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Grumblings beginning to be heard in France on US
AFP ^ | 10/8/2001 | AFP

Posted on 10/08/2001 5:51:16 AM PDT by l33t

PARIS, Oct 8 (AFP) -

France's commitment to the US-led attacks on Afghanistan prompted grumbling Monday within the ruling left-wing majority, with Green and Communist deputies urging the government to keep its distance from Washington.

The most vehement criticism came from Noel Mamere, a Green deputy and a likely candidate for next April's presidential elections, who said the strikes amounted to an "act of war" against the Afghan people.

"The military response launched by the Americans is an act of war against the Afghan people, a people who risk paying a high price for international terrorism," Mamere said.

"This riposte runs the risk of being disproportionate," he added. "George W. Bush is well and truly his father's son." Bush's father, former president George Bush ordered US-led attacks against Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.

The Communist Party, another junior partner in the Socialist-led coalition, also urged caution on the government.

"France must not appear to be a simple appendix of the United States which makes decisions for the entire world," Communist deputy Jean-Pierre Brard said. He called for an emergency debate in the National Assembly on France's role in the conflict.

Meanwhile Socialist Party spokesman Vincent Peillon said parliament would be consulted in the coming days on French participation to the US-led strikes, thoguh he said it had not been decided whether to put a motion to the vote.

"We consider these strikes to be legitimate and we back them. It would be a grave error to consider that these strikes are aimed at the Afghan people," he said, referring to Mamere's comments which he described as "curious and confused".

Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine and Defense Minister Alain Richard were due to appear Tuesday before the assembly's defense and foreign affairs committees to outline France's involvement in the military operation.

The interior ministry announced Monday that French intelligence agents were already on the ground in Afghanistan working with the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.

"The US knows that we can join in the action with dozens of planes or boats and thousands of men, to participate in operations on terrorist targets in Afghanistan. It's a matter of days," Richard told Le Monde newspaper.

The strikes that began Sunday are in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States that killed nearly 5,500 people. Bin Laden has been accused of organizing the attacks.

President Jacques Chirac gave his full-hearted support for the US attack in a nationally televised address Sunday and said French forces would take part.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
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To: l33t
"France must not appear to be a simple appendix

I was thinking more of an irritable bowel.

21 posted on 10/08/2001 6:13:04 AM PDT by StriperSniper
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To: l33t
France: What a totally useless and irrelavent country.
22 posted on 10/08/2001 6:13:35 AM PDT by duckman
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To: NewHampshireDuo
Mr. Mamere should take a walk and cool off. Suggest the American cemetery near Normandy...
23 posted on 10/08/2001 6:13:55 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: tonycavanagh
Come on, Tony. Don't pretend that the French don't have a history of being the most wishy-washy bunch of cheese-eating surrender monkeys in the world.

Why, to do so would be disingenuous, would it not?

24 posted on 10/08/2001 6:16:11 AM PDT by Slim Pickens
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To: l33t
Cheese eatin' surrender monkeys...
25 posted on 10/08/2001 6:17:24 AM PDT by TADSLOS
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To: tonycavanagh
Very clever! I like the way you think. You're right, an ally is an ally and we are glad to have them no matter their level of competence.
26 posted on 10/08/2001 6:18:14 AM PDT by Movemout
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To: l33t
The most vehement criticism came from Noel Mamere, a Green deputy and a likely candidate for next April's presidential elections, who said the strikes amounted to an "act of war" against the Afghan people.

And the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., were acts of peace? Damned cheese-eating surrender monkeys.

27 posted on 10/08/2001 6:18:52 AM PDT by Junior
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To: StriperSniper
Irritable bowel?? LOL!!1 I prefer to think of them as a greenish, skanky, stone filled gall bladder. Altho the idea of them as a fecalith is tempting,,a fecalith for those not acquainted is a piece of fecal material that has hardened into a stone. Not unlike some mothers-in-law. Or ex wives.
28 posted on 10/08/2001 6:19:49 AM PDT by cajungirl
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To: MadIvan
Hello, Ivan. Thanks for all the interesting reading material!

Screw the French. You're right, they can't keep it together long enough to do ANYTHING, what a bunch of wussies.

On another note, I'm quite happy with Tony Blair's reaction to all that's been going on. I must admit though, I was pretty disgusted when he gave his "time is running out speach last week under a sign that said "Building a Fairer Britain." Wow. How socialist can you get?

Since when is LIFE fair???

29 posted on 10/08/2001 6:20:28 AM PDT by Slim Pickens
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To: l33t
"France must not appear to be a simple appendix of the United States..."

Well, using the word "appendix" in the medical sense instead of the one apparently intended, it would appear that France indeed already appears to be an appendix -- a vestigal organ we can well live without.

30 posted on 10/08/2001 6:21:30 AM PDT by dorothy
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To: Slim Pickens
Duh, "speach"="speech." And I think I left out some quotation marks in there too. Oh well, it's Monday...
31 posted on 10/08/2001 6:21:47 AM PDT by Slim Pickens
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To: Slim Pickens
On another note, I'm quite happy with Tony Blair's reaction to all that's been going on. I must admit though, I was pretty disgusted when he gave his "time is running out speach last week under a sign that said "Building a Fairer Britain." Wow. How socialist can you get?

The man does have his limitations. Which is why I am going to vote Tory for forever. Tory conference is this week - I'll share some of the goodies the Tories dish up for everyone.

Regards, Ivan
32 posted on 10/08/2001 6:24:28 AM PDT by MadIvan
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To: l33t
"The military response launched by the Americans is an act of war against the Afghan people, a people who risk paying a high price for international terrorism," Mamere said.

Why do they attack AMerica? Russia is in it too. True, French communists hate Putin, even though Putin is a communist too.

Looks like they want to sacrifice the welfare of the Northern Alliance and Afghan women for the sake of their own perverted welfare wishes. We ask them to work, they don't like it,

they'd rather make love on a pile of dead jews at a death camp.

How many did Mao kill? Not many compared to peace eco terrorists activists. Giving up South Vietnam for these peace dividend nazis got millions of Sout Vietnamese killed, just so that those perverted punks could still make love.

You know, I don't care, they don't want this war, then let us do it like the Lords of old. Let the muslims bandits run around the French country side and lay it waste, for the sake of peace.

The west is still too damn stupid to deserve special attention now.


33 posted on 10/08/2001 6:24:52 AM PDT by lavaroise
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To: l33t
French pilots accidentally killed a lot of allies in Desert Storm, probably due to their lack of cooperation and coordination. It's a free world, thanks to us. They are free to do the chicken dance. We really don't need them.
34 posted on 10/08/2001 6:24:56 AM PDT by Arthur Wildfire! March
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To: l33t
The French just don't have the stomach for it. Guess they being eating their own for too long.

Sure hope Paris is not on the list of targets for OBL and Company.


35 posted on 10/08/2001 6:25:07 AM PDT by bluetoad
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To: Nuke'm Glowing
re : I hate the French. They used to be an honorable nation and now their nothing but crepe eating cowards.

That is such a stupid comment, if you want to debate he Battle of France I will happily debate it with you.

Sometimes this site gets bogged down with stupid throw away one lines and very little intelligent debate.

I have served and trained with units of the French Army and I found them well trained and I would be glad to fight along side them.

Tony

36 posted on 10/08/2001 6:27:36 AM PDT by tonycavanagh
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To: l33t
I've been saying all along that we shouldn't give hoot what the rest of the world thinks. We have the military and industrial might to take on the world if need be, as well as the moral authority.

You'd think the French of all people would be with us to the bitter end. After all, it's because of the sacrifices of countless American GIs, thousands upon thousands of whom spilled their blood and took their last breaths on French soil, that the French have the right to be the rude snobs that they are. Otherwise they'd all be speaking German and walking around with funny little mustaches... even the women.

37 posted on 10/08/2001 6:27:58 AM PDT by rogers21774
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To: l33t
"The military response launched by the Americans is an act of war "

Duh.

38 posted on 10/08/2001 6:30:42 AM PDT by wny
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To: l33t
Not a big surprise. The French have no backbone. They caved in WWII before a fight, formed a government to kiss the Nazi a$$, let us save them, then vilified us because Mr. DeGaulle had gotten his rather sizable nose out of joint because Eisenhower kept him under wraps so he couldn't screw it up until we liberated France. The resistence fighters in France were Communists then and the whole country is left of left and left of green. Never count on the French. After many promises they almost missed the War of Independence also, showed up after Cornwallis was defeated and kept him from fleeing back to england. That was just before they had their own revolution, more like a bloodbath.
39 posted on 10/08/2001 6:33:00 AM PDT by wingnuts'nbolts
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To: l33t
My friends laugh at me for saying this, but other than wine and cheese, France is pretty much a third-world nation.
40 posted on 10/08/2001 6:33:20 AM PDT by Labyrinthos
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