Over there. Send the word, send the word over there. That the Yanks are comin’, the Yanks are comin’ [the French are still runnin’ to la mer (the sea)!]
Who can forget that favorite World War I ditty, encapsulating the pride, determination, and reckless euphoria of fighting in the trenches of war-torn France?
The French seem to be feeling pretty secure nowadays, with the two world wars of the past century well behind them. We’re not even sure if they study les bons hommes of battle like French Bad Boy Napoleon Bonaparte. Tant pis (too bad).
France has unveiled it plans to scale down its military. (We did not realize it still had one post-de Gaulle.)
France will shed 20 regiments and a number of military bases in an effort to transform itself to better deal with the threat of terrorism (whatever that really is … in France). The planned total personal reduction of 54,000 will be roughly 20 percent of current force levels.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon (not to be confused the Hot Prez, Nick Sarkozy, who has Hungarian roots, so he’s not really French) has noted the “considerable development of terrorism” (to wit: the banning headscarves in French schools). Get this: Apparently he has said the threat of invasion of France or French territory no longer exists. Our guess is more than one French leader has said that in the past — and was wrong. Just to test his theory, we — the U.S. or “Inside the Headquarters” readers (take your pick) — could invade France. If we were on better terms with the Germans (and if the Germans had not had militarism bred out of them), it would be a hoot to see Fillon’s face when he heard the Germans were massing on the border.
Ah, but we Geste!
Hot Nick has assured significant investment in French intelligence capability (which we think reached its pinnacle during the Resistance) and a “planned” return to NATO. Our guess is Nick wants to continue to vacation in Vermont or some free French border security.
Is it true the French have a blanket combat exclusion clause?