like i said in my post from last week, the idea of the debt is not so much that "we saved you, now you have to help us" ... it wasn't that the US did something for the intent of expecting a favor in return later on.
the "debt" idea comes up because france should remember what was done for them -- not the US. there are frenchmen, alive today, that should remember being taken over by a dictator, and then being set free by still-living americans.
thus, these still-alive frenchmen should remember what dictators like hitler or saddam are actually like, and what their potential is. vividly.
france's recent resistance to help a fellow-NATO country like turkey is horrific and sad, considering how similar their situation was, not all that long ago.
