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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bilow who wrote (52971)	10/18/2002 4:16:49 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I think that is a reasonable argument. I do, however, think that the experience of WWI had a lot to do with the willingness to appease, and the ready collapse of French forces after the outbreak of war, in the run-up and start of WWII. And I do think that French imperial pride was very strong,and more motivating than anti- Communism expressed in the Domino Theory, and that the United States did not make a full commitment to win in Vietnam, so that both countries showed some reluctance to stay the course. I do agree, though, that there were several variables, and it is hard to link the French behavior to Verdun.

To: Bilow who wrote (52971)	10/18/2002 6:10:33 PM
From: epsteinbd	Respond to of 281500

I agree with most of your post but the numbers of casualties comparasion, as you add the concentration camp casualties as victims of clear military confrontation, where they don't belong. A third of the total : 130K. During the whole defeat period, France lost, I think, 130K too. And the total US bombing : cities train station, harbors and cities leveled out like Caen 90% probably around 20K. Furthermore : In Vietnam, France was making money owning the economic and land infrastructure. A nice piece of cake. I'd estimate the net outflow of wealth to be around a good ten tons of gold per average year... not yet Algeria! Of course Frenchmen will fight if they have too. It's just that the Minister of Defense of Miterrand 91, Mister J.P. Chevènement, mayor of Belfort, quit his job the day before Desert Storm began because he was President of the Assiciation des Amitiès Franco-Itakienne. Yes, friendship! But that's where they get the juiciest commercial deals ready. As well as it is true that in 74 or 75, when the western democracies world was fighting for the best jet fighter to sell to all; General Sthelin, a hero of WWII because he managed to fly a team of six fighters from Southern France into Algeria, thus save them from the Nazis, well, that famous general, book written and all, walked in front of a bus that did him for good right on the Champs Elysées... fifteen minutes after some news agency sent out the flash that he was secretly getting half a dozen thousand $/year from Lockheed. For professionnal advice that is. He thought the US fighter was better than the French and even the Swedish or Italian. Listen, no doubt in my mind he was right. Comparing technics, configurations and all. It's just that these monies kind of shadowed the athmosphere, at least as far as far as my participation in the army that was still strangely required. But I had more important Foreign Affairs businesses to complain about : Emperor Bokassa, not to mention the ME. The difference between WWI is that the French soldiers really convinced themselves it was the last one of the last, "la Der des Der" and that idea was very well conveyed by the early, before the letter, Socialists as well as Communists. So they also thought they fought for the future generations...