France does not rule out nuclear response anymore

[Winston]

Yeah well you'd have to say that, obviously.

Besides, when has ignorance of any subject ever held anyone back here?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Sandman


What are you getting at?

during the cold war NATO adopted the doctrine of flexible response. This stated that if the Soviets attacked, NATO could keep it at the same level (conventional to conventional, tactical nukes to tactical nukes, strat nukes to strat nukes) but that it COULD escalate. So that the adversary cant count on a particular response. To me thats what Chirac was saying. Not that France WOULD use a nuke if someone released an ounce of nerve gas, but that once WMDs were used against France, nukes WOULD be CONSIDERED as a POTENTIAL response.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by GePap

The world hardly sees Iran as a "special case"> A few states do, but the world???? I don;t see India and China (hmm, 1/3 of humanity, more than in all of Europe and NOrth America) trully that concerned more about Iran than say NK.

If it comes to an IAEA vote we will see what India and China do.

But it may not come to that, as Iran is showing signs of backing down, and taking the Russian deal.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Winston
Yeah well you'd have to say that, obviously.

Well, I'm definitely not one to defend France's actions in Africa. We are largely responsible for the continuous despotism in several African countries (Most notably Togo and Gabon), and we have an immense share of the blame for the wreckage that is the Congo-Kinshasa. We are far from clean in the Rwandan genocide as well, and I'm not even speaking of the Comoros, whose long cohesive history we utterly dismantled.

However, our heavy-handed diplomacy in Africa has started to change several years ago, especially after the death of France's historical pitboss in Africa (Jacques Foccard, who led pretty much the entire African policy of France from the 60's to the late 1990's).

This change is exemplified in our current intervention in Ivory Coast.
Here you have a regime who avoedly wants to leave the French aegis.
Here you have a regime that cooperates with violent and Francophobic mobs.
Here you have a regime that supported mobs raping French women living in Abijan.
Here you have a regime that launched an airborne attack on our troops.
Here you have a regime that got Abijan, the economic capitol, occupied for an entire week by the French army.
And yet, even though we had more than the chance to slaughter the Ivorians, even so we had excuses for some heavy-handed action (it's not like we didn't slaughter colonised people by the thousands post-WW2), we didn't do it. We didn't even kill their president in order to install a friendly one.
Even crazier, our military (which enforces the border between the loyalists and the rebels) killed a prisoner without due process, and a commander was ousted because of that

Clearly, if this is indiciative of something in French diplomacy wrt Africa, I don't think it indicates that we are eager to nuke'em Bananias.

Besides, when has ignorance of any subject ever held anyone back here?

I stand corrected

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by polarnomad
Whom of course the French aided in their fight for independence from the British... but that has been forgotten, I suppose.

It hasnt been forgotten one bit.

Vive Lafayette!
Vive Rochembeau!
Vive De Grasse!
Souvienez la Battaile des Capes! (spelling?)
Vive la France!

And of course Vive le Force de Frappe contre le terrorisme!

[lord of the mark]

Francophobia is SO 2003!

[Dis]

France gotta love that cheese.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by GePap
Please, lord, tell me I am not.

sorry i cant be of help.

[GePap]

Are you ever?