Emmanuel Macron has as much as declared that France would be putting troops into Ukraine. This provoked a firestorm in the French defense establishment.
“What happened to the president when he considered sending troops to Ukraine? Several confidential defense reports explain the “panic” at the Élysée, where party leaders are invited this Thursday, March 7, to discuss the issue. On the front, the Russians are in a position of strength. However, was it necessary, in the face of Putin, to brandish an untenable threat?”
Now whether this threat was with or without American support is less clear.
“By not ruling out sending troops to Ukraine , Emmanuel Macron caused an outcry in Europe and received American disavowal. Several French soldiers, interviewed by Marianne, say they “fell out of the closet” . “We must make no mistake, facing the Russians, we are an army of cheerleaders!, mocks a senior officer, convinced that “sending French troops” to the Ukrainian front would simply be “not reasonable””
It sounds like the West is trying to convince Ukraine that they can frighten Russia into some kind of deal or at least a cease-fire while the hope for more American aid is on hold in Congress. The only problem is that talk of sending American troops into Ukraine would finish off Joe Biden’s hopes of re-election even with the assistance of massive voter fraud. The Millennials and Zoomers would not like the army. Too many micro-aggressions during a shooting war.
The French military has done nothing more than police actions in Africa for the last couple of decades. You know they watched Russia chew up the Ukraine army and I bet they are scared stiff.
I can’t blame them. I can’t see any reason why I’d send my children to fight in a war between Russia and Ukraine. Why?
Hold on. I think you are misreading the situation here.
What is the French military known for?
We all know the answer.
Maybe Macron is sending troops to help Ukraine surrender.
It does play to the strength of the French.
I think the whole thing was just a bluff. But I think the military fears the results of even a bluff of that dangerous a nature.
The Legion is still a formidable force.
I think the modern western armies are very professional and potent. I don’t think the leaders are aware of just how different the battle environment has become with drones and other information age equipment now available to both sides of every battlefield.
We’re sort of at the place the world was right before WW I. We don’t realize just how costly a war of peers would be.
I wonder is some version of an EMP weapon would be the counter to the drone swarms that seem to be becoming dominate on battlefields? The drones could be hardened to EMP but weight is so central that significant hardening would come at a high cost in performance and payload.
The latest thing I heard was the laser based weapons are the solution. But it has to be combined with a very robust sensing system to quickly and accurately locate drones and zap them. Wouldn’t want a laser firing haphazardly among your own soldiers.
Phillippe Petain, the military leader in the defeat of France in WWII to the German troops entering Paris, “Table for 30,000? This way monsieur!”
I wonder if Napoleon would recognize his countrymen if he were alive today? Then again maybe it’s the leadership that’s lacking.