text: I'm not denying that at all. The sacrifices, personal and economic, were immense. But we could not have beat the Brits without that French help in either war. Not a chance.
  
  Back when the conservative, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing,  government in France (and the Socialist/Green one in Germany) was trying to keep the U.S. from its demented illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, nitwits passed around a very stupid, fake story supposedly about an American admiral who was invited to a posh fest in Paris. I received it repeatedly.
  
  When someone complained about the U.S. intent, "he" supposedly said, "If it wasn't for the U.S., you'd all be speaking German now." 
  
  Then, it claimed, "The room fell silent."
  
  I responded to this ignorant, "feelgood" chain letter by writing to all the senders and everyone they'd copied:
  
  "If indeed, a U.S. officer said such a thing, any half bright Frenchman would have responded, 'If it wasn't for us, you'd all be singing God save the Queen'."