-Caveat Lector- http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=23615 Arab News SAUDI ARABIA'S FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY
How France Helped United States Syed Salamah Ali Mahdi, Special to Arab News Published on 12 March 2003 It is so unbecoming of a country which proclaims itself as the unchallenged leader of contemporary “civilized nations” and so unthankful of a nation that punctiliously celebrates Thanksgiving every year to forget the critical role that France played in the making of the United States of America. For those Americans who are unaware of their history but have seen the painting of Lord Cornwallis surrendering to Gen. George Washington somewhere, sometime or viewed Mel Gibson’s box office hit Patriot, both the painted masterpiece and the climax of the film resurrect the defeat and surrender of the British at the fateful Battle of Yorktown which led to the making of the United States of America. As it happens, in the months preceding this battle the British under Lord Cornwallis and Gen. Howe with their “death squads” had almost vanquished Gen. Washington and his motley crowd of “patriots” and subdued the two Carolinas and Virginia. Having done that, Lord Cornwallis, camped in the peninsula of Yorktown, and Gen. Howe in New York prepared for the final showdown with Gen. Washington, who was waiting on the banks of Hudson River. Gen. Rochambeau, who was with Gen. Washington, offered to march down to Virginia with his 10,000 French regulars to fight Lord Cornwallis, which they did on foot; a long and hazardous trip, to say the least. Rochambeau also sent an urgent request to the 33-vessel-strong French Fleet in the West Indies under the command of Admiral de Grasse to join the forthcoming battle in Virginia, which he did. Soon the French were blockading the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, preventing the British Fleet sent by Gen. Howe from joining this battle. Once he saw that defeat was inevitable, Lord Cornwallis sent one of his generals to the French General, Rochambeau, proposing surrender. Not to Gen. Washington, but to the French, because it was the French who had defeated the British. As expected, Rochambeau declined the offer and asked the British to surrender to Gen. Washington. After much negotiation Lord Cornwallis agreed and sent his sword to Washington and surrendered to the Americans. The Americans had finally won their Independence, but with military assistance from France, without which there would not have been a United States of America. The French did not exact any price from America for this assistance, they did it all on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. Two centuries later America would repay this historical debt by liberating France from Nazi Germany. In between, there was the French gift to the United States of America of the majestic Statue of Liberty. Fifty-seven years later Americans are demanding their pound of flesh from the French with the incumbent George Bush’s “You are either with us or against us.” Other princes of darkness – and there are many in America — are crediting the President of France with dozens of qualities and the French with more character traits, all negative. Outside the United States there is a universal cry of vive la France! Stand up for the universal principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. These shall prevail, sooner than later. Copyright © 2003 ArabNews All Rights Reserved. Forwarded for your information. 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