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| Africa North |
| NATO's Narrow Escape |
| 2011-08-23 |
| With word of Muammar Qadhafi's imminent demise--both politically and literally--there was a collective sigh of relief at NATO Headquarters and throughout the alliance. The Libyan rebels who are about to depose the long-time dictator may not realize it, but their push into Tripoli may have saved NATO from a major military embarrassment. |
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| #10 Eohippus I know but that came (I think) four years later. May De Gaulle roast in hell. I was speaking of the period when France was stll a full NATO member but decided to get nukes. BTW because France could not afford both, nukes and an army teh French Army, except for e few elite units became a mess where on average a private fired less ammo at the firing range in a whole year than a Bush-era US Marine in two days during his training. BTW the more I learn about de Gaulle the more I think he made a devil pact with Stalin during WWII. |
| Posted by: JFM 2011-08-23 12:18 |
| #9 JFM, France could have committed it's sizable army to fight on the side of NATO to stop the Soviets on the German border. Instead, French policy was to wait and see if the Soviets broke though. That greatly increased the chances of Soviet conventional victory and nuclear war in Europe. I'm sure Germany and the rest of NATO were thrilled by the possibility of France nuking Soviet forces in Germany as well as the NATO forces who were engaged in battle with the Soviets. |
| Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 2011-08-23 09:46 |
| #8 Alos French doctrine past 1960 was: "we can't prevent you from invading or destroying France but we can make you regret it". |
| Posted by: JFM 2011-08-23 09:35 |
| #7 Their "help" consisting of the French firing off their nukes as soon as the Soviets crossed the French border and Followed by the death of Europe Phater. The death of Europe and possibly us as well. The boomers would not have remained silent Let's remind that when the French developed thir nukes American doctrine (that means Kennedy's and Johnson's) was: Warsaw Pact invades Western Europe, if not stopped by conventional forces then nuke Poland and Czechoslowakia but not Soviet Union unless it launches an attack on US soil. Sorry, but solutions where America and USSR fight one another to the last European and then agree to a draw are not that palatable to me. |
| Posted by: JFM 2011-08-23 09:33 |
| #6 Followed by the death of Europe Phater. The death of Europe and possibly us as well. The boomers would not have remained silent. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-08-23 08:56 |
| #5 Their "help" consisting of the French firing off their nukes as soon as the Soviets crossed the French border. |
| Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 2011-08-23 08:48 |
| #4 And these are the same fellas that were going to help us kick the soviet's butts if the shooting ever started during the cold war. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-08-23 08:17 |
| #3 Yup. Apparently it stayed on this time (or is the faulty engine just a cover story?) |
| Posted by: gromky 2011-08-23 04:44 |
| #2 Isn't that the one that the Propellor fell off? |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2011-08-23 00:09 |
| #1 Well surprise surprise surprise... The withdrawal of the allianceÂ’s only aircraft carrier, the French navyÂ’s Charles de Gaulle, which has limped back to its base at Toulon with a faulty engine, means that the alliance is increasingly having to rely on the RAFÂ’s ageing fleet of Tornado bombers. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2011-08-23 00:06 |