Freedom roulette ?

[romachko]

Out:French fries; in:freedom fries. French are not the only who were against us. So, German shepherd should be renamed freedom shepherd.
Chinese water torture should be freedom water torture. And, Russian roulette should be.....

[romachko]

... in response to Freedom roulette ?, posted by romachko on Jun 10, 2003

Keep French out of Iraq. If and when we find WMD, they may hide them. More important: If and when we decide to plant WMD, they may sabotage. (We need absolute privacy.)

[DanM]

... in response to Re: Freedom roulette ?, posted by romachko on Jun 11, 2003

Nice sense of humor. : )

[DanM]

... in response to Freedom roulette ?, posted by romachko on Jun 10, 2003

I heard the French called American cheese "Idiot cheese". : )

I think my position on the American-French thing is pretty well documented here, but I laughed until I almost cried when I read this one. No matter what you think about the French, you gotta give them credit for a good one with the "Idiot cheese" jab. : )

[wsbill]

... in response to Freedom roulette ?, posted by romachko on Jun 10, 2003

Germany, France and Russia didn't take part in our little war.  Since after all most of their tanks and personnel carriers are just like the Iraqis.

So in essence, it's best not to have them on the battle field anyway.  

Also, they wouldn't quite have the resolve to charge into battle like we would.

[John K]

... in response to Re: Actually it was best that , posted by wsbill on Jun 10, 2003

Of course, the enemy they face have jeeps and small arms.  Nothing their tanks and armored personnel carriers can't handle.  At least, I think they can handle it...

[DanM]

... in response to Well, the French are getting into the Co..., posted by John K on Jun 11, 2003

I thought the French were in Liberia of somewhere else in western Africa. Are they in the Congo too? Either way, their opponent will not have too much in the way of technology or training.

[John K]

... in response to Re: Well, the French are getting into th..., posted by DanM on Jun 11, 2003

About all the French are doing in Liberia is evacuating foreigners out of the capital city.  Once the foreigners are out, the French will probably dig a hole and hide while the goverment battles the rebels in the streets.  I think the French could help, but the rebels have more than just small arms. (They also have mortars...)

As for Congo, the French are beating their chests and are making big noise about going in there.  The only thing that's holding them back is that they want some Belgian and Swiss(?) troops to go in with them as well, to show it is an international effort, as opposed to imperialism (or some rot like that).  I'm not sure how effective they will be there either.

[Cold Warrior]

... in response to Re: Well, the French are getting into th..., posted by DanM on Jun 11, 2003

They are just standing by while the killing goes on. This will be Rwuanda and Srbrenica all over again. Due to inaction by the french,Belgian and some Dutch it was almost 12000 dead in Srbenica and 600,000 to 1,000,000 in Rwuanda. I wonder why they bother to send troops at all. maybe just to impress the UN they are doing something(or nothing).

[BubbaGump]

... in response to Makes no difference......., posted by Cold Warrior on Jun 11, 2003

They should be called uniformed observers with guns.  Their mission is to count the number of innocent civilians killed and throw them into a neat pile.

[DanM]

... in response to Makes no difference......., posted by Cold Warrior on Jun 11, 2003

In my book, we are just as responsible for Rwanda as the French or any European. We also stood by and watched it happen. Same for the war in the Congo. Do you have any idea how many people have died in Congo war (mostly civillians)?

[Cold Warrior]

... in response to Re: Makes no difference......., posted by DanM on Jun 11, 2003

America went reluctantly into Kosovo after an international outcry about the 2 million Albanian refugees. Europe with the exception of Britian stood on the sidelines offering minimal support. What should have been a European problem to be solved by Europe, immediately sparked anti-American protests worldwide,especially in Russia. Rwuanda is a former French colony, Congo is a former Belgian colony. I say let these former colonial masters sort out this problem. Any hint of American intervention will only serve to pour millions of Anti-Americans onto the streets. I am not willing to fight and die for what I percieve to be a UN problem. No way i'm going to wear a blue beret either, as much I regret the millions dying in Africa this is the sad reality of international politics. Even South Korea who owe their existance to American troops stationed there, had millions on an anti-American march last year. If we withdraw they wouldn't last 24 hours against the North.

[DanM]

... in response to Remember Kosovo......, posted by Cold Warrior on Jun 11, 2003

According to my information sources, Rwanda was a former colony of Belgium. I looked it up on the CIA factbook website to confirm. As such, I don't think France had any more of a moral obligation than us when it came to peace-making missions.

When I said we shared as much responsiblity for what happened in Rwanda, I meant that we all did nothing. Just like France. Of course we were the ones who stepped into Kosovo. We are probably the only country in the world who can step in and do these things. I know the EU is trying to build a rapid response force, but I am pretty sure they had little effective to offer at the time of Kosovo (with the exception of the UK). Anyway, I am only saying that we did not stop a million plus death genocide in Rwanda either. As a result, I do not think we have room to throw stones at France on this one. We can't blame them for inaction when we also did nothing. Just seems hypocritical.

Don't get me wrong. My feelings about the French are pretty angry and I no longer view them as a friend or ally of the US. I am just saying the facts don't seem to support US condemnation of France's failure to stop the Rwanda genocide.

For what its worth, I also don't want any US soldier to ever wear the blue beret. I think the risk of European leaders playing politics with the lives of our soldiers is too great to risk it.

As for the anti-American protests, they will never stop so why worry about it. They are too emotionally commited to hating us to change their minds any time soon. Blame the USA for whatever goes wrong anywhere in the world. Such a view requires little effort, pain or guilt. Thats a whole lot easier and safer than actually asking about their own country's responsiblities and failures.

[Cold Warrior]

... in response to Re: Remember Kosovo......, posted by DanM on Jun 12, 2003

At the sight of American soldiers shooting black Muslims in Somalia, Loius Farrakhan had threatened to put 1 million black American men onto the streets. In Rwanda, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and other black leaders had initially opposed any intervention, they only changed their minds after the true scale of the killings became evident. Any US government will be reluctant to intervene in Africa without the support and consensus of black Americans, no one wants to risk more race riots here.

[wsbill]

... in response to Remember Kosovo......, posted by Cold Warrior on Jun 11, 2003

Every new president has a agenda.   Kosvo should have been squelched early on, but not after years and years of fight.

Just like Israel and Palestians....
Israel should just relocate somewhere else.

But their little war will never end.