Free Republic

Always wanted to see this, finally had me a look... This particular section of France's 1930s-era defensive Maginot Line fortifications -a marvel of engineering at the time- has been extensively restored by enthusiast groups in the area, some of whom I was able to meet with on the visit. This entrance is known as 'Fort de Shoenenbourg', located in a hilltop forest near the German frontier (the Rhein) in the Alsace region of France, about 40 minutes north of Strasbourg. They did a great job keeping it authentic, really takes you back in time as you wander the 4-5...

..... All of Israel’s “peace-in-our-time” plans (including Bibi’s Jordan Valley Plan) are entirely based on variants of the 1967 Allon Plan which, like the Maginot Line defense, are based on yesterday’s technology and yesterday’s wars. IThe plan was named after famous Israeli general Yigal Allon. However, with the Israeli interception of the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) over the Negev, there is a new highly lethal and precise terrorist military weapon which could strike from a “demilitarized” Palestinian "West Bank" State with pin-point accuracy into the heart of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem: Killer Terrorist UAVs. Firstly, most people think that under...

JERUSALEM, April 14 (UPI) -- The United States and Israel will conduct their most complex military exercise ever, jointly testing three ballistic missile defense systems, officials said.

It is an incontestable fact that no kind of fortress, wheresoever placed, however strongly manned, however expensively constructed, and however numerous its garrison, has ever given permanent security to a State-has seldom indeed given it even temporary protection. Moreover, a fortress once invested is certain to fall, unless a relieving field-army can beat the besiegers away. We read in the history of one generation of the "virgin" fortress of Ingoldstadt or of Metz, but when we open the records of another generation, we find that its pride has bitten the dust. In some cases a very small fort in a...

As at this writing (12:00 GMT, 16:00 Baghdad time, April 3), elements of the US 3rd Infantry Division are within reach of Baghdad's Saddam Hussein International Airport southwest of the city and elements of the US 1st Marine Expeditionary Force have closed to within 10 miles of Baghdad from the east. The US Central Command in Doha, Qatar, reports that US Special Forces (and, one assumes, Central Intelligence Agency paramilitaries) have seized critical command and control facilities inside Baghdad. On that information, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's "guess" at the outset of the war that Baghdad will fall "from the...

OK, if nobody else will do it, I'm going to patch up this spat between the United States and France. As you know, our two nations are not getting along, as evidenced by the high-level meeting in Paris last week, during which French President Jacques Chirac and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, in what aides described as ''a frank exchange of views,'' bit each other. Yes, relations are at an all-time low. The French view us as a bunch of fat, simplistic, SUV-driving, gum-chewing, gun-shooting, mall-dwelling, John Wayne cowboys who put ketchup on everything we eat, including breath mints....