I certainly did not want to get into a US vs the rest of the world debate. It was simply a question as to why the negative view towards US trained/licensed pilots when the data suggests they are every bit as competent as as the best in the rest of the first world.
As for the AF447 accident: I am an instructor on the A320 and we are now doing high altitude stall demonstrations during recurrent training. When given similar circumstances as the AF447 guys, less than half of the pilots can successfully recover even when they know it is coming. It is not because the pilots do not know how to recover from a stall, it is because pilots at all levels have not been trained in the dynamics of high altitude stalls. High altitude stalls are very different animals. Recovery at high altitudes require significant nose low pitch, to be held for a very uncomfortably long time, and you have to accept a VERY high rate of descent (15,000fpm or higher). AFTER that you have to have a very slow pitch up because a secondary is very easy to occur. Historically when training stalls pilots are taught to lower the nose to the horizon and add full power and to minimize altitude loss. You cannot recover from a high altitude stall using that procedure. If you read what happened, and know how to correctly recover from a high altitude stall, it becomes clear that the AF447 guys were caught off guard because the aircraft did not recover in a way they were accustomed to when training lower altitude stalls.
I have a lot more sympathy for the actions of the AF447 guys having trained and demonstrated high altitude stalls in Airbus FBW aircraft.