Riots in France

[reaganyouth84]

"A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets rough."
-Ronald Reagan

"We did not seek the role of leadership that has been thrust upon us. But whether we like it or not, the events of our time demand America's participation." -Ronald Reagan

-Mike

[watty]

Sorry to be the Englishman in the woodpile, but, if it was in the French interest, they would invade, attack, frag , nuke or generally do anything they fucking wanted to do, irrespective of international opinion. As is their want.
The French are a singularly selfish nation and never tire of demonstrating that fact.
Look at London after WW2 and look at Paris after WW2.
We in Britain could have declared our cities as OPEN, but like the Russians, WE fought on.
God bless them for it, and for the intervention of the USA, or else ALL our children would be speaking German
Sorry..ain't got a lot of time for em.

[nhcigarfan]

Lest we forget. One reason the French didn't want to invade Iraq is that they didn't know what would be found. Including any "off spring" of the " nuclear energy" installation Mr. Chirac gave to Sadam, that the Israelis destroyed in Western Iraq years ago.

[watty]

Some of us still resent the wa y they acted during the Falklands war...
Contrast the way our two allies reacted...the USA supplied the RAF with air to air rockets and other vital ordnance as well as political and moral support.
France supplied Argentina with a continuous supply of exocet missiles AND the French technicians to fit them cos the Argentinians couldn't have done it otherwise.
Who would you have backing you in a war.
Lets face it, when the going gets tough, the tough get going...but generally not as fast as some people and not necessarily in the same direction.as the BEF found out before Dunkirk.

[Cohibanut]

Seems I haven't really mastered the art of replying with a quote. I've put a reply to the first part of your post but part of it is included in your quote. DUH!

[watty]

Hitler had to cope with the British Expeditionary Force who were fighting him from the first German foot stepping into France, otherwise the german army would have been on the channel coast in hours mate.
Britain sacrificed the best part of our tiny standing army to fight along side France and to my knowledge, they suddenly found themselves fighting alone with French politicians talking to hitler about an alternative friendly government...and all they had to do was roll over and play dead....don't get me started.
That said, there can be no braver people than those men and women of the Maquis who never gave up no matter the cost.
rant over

[watty]

I would suggest kiss and make up but I've got cigar breath and you MUST have garlic

[Cohibanut]

I will never disagree with the absolute FACT that the French Government at that time was an absolute disgrace. They did indeed roll over and sell out at the first opportunity.

As I've said before what really gets my blood boiling is hearing people describe "The French" ( meaning every single one of France's 60 million or so inhabitants) as cowards. The French GOVERNMENT was at the helm. If you ask any French person what they think about Petain they will tell you that he was a collaborationist and sold us out.

If we'd had De Gaulle instead (I'm not a Gaullist but he would not have surrendered) the situation might have been entirely different.

What an appropriate chat for today hey! Kiss and make up sounds good to me! I'll park my bike, shave my moustache and give you a great BIG FRENCH KISS!!!!!! HMMMMMMMMMMMMMWAAH!

[Cohibanut]

Sorry to be the Englishman in the woodpile, but, if it was in the French interest, they would invade, attack, frag , nuke or generally do anything they fucking wanted to do, irrespective of international opinion. As is their want.

Yes. Absolutely. By "the french" I take it you mean the French Government? Yes. You are right. Exactly as Tony Blair has done by sticking with GW Bush as it was in the economical interest of the UK to do so.

The French are a singularly selfish nation and never tire of demonstrating that fact.
Look at London after WW2 and look at Paris after WW2.
We in Britain could have declared our cities as OPEN, but like the Russians, WE fought on.
God bless them for it, and for the intervention of the USA, or else ALL our children would be speaking German
Sorry..ain't got a lot of time for em.

You miss one absolutely crucial difference here. England did NOT have to suffer the devastating effect of Hitler's Bliztkrieg. In other words, he did not attempt to invade England. He bombed the hell out of it instead (and everyone will always admire the extraodinary resolve of the british throughout this awful period. You were trully a marvellous example to us all.)

This is what annoys me whenever I hear about French being cowards and surrending at the first opportunity: Hitler DID NOT TRY to invade England. He may have planned for it towards the second half of the war but certainly not at the beginning.

If it had been the case, if he'd launched a full offensive against england in 1939 with the same might and speed applied in France the result would have been somewhat different.


Rant over.