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To: 68skylark
Let me draw you a diagram. The French government of the time was allied with Germany, although I believe theoretically neutral vs. the US. The French soldiers and sailors in North Africa worked for the French government.

When armed forces began moving ashore and they were ordered to resist by their government, it is not surprising that they obeyed. A little unfair to expect them to rebel against their own government while under attack by enemy forces.

18 posted on 01/13/2004 7:21:39 AM PST by Restorer
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To: Restorer
Well we might have to agree to disagree about the French behavior in this case. If you feel the French behaved reasonably then I probably won't be able to convince you otherwise.

I understand that a number of French forces didn't fight the allied troops -- that makes the ones who did fight look worse. NO ONE could be so stupid as to think that the U. S. and British troops were going to harm French interest -- they were bringing liberty and everyone knew it. It's roughly the same as if someone's house was under criminal attack, and they start shooting at the cops who arrive to help out. It's wrong and stupid and evil. Thanks goodness they stopped after a few days. (Yes, I know the Vichy government wasn't under imminent attack during the period when we moved into N. Africa. I still think the analogy is valid overall -- France as a whole had been under attack from the worst kind of criminals, and we were arriving as quickly as we could to fight on their side to help make things right.)

While some French troops were willing to fight the allies, I notice also that no French troops fought any German units when THEY arrived on the scene.

The French are lucky that history has been so kind to them -- there are some dark chapters in their WWII history about working with the Nazis, and these stories aren't often told.
19 posted on 01/13/2004 9:22:13 AM PST by 68skylark
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