Re: AC Re: Drefsab_UK In which case
"....I'd love to see you deliver your little rant to the French SpecOps operators on the ground in Mali, Libya, Iraq...." Mali? Yeah, you remember that Blackadder Goes Forth episode where they're talking about the "great colonial campaigns" fighting pygmies with sharpened fruit? France's special forces have a copious record of failure in their post-War II colonial adventures, losing not only abroad in places like Algiers and Viet Nam, but also in France itself in fighting the OAS. Meanwhile the British SAS was building up a reputation as a tier 1 special forces unit in successful counter-insurgency operations in places like Oman, Malaya, Indonesia and closer to home in Northern Ireland. Thanks, but there is nothing the French can teach the British about special forces.
"....Libya....." After the RN and RAF cleared out the core of the Libyan forces and the SAS did the tough work you mean?
"....Iraq...." The Gulf War is actually a perfect example of the lack of value put on the French forces. When planning the great armoured sweep into Kuwait, the French armoured forces were placed far out on the flank in empty desert as the Yanks were seriously worried the AMX-30s wouldn't be able to cope with Iraqi T-72s (which the British Challenger and American Abrams tanks had no problems dealing with). Indeed, the ten tanks claimed by the French were actually all hit first by A-10s sent to help the French out! Post-war the French couldn't get home fast enough, and the Yanks requested special forces help from the British SAS and SBS, not the French.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
