Biden shuns EU with Asia-Pacific power play

[Sheepy]

They were on the same side, france communicated with the uk to say germany wouldnt get the ships. The french still had possession. Did the uk warn france that they were going to bomb the boats, no, so 1,300 souls were lost. Of course its someone elses fault that the uk decided, unilaterally to kill those people. Is there any depths the uk wouldnt sink too that advances their position.

Nope, because the French were under German control, but then again nothing new there, I guess if the Chinese decided it was time to invade Taiwan, they would be very considerate about it. Which believe it or not, somebody must really think they will.

[GerryT]

Don't exaggerate.
It was 1,297 after the French had signed an agreement with the enemy. They had good reason. It was WW2 and those ships would have been used against us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Mers-el-K%C3%A9bir

They were on the same side, france communicated with the uk to say germany wouldnt get the ships. The french still had possession. Did the uk warn france that they were going to bomb the boats, no, so 1,300 souls were lost. Of course its someone elses fault that the uk decided, unilaterally to kill those people. Is there any depths the uk wouldnt sink too that advances their position.

[Barry]

I'm sure France remember the terrorist attack carried out in Mers el Kebir by the British when they bombed their warships killing 1,300 french naval personel. State sponsored murder !

Fixed that for you Barry

Don't exaggerate.
It was 1,297 after the French had signed an agreement with the enemy. They had good reason. It was WW2 and those ships would have been used against us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Mers-el-K%C3%A9bir

[papasmurf]

obviously he had been found dead or they couldnt have told her.

He wasn't found dead until hours after his wife had been told he was dead. (Investigation reopened decades after it happened.)

https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20150911-court-reopens-investigation-french-ministers-death-36-years-later

[GerryT]

By the French  Secret Service who are a law unto themselves.
(They told a French politicians wife here husband had been found dead hours before his body was found floating face down on a pond.)

obviously he had been found dead or they couldnt have told her.

[papasmurf]

I'm sure Australia remember the terrorist attack carried out in Auckland, New Zealand by the French

By the French  Secret Service who are a law unto themselves.
(They told a French politicians wife here husband had been found dead hours before his body was found floating face down on a pond.)

[GerryT]

I'm sure Australia remember the terrorist attack carried out in Auckland, New Zealand by the French when they bombed the "Rainbow Warrior". State sponsored murder!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior
Are France friends to the Pacific?

I'm sure France remember the terrorist attack carried out in Mers el Kebir by the British when they bombed their warships killing 1,300 french naval personel. State sponsored murder !

Fixed that for you Barry

[Barry]

Indeed Rainbow Warrior bombing is remembered, as is  the 1980's French nuclear tests in Polynesia. Luckily, these are possibly fresher in the Australians memories than the UK 1952-63 nuclear tests on the Australian mainland — though the effectiveness of the clean up is still disputed by some...

The Australian government consented to those UK tests, did they not?
Maybe all of these incidents are irrelevant in the face of the current Chinese build up.

[patman post]

Indeed Rainbow Warrior bombing is remembered, as is  the 1980's French nuclear tests in Polynesia. Luckily, these are possibly fresher in the Australians memories than the UK 1952-63 nuclear tests on the Australian mainland — though the effectiveness of the clean up is still disputed by some...

[Barry]

I'm sure Australia remember the terrorist attack carried out in Auckland, New Zealand by the French when they bombed the "Rainbow Warrior". State sponsored murder!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior
Are France friends to the Pacific?

[johnofgwent]

Well in fairness John about as well as did the yanks ...

Yeah, that's whatI thought

[HallowedBrexit]

Plenty of others had colonies of course, notably the French themselves, as well as several other European powers.

In fairness to Gerry though, he has an Irish perspective on empire and colonisation, which we had been involved in in his country for many centuries, and well before we started doing it anywhere else. So it is understandable to me that when it comes to the evils of empire, for him it will be the British he thinks about, particularly the English. No one else but us have ever been involved there except for the vikings before us.

Gerry is talking bollocks.

A big row with Brussels is behind us. 
A big row with Brussels is ahead of us. 

In my mind, there's no doubt that Joe Biden will intervene on our behalf to get rid of the so called "Irish Protocol" which is a German/French in all but name. What Gerry is forgetting that the US and the UK have a special relationship with the US acting as the brawn and us acting as the brain in what could be broadly described as the anglosphere but is in reality the once glorious and resurgent British Empire.

The die are cast and all Ireland can do is watch them land.

[srb7677]

Well in fairness John about as well as did the yanks,still only the Brits were the awful people,nobody else in Europe had any colonies......?Gerry will confirm that.

Plenty of others had colonies of course, notably the French themselves, as well as several other European powers.

In fairness to Gerry though, he has an Irish perspective on empire and colonisation, which we had been involved in in his country for many centuries, and well before we started doing it anywhere else. So it is understandable to me that when it comes to the evils of empire, for him it will be the British he thinks about, particularly the English. No one else but us have ever been involved there except for the vikings before us.

[Borchester]

Well in fairness John about as well as did the yanks,still only the Brits were the awful people,nobody else in Europe had any colonies......?Gerry will confirm that.

As said before, Gerry's problem is that he seems to believe that we give a shit. I know that he is only a kid, but even he should realise that were it not for your namesake getting a bit excited at Drogheda and that low carb diet the Micks went on in the 1840s, Ireland would not have any history.

Ireland's glory days are gone and now it is just a branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. No wonder the poor sods are so bored and tetchy.

[cromwell]

Beautiful sub-headline in that piece, about half way down


"Is France an Indo-Pacific Player ?"


I would say "how did Vietnam go for them "

Well in fairness John about as well as did the yanks,still only the Brits were the awful people,nobody else in Europe had any colonies......?Gerry will confirm that.