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shropshire

France to rejoin the family that is NATO

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France ends four-decade Nato rift

Mr Sarkozy said the move ensured France's independence

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced his country is to return to Nato's military command, reversing four decades of self-imposed exile.



clicky

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

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France ends four-decade Nato rift

Mr Sarkozy said the move ensured France's independence

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced his country is to return to Nato's military command, reversing four decades of self-imposed exile.



clicky



Well hell.. there goes the neighborhood.Then again.. maybe some near new 8MM Lebel rifles with little use coming on the surplus market.

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President Sarkozy wants to return France to NATO’s integrated military command as part of the Military Committee (MC). Likely so that France can regain an active presence (a seat) on the NATO Defence Planning Committee

Interesting argument regarding sovereignty suggested in the BBC article – thanks for the metaphorical hat-tip. :)
France never left NATO. De Gaulle (the human, not the airport named after him :P) wanted to expand NATO’s reach to Algeria in the late 1950/early 60s (where they were fighting an early variant of radical Islamist insurgents), which the US-UK alliance opposed, and he didn’t want to cede to US/UK on nuclear weapons issues … in protest they pulled out of the MC in the 1960s.

France has the 4th largest contingent of soldiers deployed to Afghanistan, after USA, UK, and Germany. And has been there since early 2002. The policy change may mean more contribution ($ & soldiers) by France.

/Marg


Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

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organization erodes national sovereignty.

France never left NATO. De Gaulle (the human, not the airport named after him :P) wanted to expand NATO’s reach to Algeria in the late 1950/early 60s (where they were fighting an early variant of radical Islamist insurgents),


Why do you call them "radical Islamist insurgents". They were fighting for their independance from France like the so called terrorists have been fighting the US occupation of Irak!! France's interests there in Algeria was GAS !!!

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I don't see any threat with Russia anymore(cold war).
So, what the purpose of NATO now ?



That's naive and short-sighted.
Russia may no longer be the USSR, but it's hardly been gelded.
And then there's China.
NATO is an alliance that is far from obsolete, and has far more plusses than minuses.

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>I don't see any threat with Russia anymore(cold war).

No one saw much threat from Germany after World War 1, either. After all, they'd been beaten!



But the French have nukes now.

Russia's influence rises and wanes with the price of oil, but nukes eliminate most of their other advantages that would have matter in the 40s.

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France never left NATO. De Gaulle (the human, not the airport named after him :P) wanted to expand NATO’s reach to Algeria in the late 1950/early 60s (where they were fighting an early variant of radical Islamist insurgents),



Why do you call them "radical Islamist insurgents". They were fighting for their independance from France like the so called terrorists have been fighting the US occupation of Irak!! France's interests there in Algeria was GAS !!!


It's a good question, really. I referred to the French in Algeria as fighting "an early variant of radical Islamist insurgents" ...

Because Jamaat al ‘Ulema in the 1930s/1940s opposed westernization and secularization of Algeria, who influenced ...

... the Jabhat al-Tahrir al-Watani, (aka the National Liberation Front) pursued an (effective) guerrilla campaign (aka insurgency) against the French.

And because al-Qiyam al-Islamiyya (Islamic values group/movement) was founded in the early 1960s as an opposition movement to what they considered the comparatively less conservative NLF. Al-Qiyam demanded strict Sharia-based law, opposed civil based-laws in Algeria, no alcohol, no jobs for non-Muslims, severe limitations on women in public,

Because al Qiyam's leadership associated with and influenced Sayed Qutb (Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood), who directly inspired Ayman al-Zawahiri (al Qa'eda's second in command) and just about every radical Islamist out there today.

Because it was a counter-insurgency by Islamist forces against a western state.

And, yes there were lessons from the French experience in Algeria for battling insurgents in Iraq.

/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

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France has the 4th largest contingent of soldiers deployed to Afghanistan, after USA, UK, and Germany.



France has the 5th largest contingent of soldiers deployed in Afghanistan. Canada has the 4th.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Security_Assistance_Force



Thanks for the correction. My apologies to the Canadians.

/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

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«What the world can we speak of justice, when such a rich area of Siberia, belong to one country?»


Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State, 2005


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"... vitally important that the political arena there was no opponent, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus challenging America."

Brzezinsky "Great chessboard. The rule of America and its geostrategic imperatives ", 1997



Breach of contractual obligations of the Non-Proliferation of NATO to former Warsaw Pact.
Violation of the ABM Treaty.
Violation of the treaty on limiting conventional arms in Europe.
Placement of new military bases on the borders of Russia.
The ongoing (since 1945) occupation of Germany.

Interesting, how do you feel about the deployment (let) in Canada, Mexico, Cuba, the Russian military bases and missiles with nuclear warheads? You call this a peaceful intentions of Russia?

You know why France withdrew from NATO?
De Gaulle insisted on the equality of France, the USA and Great Britain within the framework of NATO. Not having achieved success, the president of France in 1966 withdrew from the organization of NATO.

The decisive event was the visit of President in Russia. When you visit a nuclear missile base strategichksih De Gaulle to his surprise, learned that the missile base that would provide for the destruction of France. A week later, France withdrew from NATO.
History repeats itself? Or there are fools who are only at their own mistakes?

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And, yes there were lessons from the French experience in Algeria for battling insurgents in Iraq.

/Marg



the argentinians learned some lessons as well...

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"French school"

Counter-insurgency tactics developed during the war were used afterward in other contexts, including the Argentine "Dirty War" in the 1970s. Journalist Marie-Monique Robin wrote a book alleging that French secret agents had taught Argentine intelligence agents counter-insurgency tactics, including the systemic use of torture, block warden system, etc, all techniques employed during the 1957 Battle of Algiers. The film itself on The Battle of Algiers has been screened and seen by many militaries from different nations afterwards. She found in the Quai d'Orsay, head of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the document proving that a secret military agreement tied France to Argentina from 1959 until 1981, date of the election of President François Mitterrand.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_war#French_Algeria
stay away from moving propellers - they bite
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