Should have left it to the frenchies

[Fragony]

Wellwellwell, as it turns out Bin Laden could have been orbiting earth with his 72 goats, if only the US high command would have given french recontroops permission to fire, not once but twice. Probably not that happy that the frenchies could have walked away with the price? Stupidity and pride?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/19122006/32...en-sights.html

sigh

[Banquo's Ghost]

Wellwellwell, as it turns out Bin Laden could have been orbiting earth with his 72 goats, if only the US high command would have given french recontroops permission to fire, not once but twice. Probably not that happy that the frenchies could have walked away with the price? Stupidity and pride?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/19122006/32...en-sights.html

sigh

Well, if the French military command denies it, I'm inclined to believe them. It sounds a very far fetched proposition to me.

For a start, if a sniper actually had bin Laden in his sights, I doubt if he would wait for authorisation from anyone but his immediate officer, and even then he's likely to shoot first. After all, the mission they were on was to find and eliminate the man.

Let's face it, said sniper is hardly likely to be court-martialled for unlawfully shooting Osama bin Laden, now is he?*

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

*Even in the EU this would prove a bit of a stretch. And it would be worth it, just for the book deals...

[Don Corleone]

I'm with Banquo. If the Pentagon was denying it, it would almost confirm it. But can you imagine a scenario where Jacques Iraq (oops, I mean) Chirac would turn down the opportunity to make the Americans look like bumbling fools?

[Fragony]

The french care a whole lot less about america then america cares about the french, I can actually imagine americans having those concerns though, that is why I am inclined to be believe this story. What if these cowardly snaileating chantonsinging spineless frogs got uncle Bin instead of badboy Bush, don't think patriotic americans would like that.

[Samurai Waki]

In WW2 Didn't they American's take the little town in the Austrian Alps where Hitler did his little pleasure trips just because the French were closing in and thought that they deserved the right to enter first.

[Don Corleone]

The only people we snubbed in WW2 were the British. We didn't let Montgomery enter Palermo first. But we did allow DeGaulle to reclaim Paris, and we let the Russians take Berlin.

Again, I'm not saying the French obsess about us, but I just cannot believe the French military would cover for the Americans, after being snubbed so dramtically (and foolishly, I might add). I would totally believe our own military lying about it, but not the French, at least not in this case...

[Strike For The South]

Even if it was true he wouldve missed

[Fragony]

Even if it was true he wouldve missed

[Louis VI the Fat]

I don't know what to make of this story.

I don't know enough about military command structure to make anything but a guess about it. Maybe you do need to file a typed and threefold request for every shot. But my gut instinct says that if a sniper got a clear shot of OBL, he would've pulled the trigger. It's what the troops are there for.

Hence I'm not convinced. The crux of this story is that there was a hesitation in the American command. It all smells a bit like a conspiracy theory: 'Teh Americans are not in Afghanistan for OBL! They're there for ulterior motives! They simply want to control Pakistan! 9/11 was a scam! They deceived everybody!'
Proof? They lied about that $25 million on his head - they don't want his head even when presented on a platter. That's because they don't want him, nooooo...what they really want is for him to be an excuse to maintain their troop presence and control the area, to suppress even more Muslims and steal their natural resources.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Don, the first possibility of a clear shot was in 2003, so perhaps before Iraq, you know, during that brief spell in American history - 1776 to 2003 - when France was an ally.

Maybe the French military would like to make the Americans look like bumbling fools, maybe they would cover for the Americans, and maybe not. All I know is that presently, French freedom troops are stuck fighting and dying in Afghanistan, under American command even, avenging 9/11 and preventing further attacks, while the American military is wasting its resources in Iraq and is making a fool of western values and of 'spreading democracy' by setting up torture chambers.

Meh, that's why France, rightly so, refuses to rejoin the integrated NATO command structure.

Even if it was true he wouldve missed

Gah. Your secretary of Defense should've send himself then. Dick Cheney never misses on a manhunt.

[Prince of the Poodles]

The French military, however, said that the incidents never happened and the report was "erroneous information".

Well there ya go.

All I know is that presently, French freedom troops are stuck fighting and dying in Afghanistan, under American command even, avenging 9/11 and preventing further attacks, while the American military is wasting its resources in Iraq and is making a fool of western values and of 'spreading democracy' by setting up torture chambers.

A bit of a stretch, no?

The only way that statement can be twisted into something resembling the truth is to assume Guantanamo Bay is a torture chamber, and that would demean all those who have really suffered torture.

[TosaInu]

Snipe.

[Husar]

Snipe.

Agreed.

[Don Corleone]

Uhm, Louis, the denial came about today. And of course you have troops fighting with us in Afghanistan, as you did in Operation Desert Storm. I know full well that France is a significantly contributing member of NATO. No offense to French bravery, or French contributions was intended. But correct me if I'm wrong, I thought you withdrew from NATO in 1966.

But let's face it. Even prior to Iraq, Bush was about as popular as a bastard at a family reunion in Europe, especially France. Something about Kyoto... If the French military had the chance to make the American defense leadership look ineffective and silly, I personally think they would have taken it.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

I can believe the Americans would deny them authority, I'm not sure about the French listening.

British Marines were all set to go in after OBL but had to wait two weeks for Delta Force, who the British Military, btw, have a rather low opinion of.

[Strike For The South]

Don, the first possibility of a clear shot was in 2003, so perhaps before Iraq, you know, during that brief spell in American history - 1776 to 2003 - when France was an ally.

Maybe the French military would like to make the Americans look like bumbling fools, maybe they would cover for the Americans, and maybe not. All I know is that presently, French freedom troops are stuck fighting and dying in Afghanistan, under American command even, avenging 9/11 and preventing further attacks, while the American military is wasting its resources in Iraq and is making a fool of western values and of 'spreading democracy' by setting up torture chambers.

Meh, that's why France, rightly so, refuses to rejoin the integrated NATO command structure.




Gah. Your secretary of Defense should've send himself then. Dick Cheney never misses on a manhunt.

Boo friggin Hoo. Besides what has France ever given us? Democracy pfffft Exastentalism meh Menaja trios overated. America the home of fast food blacks and the missonary postion...youre welcome.

[Mooks]

Boo friggin Hoo. Besides what has France ever given us? Democracy pfffft Exastentalism meh Menaja trios overated. America the home of fast food blacks and the missonary postion...youre welcome.

Exactly! The only thing the french have done for this world is french fries and Croissants (Which go very well with honey btw).

[Strike For The South]

Exactly! The only thing the french have done for this world is french fries and Croissants (Which go very well with honey btw).

Uh those are American http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croissan'Wich

French Fries should really be Belgian fries. France has done nothing

[KrooK]

We have to face the truth.

America (and sadly Poland too) is losing into Iraq and drawing into Afghanistan. Partizans into Afghanistan and terrorists (I use this name cause they don't have one organisation) into Iraq control big part of Afghanistan and practically all Iraq (maybe without Kurdish region). Juba and his friends are killing more and more soldiers. Luckily part of Iraq under polish control is quite safe since we catched most of terrorists. But it just a luck that Poles have only 17 soldiers dead - it's luck and good Mongol sniper.
Americans don;t know how to react on situation, they can only turture people into Abu Graib and Guantanamo. They simply don't understand that not everyone want be like America and that American culture for many muslims (actually for big part of Poles too) is simply awful. It's nothing more than picture of US weakness - some guys with AK-47 and grenade lauchers kicks best army in the world.

On the other hand we can't tell that France is so clear and so democratic.
They actions and South-West Africa are more similar to colonial fights than to normal operations. Some of them looks exactly like "white guys go, shot , show blacks who rules and withdraw" because blacks rise a hand against white men who live there. Sometimes these actions are necessary, sometimes not, but it's not a point.

There is no clear country and clear war - every of them is full of dirty things and we simply have to cope with it.

If french special forces could kill Osama , I wonder why they didn't do that. I see 2 options - Americans did not allow (but I don't believe that french soldiers would call and politely ask for permission) or they didn't want kill that guy. Remember that there is 5.000.000 muslims into france. If 1/100 is potential terrorist, we have 50.000 terrorists inside France. What would they do if they hero Osama was killed by French soldiers. Car-burning again? Or maybe something more?

[Pannonian]

Exactly! The only thing the french have done for this world is french fries and Croissants (Which go very well with honey btw).

IIRC the French helped a rebellious British colony gain its independence from us. Can't quite remember which colony it was though, but I am sure they are eternally grateful to their benefactors, and celebrate this friendship every day.

[BigTex]

IIRC the French helped a rebellious British colony gain its independence from us. Can't quite remember which colony it was though, but I am sure they are eternally grateful to their benefactors, and celebrate this friendship every day.

Kind of like those celebrations that go on daily throughout the streets of Paris for the liberators of France? Who not only once but twice removed the enemies of the French people from French soil. There must be alot of celebrating between those 2.

As for the conspiracy theorists main topic. If a sniper would have had him in his sites he would have shot. Not only because Osama Bum Laden is one of the sickest creatures on this earth, but because there is also a 25 million dollar reward for the person who brings him down. That in and of itself is reason enough for the sniper to shoot and ask questions later. Not to mention the snipers mission was to kill him in the first place.

~Also "French Fries" were created in Belgium. Though the French have also donated very strange porn to the world.

[Watchman]

Kind of like those celebrations that go on daily throughout the streets of Paris for the liberators of France? Who not only once but twice removed the enemies of the French people from French soil. There must be alot of celebrating between those 2.

I thought they'd by and large given up the "scorn the Brits" thing...? Given those two, that amounts to the same thing.

[Pannonian]

Kind of like those celebrations that go on daily throughout the streets of Paris for the liberators of France? Who not only once but twice removed the enemies of the French people from French soil. There must be alot of celebrating between those 2.

I have a proposal that will settle the dispute between the French and the Americans. Since they've helped each other in the past, they are in debt to each other. To dispel this moral debt, how about reversing the actions that led to these debts? Let France be occupied by the Germans once more, and let America return to being a British colony. This time, give the damn colonials representation (I recommend 50 MPs in Westminster, 1 for each province) before taxing the hell out of them. No taxation without representation? We'll give you both.

[Spino]

What units does France have deployed in Afghanistan right now? I'm just wondering if the Foreign Legion is there and if so what is its total strength in theater?

Putting aside the usual stereotypes regarding French military effectiveness the Foreign Legion is no joke, they're first rate and hardcore as hell.

[Vladimir]

What units does France have deployed in Afghanistan right now? I'm just wondering if the Foreign Legion is there and if so what is its total strength in theater?

Putting aside the usual stereotypes regarding French military effectiveness the Foreign Legion is no joke, they're first rate and hardcore as hell.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061220/...ce_afghanistan

PARIS - As violence mounts in Afghanistan, France is pulling 200 of its best soldiers out. But military officials here insist France remains fully committed, with 1,100 troops still based in Kabul.

So hardcore they leave when the fighting gets tough.