Well, the French didn't approach us about the Louisiana Purchase and = propose a sale. Napoleon was in the middle of a war and needed money. He had = plans for the Americas and didn't really want to sell, but the desire to = conquer Europe won out. -----Original Message----- From: The Airline List [mailto:AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Alireza Alivandivafa Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2003 3:37 PM To: AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: NYTimes.com Article: At the Air Show, the U.S.-France Rift = Shows So they hand Boeing cash, but hurt their chances at legit business. I wonder if any of this also has to do with the fact that Emirates only = made 4 new 773 ER orders? You know, I think that a lot of people fail to = realize that the French were responsible for our freedom in the first place, = kept us free nearly 2 decades later, sold us half our country for a song, and = helped keep the union together. In a message dated 6/17/2003 5:57:55 AM Pacific Daylight Time, psa188@xxxxxxxx writes: << ut just as the latter became a symbol of American hostility toward the French during the Iraq war, the former is being seen by many at this year's Paris Air Show as America's latest contribution to trans-Atlantic tension. The show, which opened Saturday and runs through this Sunday, was intended to celebrate a century of cooperation between the countries in the field of aviation. Instead, the United States is delivering several slaps to the Gallic face. Not only will there be a notable absence of American fighter jet demonstrations, but the Defense Department has cut by half the number of its planes here, from the dozen it had in 2001. No officer above the rank of colonel is present. American military contractors and aerospace companies have scaled back their presence, with some saying that the Pentagon's cutbacks influenced their decisions. As a consequence, there is bound to be less business done between American and foreign companies, some industry analysts and executives said. >> >>