"The thought of losing out to the less scrupulous French is galling."
The French less scrupulous? Who would've thunk. Then again, Mark Twain knew:
"France has neither winter nor summer nor morals--apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country."
"France has usually been governed by prostitutes."
"M. de Lamester's new French dictionary just issued in Paris defines virtue as: "A woman who has only one lover and don't steal."
"...and to prevent a souring of relations with an ally that has provided valuable information in the fight against terrorism..."
And has, both directly and indirectly, funded most of it.
"The thought of losing out to the less scrupulous French is galling." (sic!)
That's "Gauling"... The thought of losing out to the less scrupulous French is Gauling.
It's also *embarrassing*.