I lived in Europe right after 9/11.

It was weird because people were very supportive of the US and Americans and would constantly express stuff like that. But then also, they were still super critical of us for anything and everything too.

It was definitely a very “when you’re at the top, you’re always a target.”

But having said that, even most of the people who wanted to criticize America for stuff were still decent people and we’d hang out after class and stuff. It wasn’t like a hatred or legit hostility.

Also, OP, the French, were definitely the most actively mean, rude, dismissive, etc. I’m not sure your friend was really experiencing backlash from the war so much as generalized Parisian - ness.