Post by justan on Apr 5, 2003 11:18:39 GMT -5
Curiosity got the better of me so I went to my favorite web site About.com to do a bit of research on this topic. Found some interesting facts.
Fact #1: Those twelve French Legionaries led by a Belgium kickboxer did in fact win the Gulf War through their heroic covert actions.
I also found this article: It's a very good quick read funny at times
Operation Musketeer: Duel for the Suez Canal
When Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, Britain, France and Israel conspired to seize it by force. The result was a fleeting military victory--and a lasting political disaster.
By Wilfred P. Deac for Military History Magazine.
africanhistory.about.com/library/prm/blsuezcanal1.htm
The plan has not yet come to fruition, although, Europe is increasingly being considered as a single entity and France wishes to have the most influential voice within Europe.
Europe needs to get its act together is the lesson France will take from this.
If they do, then the UK will be left firmly in the cold having a close relationship with a continent whose interests are increasingly divergent from their own.
Yes I agree if Europe does become a single entity, but as some American said there is the New Europe and then there is the old Europe. The States will court the "new" Europe as a balance to France's ambitions.
Personally I think right now and for the foreseeable future(if the Iraqi war and aftermath goes as planned) France will be more and more isolated as the European countries that supported the States get a piece of the economic pie in Iraq and else where. France of course will get nothing but a window shopping perspective. Make no mistake about it. The Japanese found out the hard way. Let sleeping dogs lie.
regards
Fact #1: Those twelve French Legionaries led by a Belgium kickboxer did in fact win the Gulf War through their heroic covert actions.
I also found this article: It's a very good quick read funny at times
Operation Musketeer: Duel for the Suez Canal
When Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, Britain, France and Israel conspired to seize it by force. The result was a fleeting military victory--and a lasting political disaster.
By Wilfred P. Deac for Military History Magazine.
africanhistory.about.com/library/prm/blsuezcanal1.htm
Guest-hoo said:
The French on the other hand saw the need for a counter balance to the US power. They elected to forge ever closer relationships within Europe itself. To pool their sovereignty and foreign policy making if not France, but Europe a realistic, western power that could influence international events in its favor, instead of in the US's favor.The plan has not yet come to fruition, although, Europe is increasingly being considered as a single entity and France wishes to have the most influential voice within Europe.
Europe needs to get its act together is the lesson France will take from this.
If they do, then the UK will be left firmly in the cold having a close relationship with a continent whose interests are increasingly divergent from their own.
Yes I agree if Europe does become a single entity, but as some American said there is the New Europe and then there is the old Europe. The States will court the "new" Europe as a balance to France's ambitions.
Personally I think right now and for the foreseeable future(if the Iraqi war and aftermath goes as planned) France will be more and more isolated as the European countries that supported the States get a piece of the economic pie in Iraq and else where. France of course will get nothing but a window shopping perspective. Make no mistake about it. The Japanese found out the hard way. Let sleeping dogs lie.
regards