Why? France, because of its behavior, has become such an
easy target that it is hard to resist "bashing" it. The French think that
they can get away with even the most outrageous behavior.

Well, this time France was wrong,

Seen from this side of the ocean, the point of view is a bit different )
Iraq close to civil war, terrorist "resistance", islamists developping, no
WMD, Poland declares that Bush lied, Spain leaving...
Not sure that the US was wright.

The punishment has hardly begun.

That's the problem : what punishment ?
Because we didn't want to be killed for your war ?