Comments on: ‘Sarkozy of Arabia’ Sending Troops to the Gulf http://pjmedia.com/blog/sarkozy_of_arabia/ Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:12:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: americaine en france http://pjmedia.com/blog/sarkozy_of_arabia/#comment-20193 americaine en france Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:09:22 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/sarkozy-of-arabia-sending-troops-to-the-gulf/#comment-20193 Marystella: Sarkozy's doing his best for France, depending on what your definition of France is (and that definition is way open for discussion). Marystella: Sarkozy’s doing his best for France, depending on what your definition of France is (and that definition is way open for discussion).

]]> By: Marystella http://pjmedia.com/blog/sarkozy_of_arabia/#comment-20192 Marystella Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:52:24 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/sarkozy-of-arabia-sending-troops-to-the-gulf/#comment-20192 Sarkozy, is doing what is best for France. Finally, a level-headed Frenchmen. Sarkozy, is doing what is best for France. Finally, a level-headed Frenchmen.

]]> By: ricg http://pjmedia.com/blog/sarkozy_of_arabia/#comment-20191 ricg Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:16:14 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/sarkozy-of-arabia-sending-troops-to-the-gulf/#comment-20191 Napoleon was from Corsica, not Sardinia. Napoleon was from Corsica, not Sardinia.

]]> By: narciso http://pjmedia.com/blog/sarkozy_of_arabia/#comment-20190 narciso Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:26:32 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/sarkozy-of-arabia-sending-troops-to-the-gulf/#comment-20190 Odd how it takes a Frenchman of Hungarian descent to restore the nation's influence. Algeria as well as the rest of the "Barbary Coast" were French colonies for 115 years. It took 17 years for the French to truly conquer Algeria ,in particular; from the 1st expedition in 1830. After such a long period of occupation, specially at the latter end of the Algerian war; it was natural for the French and the Algerians to get tired of each other.The thinking of one of their leading strategists in counter-insurgency, Col. Galula lies at the heart of both David Petraeus's army field manual and the implementation of the surge. The aggressive tactics of Massu,Galula, Trinquier, et al even Ausseresse did win the battle for the Casbah. Which was undermined to by the cacophony of protests by Sartre, Beavoir,et al. DeGaulle, who sent the expeditions back to Algiers and Hanoi, promised to back the pied noir and the veterans to keep Algeria French. Once in office, he ceded to the politically popular demands of negotiating with the FLN; which caused a reaction among the most committed veterans of the Algerian & former Indochina conflict,(Massu, Trinquier, Salan, et al hence the April '61 putch attempt, and the formation of the OAS, which effectively reversed any support for an Algerian policy. Interesting with the accession of DeGaulle and the end of the Algerian war so would the marked turn in favor of Arabism in the Quai do' Say. France could not escape the consequences of the 'redeployment' from Algeria, try as it might. The consolidation of pied noir veterans and non veterans, the arrival of the harkis (those Algerians who had cooperated with the government,) plus their successors pushed north by the FLN's consolidations and most recently the fratricidal FLN/GIA Salafist war. (Ahmed Ressam, Zacarias Moussaoi, Jamal Zougam :the Madrid bombing coordinator are just a few names that come to mind. Among the veterans, a powerful revanchist political movement, headed by associates of rabble rousing Pierre Poujade (the Wallace or Buchanan of French Politics) like Le Pen and the National Front arose. The series of circumstances surrounding the Algerian war's prosecution and aftermath; don't have exact parallels with current or even near future American policies but there are some similarities; albeit with greater stakes. Could the Iraqis or the Afghanis become the harkis at some distant point? Could a political candidate more amenable to the media's influence end up curtailing our involvement in the War on Terror's largest theatre of operations, for seemingly understandable reasons? What would such a retreat have on the region, on this country and the society as a whole. One recalls the French experience in Indochina ran almost as long as the British experience in the NorthWest Frontier of India (Pakistan):1837-1947. This ofcourse makes the UAE an interesting choice for basing rights for French forces. The Maktoums and the bin Zayan royal families which preside over each end of the emirates are clearly fairly pro -western; although one of the Zayan dynasty trafficks in anti-semitic folderall. They do supply the likes of CAIr with a sizable portion of the donations. However, the ziggurat like structures rising out over the skyline in Dubai; are evocative of similar structures over Kuala Lampur and not to put too fine a point on it; the WTC. This is likely to draw the attention of AQ like elements. The UAE's DPW acquistion of the venerable British firm Peninsular & Occidental (one does remember the puts them in control of practically every major cargo checkpoint in the western world. This was a little speculated about detail in the DPW brouhaha in the States. Most recently CitiGroup received a considerable capital flow from that region. It is not out of the question, that there would be strike against targets in the UAE and/or subsidiaryfacilities around the world. This is not idle speculationeither. the UAE supplied at least one of the 9/11 hijackers (Waleh al Shehri)one of their lead money launderers (Paracha Wazir)another figure tied to KSM (Ammar al Baluchi) and allegedly one of the emirati princes were fox hunting with Bin Laden in 1999? In addition, one should not hesitate to consider that the emirates split their loyalties during the Iran/Iraq war. It does put Mssr. Sarkozy's actions in an interesting context. Odd how it takes a Frenchman of Hungarian descent to restore
the nation’s influence. Algeria as well as the rest of the “Barbary
Coast” were French colonies for 115
years. It took 17 years for the French to truly conquer Algeria ,in particular; from the 1st expedition in 1830. After such a long period of occupation, specially at the latter end of the Algerian war; it was natural for the French and the
Algerians to get tired of each other.The thinking of one of their leading strategists in counter-insurgency, Col. Galula lies at the heart of both David Petraeus’s army field manual and the implementation of the surge. The aggressive tactics of Massu,Galula, Trinquier, et al even Ausseresse did win the battle for the Casbah. Which was undermined to by the cacophony of
protests by Sartre, Beavoir,et al.
DeGaulle, who sent the expeditions back to Algiers and Hanoi, promised
to back the pied noir and the veterans to keep Algeria French. Once in office, he ceded to the
politically popular demands of negotiating with the FLN; which caused a reaction among the most committed veterans of the Algerian & former Indochina conflict,(Massu, Trinquier, Salan, et al hence the April ’61 putch attempt, and the formation of the OAS, which effectively reversed any support
for an Algerian policy. Interesting with the accession of DeGaulle and
the end of the Algerian war so would
the marked turn in favor of Arabism
in the Quai do’ Say. France could not escape the consequences of the
‘redeployment’ from Algeria, try as it might. The consolidation of pied noir veterans and non veterans, the
arrival of the harkis (those Algerians who had cooperated with the government,) plus their successors pushed north by the FLN’s
consolidations and most recently the
fratricidal FLN/GIA Salafist war.
(Ahmed Ressam, Zacarias Moussaoi,
Jamal Zougam :the Madrid bombing
coordinator are just a few names that come to mind. Among the veterans, a powerful revanchist political movement, headed by associates of rabble rousing Pierre Poujade (the Wallace or Buchanan
of French Politics) like Le Pen and
the National Front arose. The series
of circumstances surrounding the Algerian war’s prosecution and aftermath; don’t have exact
parallels with current or even near
future American policies but there
are some similarities; albeit with
greater stakes. Could the Iraqis or the Afghanis become the harkis at some distant point? Could a political candidate more amenable to the media’s influence end up curtailing our involvement in the War on Terror’s largest theatre of operations, for seemingly understandable reasons? What would such a retreat have on the region, on this country and the society as a whole. One recalls the French experience in Indochina ran almost as long as the British experience in the NorthWest Frontier of India
(Pakistan):1837-1947.

This ofcourse makes the UAE an interesting choice for basing
rights for French forces. The Maktoums and the bin Zayan royal
families which preside over each end of the emirates are clearly fairly pro -western; although one of the Zayan dynasty trafficks in anti-semitic folderall. They do supply the likes of CAIr with a sizable portion of the donations. However, the ziggurat like
structures rising out over
the skyline in Dubai; are evocative
of similar structures over Kuala
Lampur and not to put too fine a point on it; the WTC. This is likely
to draw the attention of AQ like elements. The UAE’s DPW acquistion of the venerable British firm Peninsular & Occidental (one does
remember the puts them in control of practically every major cargo checkpoint in the western world. This was a little speculated about detail in the DPW brouhaha in the States. Most recently CitiGroup received a considerable capital flow from that region. It is not
out of the question, that there would be strike against targets in the UAE and/or subsidiaryfacilities around the world.

This is not idle speculationeither. the UAE supplied at least one of the 9/11 hijackers (Waleh al Shehri)one of their lead money launderers (Paracha Wazir)another figure tied
to KSM (Ammar al Baluchi) and
allegedly one of the emirati princes were fox hunting with Bin Laden in 1999? In addition, one should not hesitate to consider that
the emirates split their loyalties during the Iran/Iraq war. It does put Mssr. Sarkozy’s actions in an interesting context.

]]> By: Brian H http://pjmedia.com/blog/sarkozy_of_arabia/#comment-20189 Brian H Sun, 20 Jan 2008 21:29:38 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/sarkozy-of-arabia-sending-troops-to-the-gulf/#comment-20189 Concerning the linked story that the Saudis don't want Sarkozy shacking up with Bruni on their soil, couldn't they arrange one of those temporary marriages the Sunni use to accommodate a little nookie with hookers? Concerning the linked story that the Saudis don’t want Sarkozy shacking up with Bruni on their soil, couldn’t they arrange one of those temporary marriages the Sunni use to accommodate a little nookie with hookers?

]]> By: patagonianplato http://pjmedia.com/blog/sarkozy_of_arabia/#comment-20188 patagonianplato Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:24:23 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/sarkozy-of-arabia-sending-troops-to-the-gulf/#comment-20188 Does anyone know why the French like to line their boulevards with so many trees? Because German soldiers prefer to march in the shade. Does anyone know why the French like to line their boulevards with so many trees?

Because German soldiers prefer to march in the shade.

]]> By: Draco http://pjmedia.com/blog/sarkozy_of_arabia/#comment-20187 Draco Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:14:09 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/sarkozy-of-arabia-sending-troops-to-the-gulf/#comment-20187 " A quick look at the map of the Paris Metro, and its evocative station names like Austerlitz and Solferino, should suffice to remind the casual observer of the continuing resonance of French battles of yesteryear". Actually it reminds me of the old observation that France's greatest general was a foriegner (Napoleon was from an Italian family living in Corsica) and their greatest soldier was a teenage girl (Joan of Arc). Ha ha! But seriously, they might really have a respectabel military establishment - certainly they would have to compare favourably to the once-fine British Army and Navy which is despised in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Do the Gulf states really fuel electrical power plants with oil? Why not natural gas? ” A quick look at the map of the Paris Metro, and its evocative station names like Austerlitz and Solferino, should suffice to remind the casual observer of the continuing resonance of French battles of yesteryear”. Actually it reminds me of the old observation that France’s greatest general was a foriegner (Napoleon was from an Italian family living in Corsica) and their greatest soldier was a teenage girl (Joan of Arc). Ha ha! But seriously, they might really have a respectabel military establishment – certainly they would have to compare favourably to the once-fine British Army and Navy which is despised in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

Do the Gulf states really fuel electrical power plants with oil? Why not natural gas?

]]> By: nona http://pjmedia.com/blog/sarkozy_of_arabia/#comment-20186 nona Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:49:01 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/sarkozy-of-arabia-sending-troops-to-the-gulf/#comment-20186 fwiw, the warsaw ghetto rebellion was backed by the rabbis in the warsaw ghetto. fwiw, the warsaw ghetto rebellion was backed by the rabbis in the warsaw ghetto.

]]> By: Mark http://pjmedia.com/blog/sarkozy_of_arabia/#comment-20185 Mark Sat, 19 Jan 2008 19:58:17 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/sarkozy-of-arabia-sending-troops-to-the-gulf/#comment-20185 "Never forget that France lost over a million and a half soldiers in battle in the two World Wars - more than any other Allied nation except Russia, and three times as many as America." I've always strongly looked down upon using military casualties as a measure of a nation's effectiveness in or commitment to warfare. American military doctrine puts a premium on American lives, a view frequently not shared by others. Even during WW2 we put an emphasis on denying the enemy resources and equipment while overwhelming them with our own. The strategic bombing campaign over Europe, for instance did far more to win the war than the body count of airmen would suggest. So, you say the French lost a lot of people in war, and I look at that as evidence of incompetence more than anything else. “Never forget that France lost over a million and a half soldiers in battle in the two World Wars – more than any other Allied nation except Russia, and three times as many as America.”

I’ve always strongly looked down upon using military casualties as a measure of a nation’s effectiveness in or commitment to warfare.

American military doctrine puts a premium on American lives, a view frequently not shared by others. Even during WW2 we put an emphasis on denying the enemy resources and equipment while overwhelming them with our own. The strategic bombing campaign over Europe, for instance did far more to win the war than the body count of airmen would suggest.

So, you say the French lost a lot of people in war, and I look at that as evidence of incompetence more than anything else.

]]> By: Foobarista http://pjmedia.com/blog/sarkozy_of_arabia/#comment-20184 Foobarista Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:52:30 +0000 http://dev.pajamasmedia.com/blog/sarkozy-of-arabia-sending-troops-to-the-gulf/#comment-20184 As for nukes, the oil states are becoming more sensitive to real pollution - and unfortunately to AGW talk. They're obviously perfect candidates for solar if it worked, but will probably need nuclear power plants since solar and wind are still three years away (as they've been for at least 30 years). The trick is getting them to use the types of nuke plants that don't make weapons-grade junk. There are several of these. As for the French, I never made jokes about their soldiers. Their political and military leadership is another matter. As for nukes, the oil states are becoming more sensitive to real pollution – and unfortunately to AGW talk. They’re obviously perfect candidates for solar if it worked, but will probably need nuclear power plants since solar and wind are still three years away (as they’ve been for at least 30 years).

The trick is getting them to use the types of nuke plants that don’t make weapons-grade junk. There are several of these.

As for the French, I never made jokes about their soldiers. Their political and military leadership is another matter.

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