One for Des

I note that Des carefully omits the fact that France, unlike Britain,
was not party to the Nassau Agreement, in which it was agreed that the
US would share Polaris technology.

The Yanks didn't trust the Frogs and wouldn't let them have it. The
Frogs had no choice but to develop their own. De Gaulle was in a mighty
huff.

France then took the incredibly expensive step of developing, not only
its own sub-launched deterrent, but also its own land-based missiles as
well as air-launched bombs, making it the only country outside the US
and Russia to have this three-pronged deterrent.

I *think* the land-based systems have been decommissioned now, but I'm
not sure and can't be arsed to google for it right now.

Of all things, this was the subject of my main dissertation which I had
to write at university in France, so I actually used to know quite a lot
about it, but that was 25 years ago and memory fails.

 

In message

Ever get to a little place west of Paris?

 

Were it not for France, the wanton slaughter of innocent Iraqi

I think you'll find this "wanton slaughter" had been going on for some
years *before* any allied forces turned up...

 

spouted the following in

Weell, the septics had supplied Saddam with nerve agents and various nasty
bacterial agents to play with.

 

(The Older Gentleman) spouted the
following in :

They didn't go in for mass murder when the did it though.

 

No. But it's now been stopped "in my name".

 

And the French hadn't?

IIRC they had a much more cosy relationship with Iraq during the period
when the UN was meant to be laying on an embargo to force Iraq to comply
with the sanctions. I could be wrong since I can't be arsed to check.

 

Colin Irvine <> spouted the following in

Two can play that game ;-)

1765. British Admiralty sends Commodore John Byron; arrives on West

Falkland, unaware of the presence of the French, names a spot Port
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Egmont, raises the Union Flag, plants a small vegetable patch and

leaves.

Bet they were fucking Brussel sprouts too.

 

tallbloke said...

It would be funnier had it been chicory

 

France along with the US and most of Europe were supplying chemicals for
fertilizers and eg. baby food production. It's the same thing. ICI were
the only company who actually stopped delivery of the obvious ones.

 

Which "thousands being killed"?

 

About a week of work for Saddo's death squads then. Iraqis are quids in it
seems.

 

You said "thousands being killed" which implies that it's still going on.
Nobody doubts there were civilians killed *during the hostilities*.

 

You are rather losing the argument here.

OK, so according to you it's all a degree of the number of casualties.
No, the Argies didn't go kill many because there weren't many Brits on
the Islands to begin with.

Precisely how many casualties do you consider an acceptable figure,
then, for a military invasion?

 

Translation: "I have been frantically searching for anything that even
vaguely suggests I'm not talking bollocks"

HTH

 

Old Fart at Play <> spouted the following in

Dunno. Post your surname and I'll tell you.

 

Read it? For what?
You said there are thousands being killed, implying that at this very
moment Iraqis are falling in their thousands.

And what the **** are you talking about "payback for 9/11"?

 

It wasn't a naïve question, as I have said, you stated there are now
thousands of Iraqis "being killed".
Or is your English getting rusty?

 

Yes, it's simple enough English isn't it? "Being killed" is present
continuous tense, I thought a linguist such as yourself would know that?

Ah, so you were just using it out of context then.

 

You can also act it when it suits you.