OnTheRocks Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 France defends right to use nuclear weapons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 France defends right to use nuclear weapons. 574360[/snapback] Balls? These are the same people who bombed Greenpeace. If they had balls, they wouldn't swat at flies with sledgehammers. (Actually, their nuclear capaciaty is just about France's only practical power projection capability, aside from two aircraft carriers of questionable utility in such a role. So it's basically a "Well...yeah, no sh--" statement.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Balls? These are the same people who bombed Greenpeace. If they had balls, they wouldn't swat at flies with sledgehammers. (Actually, their nuclear capaciaty is just about France's only practical power projection capability, aside from two aircraft carriers of questionable utility in such a role. So it's basically a "Well...yeah, no sh--" statement.) 574524[/snapback] Is the navalised Rafale M variant in full service? I thought it was, but not sure..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBob2232 Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Amusing..yet typical "He said there was no change in France's overall policy, which rules out the use of nuclear weapons in a military conflict." yet...he says he woulndt rule them out in response to an attack. Seems contridictory to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 "He said there was no change in France's overall policy, which rules out the use of nuclear weapons in a military conflict." Is that true? If so, can I ask what the point of having them is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRC Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Amusing..yet typical "He said there was no change in France's overall policy, which rules out the use of nuclear weapons in a military conflict." yet...he says he woulndt rule them out in response to an attack. Seems contridictory to me 575803[/snapback] I thought that too. How do they plan on responding with nuclear weapons, if not militarily? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 I thought that too. How do they plan on responding with nuclear weapons, if not militarily? 575824[/snapback] Typical of the French, they are prepared to use Nukes, but only rhetorically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Typical of the French, they are prepared to use Nukes, but only rhetorically. 575866[/snapback] Well, they are famous for dropping their weapons at the first sign of hostility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 France is just using the opportunity to remind the world they have nukes in an attempt to prove they are still somewhat relevant to World Affairs If they didn't have The Bomb, France would be a nobody comparable to vital US ally Poland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 I thought that too. How do they plan on responding with nuclear weapons, if not militarily? 575824[/snapback] Well, there's military action, then there's military action. Maybe they intend to use them in the post-"Mission Accomplished" pacification phase of a campaign? Or...maybe they intend to nuke Greenpeace next time around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Is the navalised Rafale M variant in full service? I thought it was, but not sure..? 575642[/snapback] Not that I've heard...but I can check my library. Which isn't why their carriers aren't capable power projection platforms, anyway. The carriers themselves don't have the capacity, and the French Navy lacks the logistical support, to prosecute a sustained overseas campaign on their own hook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Well, they are famous for dropping their weapons at the first sign of hostility. 576098[/snapback] I once drank occaisionally with a guy that was in the Foreign Legion. Too spooky, after a few drinks he would always start telling all the ways you could kill a man with bare hands, I think it relaxed him. He was deeply paranoid but not of humans; he thought everything was a carcinogen or tainted with asbestos. We would order food and he would demand that the waiter bring out the cook to tell him exactly where the food came from. The cook would then have to make up some story to get rid of him: "These chicken nuggets are from a poultry farm in Kentucky that only use Grade A surplus feed, sir. " He eventually resigned from my former company because he got stuck in the elevator for 35 minutes and the president of the company refused to issue him a personal apology for exposing him to the tainted air of a confined space. The president was pissed at him because he tore the elevator button board apart with a knife he carried thinking somehow he could rewire it to get out of the elevator. Until he resigned he would walk up the stairs 8 stories to our office which would always trip the fire alarm. The guy was insane, but no coward. When we replaced him with another French guy, the new guy was a former French air force major that was a flaming bisexual. When he got fired, we were sure to hire a guy that was not ex-French military and he was downright boring except he would trim his beard everyday in the john at work because he didn't want to plug up his sink at home. The cleaning lady was always bitching at him for this for which he claimed was a sure fire example of the anti-French bias in society. In fact she probably couldn't find France on a map, she was just pissed that she had to clean his hair out of the sink everyday. In short, from the data I have collected, it is probably not cowardice that doomed the French army, but trying to manage guys like this. Actually, if I remember correctly, the guy in charge of Human resources had to issue a company memo that didn't refer directly to him, but banned everybody from trimming their beards at work. This seemed to satisfy the beard trimmer as long as the policy applied to everyone and didn't ban him specifically from trimming his beard at work. Also the air force guy was always braggin that at one time he was the youngest major in the entire French Air force. Whenever anyone questioned his decisions he would remind them that there was a reason he became the youngest major in the French Air Force. I swear these guys were nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 I once drank occaisionally with a guy that was in the Foreign Legion. Too spooky, after a few drinks he would always start telling all the ways you could kill a man with bare hands, I think it relaxed him. He was deeply paranoid but not of humans; he thought everything was a carcinogen or tainted with asbestos... 576712[/snapback] Good story. The above section of your post reminded me of an "Alf" episode. They were riding in a car, and Willy had a clogged nose. Alf handed him an inhaler, saying that it was a proven Melmackian remedy. Willy takes two deep squirts into each nostril, takes a deep breath, and remarks "Alf, that's great! What's in it?". Alf replied, "asbestos". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Not that I've heard...but I can check my library. Which isn't why their carriers aren't capable power projection platforms, anyway. The carriers themselves don't have the capacity, and the French Navy lacks the logistical support, to prosecute a sustained overseas campaign on their own hook. 576605[/snapback] Still, even if the air complement remains Super Entendards and Crusaders, those ships can hammer a one-time noise on a bunch of nations. The French military industry IMO, if not at the bleeding edge, have produced several, useful first-rate air and ground items and munitions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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