Why the French back sovereignty for Iraqis

JeanBenoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow IHT

Occupations

MONTREAL The latest United Nations meeting on Iraq has sparked another wave of France-bashing in the United States. The better-informed argue that the French are acting out of self-interest. The less-informed accuse the French of trying to thwart U.S. plans in Iraq. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Yet one thing is certain: France's stance on Iraq is more the product of its own experience and history than rivalry with the United States.
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In the events leading up to the war in Iraq, the French disagreement with the United States was over the means being taken to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction, not the end in itself. In the present controversy over rebuilding Iraq, it is again the means that France is questioning. Americans may wonder why the means are so important to the French.
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The answer is in history. Occupation is a sore spot for the French.
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http://www.iht.com/articles/113477.html

however.

to protect thier oil interest/investments?

then why would they spoil their chances by raining all over their allys parade?

i think history certainly has something to do with it as well, at least made them more alert to military aggression.

peace

Another perhaps relevant historical point is Indochina. After the French colonists were driven out, and replaced by American "military advisors," DeGaulle spoke in Phnom Penh in 1966, warning the US of military entanglement and saying something to the effect that a people will always seek to throw off the shackles of an occupying power.

I also remember there was a LOT of ill will against France--including boycotts--when De Gaulle evicted NATO bases from France.

Is it really so hard to understand that a country might decide to choose neutrality, or resent the fact that its purported allies have tried to strong-arm it into an unnecessary and bloody conflict?