With all due respect to the French people; the French govn't has been idiotic and not learned from past events.
I mean, even a child knows it is no good going up against the US when the US is in Pissed Off Mood.
Better to be smart, back down, wait til the tantrum is over and *then* start to apply pressure.
We've seen countless time in the 20th century that an angry US cannot be reasoned with and cannot be stopped, and any attempts to do so will lead to huge divisions with little to show for it. This 'tantrum throwing' is one of the drawbacks of the US culture, but conversely also one of the strengths.
They shoullda backed down when they realized 'boy, they sure are sorta upset', but I feel French pride and the inheret anti-Americanism in French administrations meant they couldn't. And sadly enough it probably boils down to envy; France *needs* to get over the 'we used to be a great superpower and we still are and we are the apex of sophisticated culture' syndrome that seem to exist in all French politicians.
But I must ask Americans not to judge the French people as a whole. I've been fortunate enough to meet some of them and once you have broken the ice, French people *are* a passionate people with a good understanding of the finer things in life.
Same goes for the French though - they have a tendency to judge Americans solely on their administration and they have a tendency to consider themselves culturally more advanced than Americans.