France bashers can calm down now

I could never understand why the numbskull reactionary wingnut crowd took so readily to France bashing. A friendly little disagreement over oil is no big deal! As President Bush explains this week, Chirac has always been one of their own...

Bush says he was 'never angry with the French'

PARIS (Reuters) - President Bush said he was never angry with France over its refusal to back the U.S.-led war in Iraq, as both countries sought to play down past tensions ahead of the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

"I was never angry with the French. France is a long-term ally," Bush told the weekly Paris Match in an interview due to be published on Thursday. The U.S. president is among 17 heads of state scheduled to attend the commemorations in Normandy on June 6.

Like French President Jacques Chirac, Bush said there was never any falling out between the United States and France, which led opposition to the war that ousted Saddam Hussein.

"Listen, I made a difficult decision and not everybody agreed with that decision. But I understand that," he said in remarks printed in French and translated by Reuters.

"Jacques told me clearly. He did not think the use of force was necessary.
We debated it as friends."

Full story here.