posted
Not that the line would have been effective once Paratroopers came into use anyway.
It was an intresting idea that was about 50 years too late in execution.
The sad thing is that Maginot himself was against the idea, got stuck finishing the project and it was named after him. Now a smart man is forever associated with a useless military novelty.
History am cruel.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
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Actually, Maginot was the one who pushed France's parliament to fund the project. And, in fact, the line itself didn't fail France so much as the "Maginot mentality" of false security did. There were three schools of thought: Joffre favored a line of fortifications along France's eastern frontier with Germany, a series of defended concentration areas from which troops could counter any attack which attempted to penetrate between the defenses, Petain was a supported of defense in depth like the Hindenburg Line, and de Gaulle argued for a buildup of tanks and planes. But France had no stomach for mobility and attack (aka. modern warfare, which was around the corner in 1930) after losing the unimaginable amount of one and a half MILLION of its soldiers in WW1, so it went with the line and payed the price. That's the real cruelty...
Registered: Nov 1999
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STill bites though: from the documentaries I've seen on the line, it would have been the ultimate WWI defense. It even have fans to repel gas attacks.
Back to topic for a moment, I saw that the Carnegie Report on the "evidence" for war is probably going to be delayed untill after the elections to be as politically impartial as possible but they did say theres more to blame than the CIA's intelligence being faulty.
I think it should be investigated, but after the elections it'll be a non-issue if the Dems win or a vindictive witch hunt if they lose.
Also recent, the BBC is wearing a bit of egg on it's journalistic face this week...I'll try to track down a link....
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
I would provide one, but I saw it on TV and can't be arsed looking for it.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Yah..I heard about on NPR this morning. I'll find it later.
What happened to the reporter? Killed, I'd imagine.
Or working for The New York Times.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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So...this manages to make America's own leaks to unscrupulous reporters seem *almost* tame.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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posted
I love the fact that the news source you've gone to to investigate the BBC fucking up is...the BBC.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
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You know, Hutton may have acquitted Blair, but I don't think anyone else in his camp will.
And what's this crap about impartiality, anyway? If BushCo DID falsify or otherwise tamper with the "evidence", then that's all the more reason why it SHOULD be brought out BEFORE the elections, don't you think?
Registered: Nov 1999
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Because it's big enough to need it's own, really. Plus Lee has provided handy links for those of you coming late to the game.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam: I love the fact that the news source you've gone to to investigate the BBC fucking up is...the BBC.
Find me another English news source to go to, please! I'm sure as hell not going to link anything written by The Sun. It's a one man show over there for serious news: hence the scandal.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Cartman: And what's this crap about impartiality, anyway? If BushCo DID falsify or otherwise tamper with the "evidence", then that's all the more reason why it SHOULD be brought out BEFORE the elections, don't you think?
Not at all: it needs ro remain seperate from election agendas to maintain any kind of credibility at all: it'd be far easier to dismiss the report's findings if it appeared to be a Democrat backed witch hunt. The timinig sucks for voters but there'll so much spin on the WMD issue as we approach the election that it shouldnt get dismissed as part of the inevitible batch of "tell all books" and interviews that only obscure the facts.
Ideally, that's what an Independant Council/ Inquiry is supposd to be for. Otherwise, it's like the accuser acting as judge and jury.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
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