Veterans who helped liberate France from the Nazis during World War II are expressing outrage that France isn’t backing the U.S. on Iraq, and a former U.S. diplomat who now leads Graceland University in Lamoni says France has become an easy target for critics. John Menzies spent a career in the foreign service and was U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia during U.S.-led intervention there. Menzies says France-bashing has become a “medal-sport” among diplomats, and he doesn’t want to engage in it. But Menzies does say the French have a much more restrictive view of their own foreign policy than does the United States, Menzies says he doesn’t understand France’s behavior, but he hopes when it comes down to crunch time, the French will be part of the coalition allied against Iraq. Kenneth Quinn, former U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, says the French of today don’t remember the sacrifices Americans made in World War II. Quinn says while he’s “not a great fan” of the way the French have been dealing with us, the position of the French government on the question of Iraq mirrors the opinion of a majority of French citizens. He says, though, when American citizens have been at risk overseas, the French have always been there to help us.
