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| Europe |
| German troops to be stationed in France |
| 2009-02-04 |
| Hasn't this been tried before? And not too well as I remember... French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed Wednesday that a German battalion will shortly be stationed on French soil for the first time since World War II. So...who or what will they be defending against? Godzilla? "France will host a German unit permanently on its soil," the two leaders wrote in a joint statement published by French daily The hundreds of German troops will be serving in the Franco-German brigade set up in 1989, which currently has 2,300 French soldiers and 2,800 German forces stationed side-by-side in southwest Germany. Sarkozy and Merkel were to meet this weekend at a security conference in the Bavarian capital Munich and might then reveal details of the agreement, such as where the German troops would be stationed. Der Spiegel magazine reported last month that 500 German soldiers would be stationed in the border town of Colmar but reports in the French press cited Strasbourg, Metz or Bitche as possible bases. German troops occupied much of France during World War II and the eastern Alsace-Lorraine region has a patchwork history of annexation and occupation under both countries. The two leaders also called for "real cooperation" between NATO and the European Union, saying the "strategic partnership" between them was not strong enough. "To our great regret, the 'strategic partnership' between NATO and the EU has fallen short of our expectations due to disagreements that persist between certain nations," they wrote. After meeting Saturday at the Munich security conference, an annual meeting called the "Davos of defence," the two were to celebrate the 60th anniversary of NATO on April 3 and 4 on both sides of the Rhine, at Strasbourg and Kehl. The Franco-German Brigade was set up by then French president Francois Mitterrand and German chancellor Helmut Kohl to increase military cooperation between the two former enemies. There are German officers based in Strasbourg in eastern France who are engaged with the NATO mission Eurocorps, but no German military unit has been stationed in the country since the end of World War II over 60 years ago. There are also regular exchanges between the two countries including German officers who study at French defence academies and helicopter pilots who train in France. |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #10 ION TOPIX/WAFF/OTHER > FORMER VPOTUS DICK CHENEY WARNS OF CATASTROPHIC NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL TERROR ATTACKS TO OCCUR AGZ USA IN COMING YEARS [BAM-MAN's NEW ADMIN POLICIES more likely to contribute to the final SUCCESS OF SAIDSAME TERROR ATTACKS, NOT FAILURE]!? IOW, 2009-2012/2016 CHENEY expects the new OBAMA ADMIN TO TURN AMER ISOLATIONIST + ON THE GLOBAL MIL DEFENSIVE AZG RADICAL TERROR INCLUD PRO-ISLAMIST STATE + MIL-TERR ORG NUCLEARIZATION. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-02-04 23:20 |
| #9 HMMMMMM, HMMMMMM, IMO this should be intrepreted as GERMANY'S BUNDESWEHR being independent but tied to FRANCE [read, EU = EUROZONE wid UK MoD in EU STRATEGIC RESERVE], as the latter did and remains to US-NATO [pro-NATO Independent Milfors-Missle command]. THIS ALSO TELLS ME THE EUROS HAD SSSSSHHHHHHH INDIR + PDENIABLY RECOGNIZED THE ISLAMIST-LED/WROUGHT GEOPOL INSTABILITIES OCCURRING IN EAST-SOUTH ASIA RIGHT NOW. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-02-04 23:12 |
| #8 I thought we tried that once before and it didn't work? Will the trains run on time where the Germans are stationed and will the public toilets not stink to high heaven as they normally do in France? I thought DeGaulle threw out NATO because they were corrupting the frogs....heaven forbid efficiencies and timeliness. |
| Posted by: James Carville 2009-02-04 20:19 |
| #7 Whahahhahaaa... Pappy wins this one. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-02-04 15:51 |
| #6 Well, that's one way to get proper service out of the French waiters... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-02-04 15:40 |
| #5 Reconstitute the 6th Army so it can once again be stationed in France... |
| Posted by: borgboy 2009-02-04 15:23 |
| #4 Strasbourg, Metz or Bitche Why, these are fortress towns.... damn is the boche make breakthru in clever genery? |
| Posted by: .5MT 2009-02-04 15:10 |
| #3 Germans finally take the Bitche! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-02-04 15:03 |
| #2 "Ve vill march in backwards and tell you ve're leaving" |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2009-02-04 14:56 |
| #1 The last time this happened the price of cat meat shot WAY up. Invest in pet meat futures. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-02-04 13:40 |
