US Admiral Gregory Johnson speaking at a ceremony in southern France paying homage to World War II US troops used the occasion to draw parallels with US President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s worldwide war on terror.(AFP/Eric Estrade)
Posted on 08/14/2004 9:30:44 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
DRAGUIGNAN, France (AFP) - A top US admiral speaking at a ceremony in southern France paying homage to World War II US troops used the occasion to draw parallels with US President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s worldwide war on terror.
"Today we are fighting a war against an enemy that respects no borders, has no civilised norms of behaviour in sparing innocent lives and who does not share our sincerest vision and deeds of goodwill to all peoples," Admiral Gregory Johnson said.
The senior officer, who is the NATO (news - web sites) commander for southern Europe and the commander of US naval forces in Europe, was addressing a ceremony at a US war cemetery in Draguignan.
The commemorations honoured US soldiers who took part in "Operation Dragoon", the August 15, 1944 allied invasion of southern France that followed the bigger D-Day assault in Normandy and helped drive German troops out of the country.
Johnson, standing next to French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and surrounded by US and French honour military units and veterans of the invasion, made several references drawing parallels between the combat against the Nazis and the US fight against Islamic extremists started in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
"Liberties must be defended and they can never be taken for granted. This is the painful truth about the world we live in, but a truth that events constantly force us to learn despite our eternal yearning for a more peaceful world," he said.
"Why must we protect freedoms from our 21st century threats? We need only look into the past and consider the stirring examples of those who fight and died here 60 years ago."
In her speech, Alliot-Marie made no reference to the US war in Iraq (news - web sites) or its war on terror.
French and US forces are working together in Afghanistan (news - web sites) to bring stability in the wake of the US retaliatory invasion there in late 2001.
But France resolutely opposed the subsequent US invasion of Iraq, which Bush justified by claiming links between Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime and terrorists and the presence of weapons of mass destruction.
US Admiral Gregory Johnson speaking at a ceremony in southern France paying homage to World War II US troops used the occasion to draw parallels with US President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s worldwide war on terror.(AFP/Eric Estrade)
And take our troops out of Europe!!!!!
"Liberties must be defended and they can never be taken for granted. This is the painful truth about the world we live in, but a truth that events constantly force us to learn despite our eternal yearning for a more peaceful world," he said.
"Why must we protect freedoms from our 21st century threats? We need only look into the past and consider the stirring examples of those who fight and died here 60 years ago."
In her speech, Alliot-Marie made no reference to the US war in Iraq (news - web sites) or its war on terror.
Pitiful.. from an 'ally', one would expect more.
Ooops, silly me, Did I say ally?
It will be interesting, say 10 years from now, to hear if some soldiers
in Old Europe were distressed by being kept out of Iraq due to their governments.
I can't help but think that even France and Germany surely have some officers and grunts
that may have joined because they wanted to be pro-active about fighting despots and terrorists.
Maybe I'm being unrealistic...but even if it was a handful, it would be interesting to know.
bet the toads where hopping mad
It would be very interesting to know.
France can always be counted on to be there when they need us.
NO, the tradition of most military orgs in Europe are proud ones.
Incompetent and gimp-kneed leaders, both militarily and politically have been the ones who have led these forces into dishonor.
The men served proudly and followed the orders given them.
Those same kinds of men and women are still commonplace and prepared to do their duty if and when commanded to do so.
The same can not be said for the leaders today in some of our 'ally' countries in Europe.
Well, statistically speaking, in any sufficiently large population there always will be some % of everything.
IMHO, what would be very interesting to know would be not the fact of such people's existence (given the size of Old European societies, their existence can be taken for granted), but their relative number in excess of some (to be determined) low statistical threshold.
I would hope so, much as the Swift Vets have..
VOA:
I can't say for France or Germany, but here in Spain, I have a friend who is a Spanish Legionaire (the ones who recently returned from Iraq when Zapatero became PM of Spain). I spent an evening with him and his fiance in the company of several other Legionaire officers. You wouldn't believe what they had to say about their new PM's decision.
"The Spanish people will pay for thier betrayal to America," one said.
"The new PM is a coward. He's a politically correct POS."
Yes, there are definitely Spanish troops that hate not being able to take on Al-Gayda and other terrorists in Iraq. It wouldn't surprise me that many German and French troops feel the same way.
Cheers,
Levante
I'm glad to see the posts by you and others...mainly because with the
"military-friendly" atmosphere of FR, it would be sad if decent officers/troops from
places like Spain, France, Germany and the like visited FR and got the impression
that they were all getting painted with a broad brush.
(That is...being tarred with the same brush deserved by some of their politicians and voters.)
Yeah, I know that sounds "touch-feely", but there will be almost be a time in the
future when the USA/Coalition partners are doing "defense bidness" with these countries again.
They French join up for the cool uniforms and gizmos.
Eyeliner and lip gloss are still optional, however.
Yep, good to hear. I went off on the Euros a ways back and got an earful in an email from a German trooper. I must admit I've enjoyed working with the troops from the UK, GDR and even some of the French. But if they don't have the will or the smarts to use their troops, why have them? And I'm damn sure not following my Grandads example and marching off to fight to help the Euros ever in my lifetime. I'd quit the military before I did that. A similiar statement really knotted up the German trooper panties whence I got the email from....
I am sure there are some America fans over there, but it is so rare and far between. Those Spainish troops were rumored to have some of their members looking into US citizenship to protest being yanked out of Iraq in such a cowardly fashion. Good men betrayed by stupid leaders. Not the first time I've heard of that. "A little to the left Monica..."
LOL! Yep, they'd fit in just fine with the Marines or the US Army types. Its a big deal to give up your homeland though. If Kerry wins, I may have to consider it.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.