There was some crazy shit being thrown around on the French and France generally at the JLA board.
Anyone who thinks the French are somehow inferior to Anglophones are ignorant gits.
Point 1: Some historians argue that bad blood between the French and Anglophones arose because of Henry V's actions in executing captured French nobility (Battle of Agincourt, from memory). So, by one interpretation, the English started it.
Point 2. Saying French are cowardly or hopeless because they were defeated by Germany in WW1 and WW2 is no way to measure the ability of the French now. The French provided UN troops for Cambodia; provided ground troops for Bosnia, and intervened in Rwanda (although their aims for doing this were highly suspect). As at 1998, France had cut back it troops to 5000 in Africa, dwarfing Anglo-Saxon involvement in that continent. The Charles de Gaulle is France's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Even China doesn't have one of those.
Point 3. 49 states attended the Franco-African summit in Paris in 1998. This excludes Francophone nations in the Pacific, the Carribean and Asia (like Vietnam and Cambodia). The French are a formidable political entity. Guess who helped kick the US off the UN Human Rights committee, a major embarrassment to US diplomatic
capability?
Point 4. France's courts are actively running cyberspace, running amok over US constitution rights of free speech (the Yahoo! case). The US in response is trying to get the Hague Convention up and running.
Point 5. French students study French philosophy up until the end of high school. Their educational standards urinates over US standards.
Judging France on the back of two defeats to the German army over 60 years ago is sheer ignorant foolishness. The Germans and the French are best friends now: they are the chief proponents of the European Rapid Reaction Force, an effective substitute to NATO (and Anglophone) reliance for European security.
