France has declared war on al-Qaida, striking one of the terrorist organization’s base camps in North Africa. The declaration comes in response to the killing of a French aid worker captured by al-Qaida last April.
The hostage was a 78 year old man named Michel Germaneau.
Took them long enough. Even with America on their side, they’ll probably lose.
They are just returning the favour. It was the USA that was rather slow in joining the campaign to stop the NAZI threat and all things considered, they were much much much more of a danger to the world than al-Qaida
This should even things out, at least for France.
How can you say that the Nazis were much more of a threat? Your statement is full of historical hindsight. Remember, we wouldn’t have even declared war on the Nazis after Pearl Harbor, had Germany not declared war on us first. The Nazis at the time did not look to be an immediate threat – much like Al-Qaeda. The problem France had was that they acquiesced to Hitler’s demands – along with Great Britain, in a feeble attempt to avoid war.. that would be the period when Germany demanded the Rhineland, then Sudetenland. It wasn’t until 1939 when Germany invaded Poland that France woke the fuck up and realized they had dropped the ball. By then Germany had a hell of an military and was kicking ass with their blitzkrieg.. That was their downfall, not because the USA didn’t join up in a timely fashion. So to say that they have taken so long to join up as revenge for the USA not joining World War Two right away, is pretty stupid when you think about it for more than two seconds. If anything, with France being closer to the front lines geographically, you think they would have been enthusiastic to prevent a repeat of history and joined up as soon as possible, but they did not. Make your own assumptions yes, but at least ground them in reality.
Bravo LunchBox your my Hero
idk why people give France so much flak. They’re past military campaigns under Napoleon remain to be the most successful till today.
@Toothpaste
Those wars were fought in a different era, war has evolved ever since WW I. That being said, France gets a lot of undeserved flak, that’s definitely true.
France is a pretty good nation with a really decent military. This is simply a nuance in legal matters. It’s not like they didn’t care about Al Qaeda before, but they were covered under general terrorists. Now they’re full-blown national enemies. I assume there’s a definite difference between the way the two are investigated and pursued, but some people are making it sound like France is this big useless clod of earth where people talk with funny accents. Which is kind of accurate, except without the useless part
After all, most of the great wines and champagne are from France
So the French get mocked for not joining the Iraq war which basically nobody supports anymore? Yeah, big mistake on their part.
France doesn’t fuck around when it comes to people they don’t like.
They’ve actually been at war with al-Qaida since 9/11, as nearly a dozen french citizens died that day. Its nice to see them get the fire rekindled every few years though i guess. its actually surprising their not a bigger target than we are, considering how many middle eastern countries had been colonized and exploited by France over the years, and also their treatment of their Muslim citizens. With the whole banning burqas thing…
and yeah sure they didnt goto Iraq this time, but they did help us during Desert Shield/Storm and in Afghanistan.