This slate article does a good job relating why "they" hate us. No, not the Arabs. The French. It tracks very well with what I've read many times over the years in newspapers and magazines... the French hate us because It's Not Supposed to be This Way. They're the ones who should be powerful, they're the ones who should be feared/trusted/respected, they're not the ones who should be irrelevant. So they do everything they can to make sure we know they're still powerful, and well, we keep forgetting. Dammit.

A bank-shot via Occam's Toothbrush.