During the buildup to the Iraq War that used to piss me off.

No matter what you thought of our own decision to start a war, we have no right to criticize the positions of other countries. Especially one that had the two most horrific wars of the last century fought on their own turf. They have every reason to be wary of violence as a means to solve international problems.

has passed and "freedom fries" are still fighting words in my presence. France was our first serious overseas ally as far as I know.

so heck yeah.

following a phone call with Erdogan that no one was allowed to listen in on was one of the very worst things Trump did IMO. News moves so quickly now that's all but been forgotten.

"Cheese eating surrender monkey"

it is tongue in cheek. I have read about the French campaign and the strategic flaws of the allied battle plan in the early war.

Coupled with the misplaced faith in the Maginot forts, French leadership could not summon the will to continue the war. Pétain was brought in to end the conflict rather than rally them àla Gandalf ("Ils ne passeront pas" ) as he did in the previous war.

I stand corrected

But you did guess correctly.

My interactions with modern French troops were few but I found La Légion Étrangère to be an extremely professional, well trained force.

was more concerned with the internet phenomena of not knowing the gender of someone I'm speaking to, I'm a young-enough still civvie that it'd feel appropriate there regardless

dang do I enjoy having a place full of like-hearts if not always like-minds on every little detail.

France had some problems in World War II (mostly political in nature, but anyone tsk-tsking the state of readiness of the French Army prior to the war should know that at least it was higher than our own.)

But the French military really has a tradition of fucking your shit up, in a bad way. The French tradition of military excellence goes back to the 9th Century a.d.

20 years later, they were ill-equipped and understandably reticent to do it again.

The "surrender monkey" bullshit, particularly when tossed around by people who have never heard a shot fired in anger, chaps my ass.

veterans who fought the French at Dien Bien Phu how much they were like "surrendur monkeys"