My thought has always been that it is a power play. The more they oppose the war, the more they weaken the U.S. However, I don't think the French hate America; they oppose "hyperpowers," whoever they may be. If the French are the main obstacle to any of our interests, we will pay more attention to them, as will everybody else.

Also, they gain the potential of dominating the EU. By getting everyone united against the U.S., they take control of Europe. It is a dangerous game, as seen by the reaction of their neighbors. The more they isolate us, the more they isolate themselves. I was not expecting the French to be so blunt, and I am curious if it was planned or real anger.

There are other interests of course. The French are one of the primary trading partners of Iraq, so economic reasons are pretty compelling for them. There are also humanitarian reasons, since the French strongly oppose civilian casualties on moral grounds.

The French are unable to contribute much militarily, since they have less men, ships, planes, etc. than everybody else. Also, since they insist on designing most of them without any foreign cooperation, they are generally inferior to their American/British or Russian/Ukrainian/Indian counterparts. Last war, they only sent an empty aircraft carrier, that was too small for most allied planes to land on anyway. They gain the most power by focusing the world on diplomacy. I think they want to save the nonproliferation regimes as much as we do, but if the Americans and British say we will act with or without the rest of the world, the French don't have to worry about their interests being neglected. And, if Iraq miraculously disarms from diplomacy, the French are on their way back to being a Great Power.

-Biscuits