Sure hope Paris is not on the list of targets for OBL and Company.
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.
I was thinking more of an irritable bowel.
Why, to do so would be disingenuous, would it not?
And the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., were acts of peace? Damned cheese-eating surrender monkeys.
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???
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.
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,
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.
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
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.
Duh.
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