quote:"No civilian nuclear program can explain the Iranian nuclear program. It is a clandestine military nuclear program," Douste-Blazy said on France-2 television.
"Now it's up to the Security Council to say what it will do, what means it will use to stop, to manage, to halt this terrible crisis of nuclear proliferation caused by Iran," Douste-Blazy said.
I think it's a pretty noteworthy day when France says something like this, and sides pretty clearly with a very firm hand in dealing with Iran.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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quote: Don't diss the Line, it served it's purpose and worked...technically
I would question that statement...static defenses rarely work, and the German panzer divisions "technically" proved that with the Maginot Line debacle.
Posts: 1480 | Registered: Dec 2004
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
well, to say the least the line held, the German's just went around
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quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley: well, to say the least the line held, the German's just went around
Precisely. The line was built to be impregnable, and that theory was never tested, and it kept the Germans from going that way.
We'll never know how things would have went if the French had had the foresight to extend the line across the Belgian border. However, given the terrain, and the situation, at the very least the line would have slowed the Germans down enough to where France was virtually routed. It would have given the British enough time to move and back them up, and for their other forces to mobilise. It COULD have changed everything, but we'll never know.
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posted
I'm thinking we'll learn pretty soon whether or not this is a game by Iran's president of brinksmanship to gain concessions, or a real plan...
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posted
They did extend the line in 1936 when Belgium declared neutrality. It turned out that it wasn't manned heavily enough, but I don't think I can really fault the French for that. People are too quick to rag on the Line, nobody knew the Germans were going to revolutionize warfare.
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posted
I don't know, Lyrhawn. But when someone does something like this, they're either serious about it or just saber-rattling to get something.
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posted
The international community thinks this guy is an annoying loudmouth but his constituants seem to be taking him seriously.
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Nor built to the same specifcations that the German border part of the line was built to.
It should be noted that the Italian advance was halted by the line, and that the few forts on the line that were assaulted by the Germans held well. The line we well manned following the fall of Paris, and only relented when the army commander of the French signed surrender orders.
Rakeesh -
I agree. I'm just wondering what exactly he wants. Most of these guys aren't stupid, they know what they can and can't get. It might be that at the end of the day they seriously just want nuclear power. They won't get military concessions out of us, and there aren't currently trade sanctions against them are there?
That leaves us with the original argument. They probably want WESTERN financed nuclear power. They're making a play at getting for free what they were originally going to make themselves. And it makes sense. If they really wanted a nuke for defense they could either buy one from North Korea, or impress the urgency upon Pakistan to use one for regional defense.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Whether or not the Maginot line would have held up to a frontal assault from the Germans is irrelevant, as they where able to go around it. The problem was when the French designed it they deliberately made the back weaker since they had such a difficult time at Verdun during the First World War. Once the German’s were around it they had no difficulty dismantling it from the back.
Iran is potentially a huge problem, and we’re going to need to do something about them before it’s too late; they just can’t be trusted with a nuke. The best way to cheaply and permanently disarm them is to unite the international community against them. If we can make it completely unprofitable for Iran to gain nukes, then they will have not motivation to do so. The problem is getting China and Russia to cooperate with the rest of the world. Embargoes and sanctions don’t work very well when they can get everything they need from those two.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Getting Russia to play ball shouldn't be too hard. And really, threatening China shouldn't be that big a deal either.
Just threaten to actually make them live up to their WTO obligations. That'll scare em enough to listen.
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posted
It was impossible for France to extend the Line : They didn't have enough men to man it, if they were going to maintain any sort of mobile reserve. Then there are the economic issues.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote: People are too quick to rag on the Line, nobody knew the Germans were going to revolutionize warfare.
Actually, the British knew, they just didn't believe Basil Liddell Hart's theories on mechanized warfare. Imagine his chagrine when he found out that the Germans were using his ideas against the British and French troops...
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posted
Lots of people knew in an isolated way. Widespread, cultural (military) knowledge is what was lacking.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
Heck, even the Germans didn't know they were going to be that successful. Hitler was gambling when he launched those panzers against the Ardennes; his generals thought he was mad.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Originally posted by King of Men: Heck, even the Germans didn't know they were going to be that successful. Hitler was gambling when he launched those panzers against the Ardennes; his generals thought he was mad.
Hitler was mad. It's just that this time, his madness actually paid off, resulting in his looking like a military genius. Unfortunately for him (and fortunately for the rest of the world,) he was even more mad when it came to the Russian campaign, and had much more absolute control over the military.
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