If individual families decide that their loved ones should be returned to US soil, that's their decision. I can think of no greater insult to the host nation - that their soil isn't fit to hold our dead. If they decide to leave their loved ones where they are, then that's their decision, too. Neither I nor anyone I've heard is saying otherwise. The same applies to visitors to other countries. If you or anyone else wish to go to France, Germany, Belgium, etc. for whatever legal purpose you choose, then that's your right. No one is saying otherwise.

In the same vein, it's my right as a consumer to decide to spend my money elsewhere, and to continue making such decisions for whatever reason I choose for as long as I see fit. After all, freedom of choice covers far more than simply abortion.

The flap over Americans buried in France hit a sore point when some French protestors defaced British graves a few months ago. They wrote that the dead were defiling their soil. That's a mortal insult in my view. Countless thousands of British soldiers died in France in WWI and WWII. Without the sacriface of those soldiers and those from other countries, there wouldn't be a France, at least not as it exists today.

Public opinion polls in recent months have shown a very strong anti-American sentiment in the French population, although a recent poll shows about 40% of the French hold a favorable view of America today, a big improvement over the March results. For many years, America bashing has been a popular pasttime in much of Europe but seldom a bigger pasttime than in France. In the past, we seldom noticed or paid attention. Today, the attitude is changing.

That same poll showed that only about 20% of Americans hold a favorable view of France. Given that a sizeable percentage of their economy is based either on tourism or exports, perhaps France will come to realize that pissing off millions of Americans is not exactly a smart thing to do, financially or politically. If France needed help in the near future, they'll likely find little sympathy or support from this side of the Atlantic. My small effort at boycotting the Weasels nations is little more than the proverbial drop in the bucket. However, it doesn't even take a million drops to overflow the average bucket. The cummulative actions of a lot of people, while individually small, can have a significant effect.