No you didnt misunderstand...

France has threatened nuclear weapons retailation toward any nation (hint, hint, Iran) that uses state sponsored terrorism against French national security.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/eu....ap/index.html

I must say, thats a very bold statement, very unusual for Chirac to say the least. I would have expected that kind of statement from Bush, but Chirac? I wonder what Irans response will be?

As the ancient Gauls used to say "The sky is falling on our heads".

Originally Posted by mmarsh

No you didnt misunderstand...

France has threatened nuclear weapons retailation toward any nation (hint, hint, Iran) that uses state sponsored terrorism against French national security.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/eu....ap/index.html

I must say, thats a very bold statement, very unusual for Chirac to say the least. I would have expected that kind of statement from Bush, but Chirac? I wonder what Irans response will be?

As the ancient Gauls used to say "The sky is falling on our heads".

Not much chance that statement would have come from Bush, it is not generic enough for one of his. The key difference is the use of the term "State sponsered terrorism" that clearly separates the likes OBL from Iran.

France, Military Response?

You gotta be kidding..

Originally Posted by phoenix80

France, Military Response?
You gotta be kidding..

Not to be rude, offensive or flame like in any way, but what are they gonna do? I didn't think the french had nukes. They gonna call Bush up and say nuke'em?
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Peace out
Nachos

I was surprised to hear this.

If Americans talk about their nuke arsenal, they are warmongers and bad but if the frogs talk of their nuke arsenal they are humane and good?

Yes the French have nukes. They used to test them at the Mururoa Atoll in French Polynesia, if you remember.

Originally Posted by Nachos

Not to be rude, offensive or flame like in any way, but what are they gonna do? I didn't think the french had nukes. They gonna call Bush up and say nuke'em?
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Peace out
Nachos

No, France has maintained a nuclear arsenal for a very long time. A tad longer than China I believe. Under Charles DeGaulle, the French tried very hard to put themselves forward as "the Third Superpower" but for lack of population, size and resources, they cannot possibly fill that role, but the development of a nuclear arsenal was seems as an essential ingredient in the attempt.

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

France is said to have an arsenal of 350 nuclear weapons stockpiled as of 2002 [1]. The weapons are part of the national Force de frappe. France is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" (NWS) under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which France ratified in 1992.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_...ss_destruction

The other four nations exempted by the NPT were the USA, USSR/Russia, China, and the UK.

France does have nukes yes..

But that statement is quite ..."big"... , its either nothing or its either a nuke, heh, hmm..
Also, that might bring unwanted trouble. But I do hope Chirac was careful saying this.

And btw, Gauls lived in France for a long time, but most were kicked by the Germanic tribes that moved there. One star is Charles Martel and later Charlemagne..

Charles Martel and Charlemagne were both Franks, which was a Germanic tribe, but the Gauls had not held sway in the region where France is now since they were conquered by Julius Caesar. They certainly were a majority of the population under Roman rule, but they didn't control anything.

yep, was just mentioning the rulers and the stars of the French history