Boycotting French Products
I’m really surprised by the growing number of people who are jumping on the boycott French products bandwagon. In listening to talk radio station WLS 890 this afternoon, heard Bob Brinker, the host of Money Talk indicated that he supports a indefinite boycott of all French products. He goes on to say, “if not for the United States and Great Britain, it’s very possible that France would probably be speaking German now.” That may be true, but does a country not have a right to vote in a way that they deem to be in their best interest, even if it means going against country that liberated them 50+ years ago? I hate to say it, but I think so. A caller asked Bob, if they should also boycott German and Russian products? He responded that he was not going to because these two countries are not permanent members of the Security Council. I really don’t know about this boycott business. Sure France behaved badly. They make promises behind closed doors to Secretary Powell that they did not ultimately keep. Plus they tried to strong arm delegations from the “middle six” countries (Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Mexico, Guinea and Pakistan) to vote against using force to remove Saddam Hussein. But I’m not sure that boycotting French products is an effective way to deal with this situation.
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7 Comments
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July 1, 2003 at 10:52 pm
Miquelon
Wow, a few months later and guess what
1) Your president lied about Iraq, WMD, ties to Al Qaeda
2) Your president used troops to go and topple a regime that never posed a threat to national security
3) Chirac never did anything the US media accused him of doing, in fact this was just propaganda that was leaked to lapdog journalists and endlessly repeated by lesser able journalists
4) All that was said about France was a PACK OF LIES
My, a few months later, and the truth hath come out.
April 30, 2003 at 1:43 pm
Darlene
I decided to join the Boycott against french product after it was revealed that Chirac was giving Saddam U.S. secrets from conversations with U.S. officials right up until the war! to my way of thinking disagreeing on war is fine and dandy.sharing classified information with the enemy of a supposed Ally is nothing less than Being a traitor and back stabber to a friend. with allies like France the United States has all the enemies it needs.I sure hope Chirac can stand on his own because from here on out if Americans hear even a whisper of aid going to France they are very likely to protest long and loudly to congress and congressman and senators want to be re-elected! they will yeild to the will of the people.I suppurt the boycott as do my family and friend not because France disagreed on war but because they Backstabbed Americans when they shared personal information with Saddam
April 18, 2003 at 7:46 am
Lorenzo
I am French, living in France and totally agree with the French government decision. But I am not anti-american at all. I just like american for many reasons and I don’t want to cease because a boycott of French products.
The problem between Americ and France is not about countries and we have the right to have our own point of view. A country who doesn’t respect the opinion of another one is not open-minded and not tolerant.
U.S.A.: Land of freedom ? I continue to believe in it but today, the current Bush government doesn’t show the greater face of America.
April 6, 2003 at 11:35 pm
Lee
Its funny how common it has been recently for Americans to throw World War Two at the French as a sign of their “lack of gratitude.” Show of hands how many people have heard of the American Revolution? Without the French the US would not even exist.
April 6, 2003 at 9:04 pm
james_jackson
I think what’s most humorous about the whole French boycott is that the folks who are following along aren’t thinking. I don’t see anyone giving up their Volkswagens or hamburgers (Hamburg being a German city). I don’t see anyone giving up vodka (Russian in origin). I don’t see anyone refusing to eat hummus, falafel, or babaganush (all food of Arabic origin). Zip is right. It IS embarrassing. Just another case of foolish Americans misdirecting their attention instead of doing something that really matters, like, um, I dunno… registering to vote and ACTUALLY voting?
April 6, 2003 at 12:23 pm
zip
I believe the boycotts are embarrassing. But the host of that show was wrong: Russia, as the successor to the Soviet Union, is indeed a permanent member of the Security Council. Germany, though, is a temporary member, and as a result of its history and a number of other things, really has little international influence.
April 5, 2003 at 11:03 pm
brixton
it bothers me that people think america should make the decisions for everyone. we do need to respect the sovereignty (sp?) of a nation even if we don’t agree with them. i heard on NPR that we asked the swiss to close their iraqi embassy and expell the iraqi ambassadors – and switzerland refused until they heard it from the UN. good for them.