[Boondock Saint]

Hue, Tet.

Horrible comparison.

An under strength Marine unit defeated a larger force for the city of Hue.

You are comparing an decisive Vietenamese victory and a absolute French defeat to an American victory and a Vietnamese defeat.

Poor choice.

I would have gone with the fall of Saigon personally.

The Americans and Australians did the same thing...

Indeed, however it was not one asbolute military defeat that led the US and Australians to cut and run.

The US won virtually every engagement yet lost the war, the French however lost at the very least, a major engagement.

I am not saying I fault the French, I am saying it adds to the prejudice against them ... be that fair or not.

But I understand all that you're saying Boon, the predudice will not go away but I happen to like the Frenchies and as my brothers in the European Union I will fight for them

As an American my response is, good they need all the fodder for the French Foreign Legion since the French can't fight for themselves.

[Yeddi]

I'm going to claim late night no-sleep-ness and....


This lead him on to the discussion of Ulrichs’, an Austrian writer, Urnings and Urninians which were Carpenters ‘intermediate sex’ These people were said to be biologically one sex but emotionally and mentally belonged to the opposing sex. This explanation as to why some people are attracted to those of the same biological sex reveals how sexuality was understood around the turn of the 20th Century. Freud’s theories and ideas of the mind as the centre point for sexuality had been accepted and as such this enabled a simple explanation for this behaviour. It wasn’t that their desires differed from anyone else it was simply that their biological sex differed from their mental sex. This highlights the importance of the idea that ‘opposites attract’ and so masculine people are attracted to feminine people and vice versa. When we consider the time in which Carpenter is writing we can see how he would come to this conclusion. The turn of the Century had firstly see the rise of sexuality as based in the mental sphere of existence.

[Ombrageux]

- Capitulation and surrender to the Germans.

Well, it's to call that cowardice when:
* America had become isolationist and was protected by vast oceans
* There was serious debate in the UK as to whether or not to continue to war, had Britain been occupied as France had, you can bet they would have surrendered too
* France had been condemned numerous times for being too tough on the Germans in the early 20s and in the 30s was usually the one take a tougher line with Britain having a somewhat restraining action

There seems to be 2 parts to France's military reputation, the first being cowardice and the second being incompetence. On cowardice I think that's ludicrous, the French have fought long hard conflicts in numerous countries throughout the 20th century. As I've argued I think that even during WW2 their surrender was reasonable given that France doesn't have the luxury of oceans protecting her.

On incompetence, I think it has really varied a lot. In WW1 France took on a country far bigger and richer than herself and was victorious despite being practically bled white. In WW2, France fought practically on her own against the Germans and lost for essentially for tactical reasons. Vietnam and Algeria are the sort of guerilla war that virtually no military power has been able to tackle fully. In Vietnam France has been unlucky because she was one of the first to have to face this new type of unwinnable war. In Algeria, France was faced with the problem of fighting the same type of war in a territory which had 1.5 million of her own citizens. Imagine if there were a Communist insurgency in Hawaii (the insurgency in Algeria was viewed as Communist) how many casualties, how many years of inconclusive war, would it take before the USA would withdraw?

I think both parts of France's reputation are undeserved. She's had a very difficult position throughout the 20th century.

[Boondock Saint]

I think both parts of France's reputation are undeserved. She's had a very difficult position throughout the 20th century.

Two parts.

- Most prejudices are in truth, not deserved.

- She's had a difficult position for a former super power.

[Mikolaj]

Concerning France and the riots:

I don't actually buy into what I'm about to post-quite the opposite. But it was pretty funny anyways:

[amjdmg]

I do understand that France capitulated in wW II and it's hard to blaim them for that, but when the war was over they (De Gaulle...) wanted to be treated like one of the great nations who did defeat the Germans (UK, USA, Russia), whilst their role was, err, rather small... in the '50's-60's, you would get De Gaulle trying to make France a nuclear power, whilst they were trying to become something they could never be.

[Falx]

I do understand that France capitulated in wW II and it's hard to blaim them for that, but when the war was over they (De Gaulle...) wanted to be treated like one of the great nations who did defeat the Germans (UK, USA, Russia), whilst their role was, err, rather small... in the '50's-60's, you would get De Gaulle trying to make France a nuclear power, whilst they were trying to become something they could never be.

Ironic mentioning the UK there, if something France could never be was something like the UK than they surpassed that during the 30 year glory in which time the French economy actually became larger than the British. As for a nuclear power, they are one of the only five that are allowed to be under international law.

[QatzelOk]

Ironic mentioning the UK there...

Well this is satire, guys.

Try to be more ironic, less bore-tronic.

[The Antiist]

Damn, good post Boondock.

It must be remembered that both of those 'republics' no longer exist and in relation to WW2 dispite their troubled government surrendering a substantial group of the French Forces continued to fight against the Nazi's and the Vichy Government. In many ways WW2 was also a civil war for the French with the 'Free French' and the Vichy French. and do not forget the thousands of French men and women who fought in the resistence throughout the war.

Honestly, I never really knew that.

Vietnam is an interesting example and I would wonder, do you consider that the Americans were 'crushed' in Vietnam? because it was really much the same thing, they failed at gaining control of the country and left after much international and internal pressures against a very unpopular war.

They both fought unpopular wars, but the French really got crushed at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. America was having a hard time too, indeed, but you can't even really say they were defeated (although they didn't accomplish anything in the end).

* France had been condemned numerous times for being too tough on the Germans in the early 20s and in the 30s was usually the one take a tougher line with Britain having a somewhat restraining action

That's because they were afraid of Germany taking revenge. There were constant tensions between the Germans and France, mostly about land. The French just felt threatened. For them to be unmerciful when Germany is on their knees isn't exactly to be labeled as courageous.

[The Antiist]

To be on-topic:

[The American Lion]

Not very politicaly correct but its funny:

[The American Lion]

Venezuela's strongman president, Hugo Chavez, worries endlessly that his country will one day be invaded by the United States. In preparation for what he deems to be an "inevitable" war with America, Chavez unveiled an aggressive new policy this week, aimed at increasing the size of his nation's armed forces.

Under the new plan, individuals from all walks of life- housewives, students, retirees, the unemployed and others- will now be pressured to join "civilian militias." They will be subjected to 20 weeks of training, after which they are supposed to become "an elite fighting force," which I suppose is a premise hilarious enough to deserve a separate cartoon.

Critics of Chavez fear this sudden interest in the military is really little more than a way for the president to prop his own rule, and crush dissent.
http://www.filibustercartoons.com/

[Boondock Saint]

[Mecha]

[Squidyak]

In WW1 France took on a country far bigger and richer than herself and was victorious despite being practically bled white.

do you actually consider ww1 to be a french victory? without america, britain, and russia coming to frances aid there is no way they could have won.

[Mikolaj]

Al Jazeera Cartoons:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ ... 49E7DC.htm

[QatzelOk]

* The US military spending was almost two-fifths of the total.
* The US military spending was almost 7 times larger than the Chinese budget, the second largest spender.
* The US military budget was almost 29 times as large as the combined spending of the six “rogue” states (Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) who spent $14.65 billion.
* It was more than the combined spending of the next 14 nations.
* The United States and its close allies accounted for some two thirds to three-quarters of all military spending, depending on who you count as close allies (typically NATO countries, Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan and South Korea)
* The six potential “enemies,” Russia, and China together spent $139 billion, 30% of the U.S. military budget.

Source: http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics ... oftheWorld

[SpiderMonkey]

Bout the cartoon trying to say Chavez is a military dictator...

Venezeuala spends 0.9% of their GDP on the military, the US spends 2.4% of its GDP on the military.

The US holds 715 prisoners per 100,000 people, Venezuela holds 76 per 100,000.

Also, venezuela isn't occupying middle eastern countries or holding people without trial in a network of secret prisons.

[The American Lion]

yet, Venezeuala is rebuilding its military to size that it can invade it's neighbors.

[The American Lion]

NASCAR: Dateline NBC Plan 'Outrageous'

NASCAR said it was "outrageous" that "Dateline NBC" targeted one of its race tracks last weekend for a possible segment on anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States.

NASCAR said NBC confirmed it was sending Muslim-looking men to a race, along with a camera crew to film fans' reactions. The NBC crew was "apparently on site in Martinsville, Va., walked around and no one bothered them," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Wednesday.

"It is outrageous that a news organization of NBC's stature would stoop to the level of going out to create news instead of reporting news," Poston said.

"Any legitimate journalist in America should be embarrassed by this stunt. The obvious intent by NBC was to evoke reaction, and we are confident our fans won't take the bait," he said.