Boycotting France.
Mar 27th, 2003, 01:58 PM
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Boycotting France.
Boycotting France.<BR><BR>On the home page of the fodors website it has a poll asking the question "is it fair for US travellers to boycott France over its position with Iraq." Well how about the British or any other nation, because I'm certainly not spending my money there. The french seem to have a short memory!! <BR><BR>Presently the yes votes are in the lead, what is the views though as 908 people have said they would still travel there WHY?<BR><BR>I open the debate.......
Mar 27th, 2003, 02:13 PM
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What I'm unclear about is, why France, and not Germany or Russia or China, who have been equally outspoken in their disagreement with the Bush administration's push to war? Perhaps because it's been in the press more as a result of GWB's personal attacks on Chirac and the French, which for whatever reason do not appear to have extended to the leaders of other countries who oppose him.
Mar 27th, 2003, 02:15 PM
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fodor's choice of the word "fair" is not the best, but i agree. a boycott of france and things french is every bit as "fair" a protest of the french position as playing dead in the streets of manhattan is a "fair" protest of the usa government's position.<BR>
Mar 27th, 2003, 02:34 PM
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Because we helped france in ww 2 even though they went against us at the beginning maybe america and british may feel snubbed by the response they received. Russia don't have the economy to fight a war (france is a very rich country)
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Mar 27th, 2003, 02:35 PM
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Lesli, There is a big difference between what France is doing to us compared to the other countries you've mentioned. France was trying to set up a coalition against us to stop us from invading. France wants to take over in rebuilding Iraq after our US & British soldiers are the ones who died there to give them their freedom. Chirac is completely off his rocker. Germany allows many of our troops to be stationed there and our injured soldiers are sent there also.<BR>As for the boycott, I chose to boycott France after Sept 11th when the French gov't decided to only turn over terrorists if we did not persue the death penalty. However it is a choice each person has to make for themselves. We'll just see what will happen when Muslim extremists start murdering the French. Of course they'll ask us to rescue them again.<BR> I would evenutally like to go beck to see the French countryside some day soon but it won't happen anytime in the forseeable future.
Mar 27th, 2003, 02:47 PM
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I went to france last year to look at the war memorials from world war 1 and 2 the amount of english and america (and many other nations) cemontries (sorry spelt wrong) that I saw will stay with me forever. However those men and women died to give me the freedom I enjoy today. To be able to send my kids to a school that does not house weapons, to have the freedom of speech to be able to express how I feel on this website without being shot or stoned.<BR>I just hope one day the iraqs will fell liberated and the freedom we all take for granted.<BR><BR>thanks
Mar 27th, 2003, 02:56 PM
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To boycott or not is a political question, not a travel question. As far as I'm concerned, a worry about going to France because of potential anti-American attitudes is a proper travel concern. The idea of a boycott ia a political choice that each individual must make, but once made, has no relation to travel any more, and I was under the impression that this is a travel site. Let's close the debate.
Mar 27th, 2003, 03:05 PM
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Please don't forget that the United States might not exist except for French help. In the Revolutionary War they were the deciding ( not only ) factor in the outcome, without them the colonials probably would not have won.
Mar 27th, 2003, 03:27 PM
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I didn't want the war but I've joined the boycott of the French. I'm doing this because I believe that France's intractable stand in the UN threw just as much fuel on the fire as Bush did drawing his line in the sand.<BR>I also find it more than a little ironic that the three countries with the most despicable histories of the 20th Century -- France, Germany, Russia -- now are fighting for peace and taking the moral high ground. For me, France's voice at the UN is like Satan preaching in St. Peter's. France's bloodthirstiness in WWI, it's cowardice in WWII, it's evil military in Algeria, its UN resolution-breaking nuclear testing in the Pacific, and its everlasting anti-Semitism makes me fervently wish that a more legitimate and moral hand was carrying the banner of Peace. <BR>I am no fan of Gen. Patton who once said during WWII, "I'd rather have the German army in front of me than the French army in back of me." I've concluded that, despite my mixed emotions, this is probably true for the coalition troops in Iraq, too.<BR>I'm also trying to accept reality and to ook on the bright side of things, too, which is No Saddam in 2003 and no Bush in 2004 when America goes to the polls
Mar 27th, 2003, 03:38 PM
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Tough question. Years ago I used to vacation at Club Med. One of my favorite things about the organization was the sense of international community it promoted. 27 years later, I still remember dinner conversations with people from all over the world.<BR><BR>Now, here we are, in opposition with France over the war in Iraq. On a personal level, I still feel a sense of international community with them. On a national level, regardless of personal opinion about my government's position, I feel an obligation to support its policies (united we stand, divided we fall makes sense to me). How does one reconcile the two feelings?
