Hi Gina Vener; Re: "Since Germany was neutralized France has only fought in limited wars that didn't have nearly the impact of WWI or WWII in lives lost or $$"
There is no such thing as a "willingness to fight" that you can compare countries on. Every military situation is different, you can only compare similar situations. The fact is that when push came to shove, the French were very willing to take horrendous casualties in both Vietnam and Algeria. They're 5x smaller than us, but they took more casualties in Vietnam. How much more willingness to fight do you want?
I mean, Jesus weeps! If anything, the French are more militaristic than average. Compare their military history since WW2 with that of their neighbors or other countries in the EU: Spain, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Norway, Britain, Sweden, Italy, Ireland or Finland.
Of all the countries in the EU, only France has a military history since WW2 with significant fatalities, and their per capita combat deaths exceed our own.
Your picking on France is just plain silly. Go pick on Sweden.
-- Carl |
