saw these foreign critics as being “anti-American” and ungrateful for American sacrifices in WWII.

In the eyes of many Americans, it became a “US vs. France and the rest of ungrateful Europe” thing. Heck, a Congressman from my home state of NC (Walter B. Jones, Jr.) even came up with the ridiculous phrase, “Freedom Fries” for french fries. (Of course this very same Congressman wants US troops out of Iraq now and says the invasion was a mistake.)

France’s opposition to the US invasion of Iraq was viewed as “anti-American” by much of the US public, as a result of a general brainwashing of the American people. However, when Americans like actor Sean Penn opposed the invasion, there were no accusations of him being “anti-American.”

What exactly is being “anti-American”?? If being critical of US policy, whether it be a recent one or a decades-long one, is being “anti-American”, then I think that accusation is being wielded a little too much like a witch-hunt. “How dare you criticize American policy! Our troops are there for YOUR benefit! Anti-Americanism!!!!”