Razor, I think you highlight the point I was trying to make in my previous post. This is a direct result of their fear over the errosion of French culture. They want to protect their language from being replaced by "Americanese."
Obviously this has serious implications to joint operations, but it is not a sign that they are lazy or are just being obstinate. At worst this stems from their own feelings of inadequacy in a world that is no longer controlled by European Great powers.