My brother was a peace-keeper on the Golan Heights.

Swede

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Sat Jul-22-06 11:02 PM
Original message

My brother was a peace-keeper on the Golan Heights.

He had this to say of the IDF troops. He was a professional soldier,Cyprus and the Sinai,West Germany. "The IDF by far are bunch of 18&19 year old week-end warriors. Scared shitless and trigger happy. They are well led,with the best equipment."

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joemurphy

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Sat Jul-22-06 11:18 PM
Response to Original message

1. Your brother sounds like he knows what he's talking about.

He could also be describing the American army in Iraq.

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Swede

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Sat Jul-22-06 11:26 PM
Response to Reply #1

2. He put it this way.

The Yanks had the best equipment,the Germans had the best officers,and the Canadians had the best soldiers. Of course that was his humble opinion. He said the French were damn good,deadly. THey would have been great in Nato in the seventies,but they had to go there way. The Brits were rock solid.

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OzarkDem

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Sat Jul-22-06 11:32 PM
Response to Reply #2

3. Funny quote about Brit officers

Some came to the US and observed the fighting during the Civil War. One southern general was amazed, saying they "talk like women and fight like tigers".

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Nevernose

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Sat Jul-22-06 11:37 PM
Response to Reply #3

4. I've also heard it said that "The British have the best officers,

Americans have the best sergeants, and the Germans have the best troops." (variations on the third part).

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Monkeyman

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Sat Jul-22-06 11:46 PM
Response to Reply #4

5. Did I hear Sgt's yep we are the best or use to be

Before Rummy broke the military

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Nevernose

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Sun Jul-23-06 12:00 AM
Response to Reply #5

7. The American military has a tradition hundreds of years long.

Rumsfeld and the Bush regime can derail it, underpower it, use it improperly, mislead it, misappropriate it, misallocate to it, and God-only-knows what else.

The one thing Bushco can't do is break it. The folks in uniform these days are being just as sorely treated as those we choose to bomb.

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Swede

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Sat Jul-22-06 11:54 PM
Response to Reply #4

6. My bro loved the German Officers in the war games.

One time (he was in a auxiallary co, (supply radio and armament techs) and they surrounded an elite French Forgien Legion squad,they handcuffed them and stole all their berets to prove it) they were drinking wine by the time the sun went down. Everyone knew they were outnumbered 4 to 1 by the Warsaw pact.

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Nevernose

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Sun Jul-23-06 12:05 AM
Response to Reply #6

8. I had never heard anything negative about the FFL before this. Seriously.

I'd always heard that they were among the best troops in the world. Than I looked this up in Wikipedia: In the past, the Legion had a reputation for attracting criminals on the run and would-be mercenaries. In recent years, however, admission has been restricted much more severely, and background checks are done on all applicants. Generally speaking, convicted felons are prohibited from joining the service.

Maybe if they let the serial killers, psychos, and just-plain-mercenaries back in, they would be back up to par. Of course, w/o any serious overseas assets to manage, what need have the French for a foreign legion at all? The occassional UN action?

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Swede

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Sun Jul-23-06 12:12 AM
Response to Reply #8

9. Where do you think the Nazis went?

FFL fought to the death in Viet Nam for a reason. They had no where else to go.

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Nevernose

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Sun Jul-23-06 12:39 AM
Response to Reply #9

10. I thought the FFL was doomed after Algeria?

I understood that the French in Vietnam because of their 100 year histiry there -- that it was French colonists and their children who led and fought the war. It had never even occurred to me that former Nazi soldiers would be accepted into the FFL, but it makes perfect sense.. Fascinating.

Maybe I should call my dad. He was always the one who wanted to join the French Foreign Legion when he was a kid, and to this day is somewhat dissapointed that he didn't...

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Swede

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Sun Jul-23-06 12:51 AM
Response to Reply #10

11. The FFL are armed to the teeth,nuclear on command.

These guys are bad fuckers. I always laugh when guys like Tucker Carlson belittle the French.

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Nevernose

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Sun Jul-23-06 01:06 AM
Response to Reply #11

14. All I know is: I could kick Tucker Carlson's ass

The French are irrelvant to this debate.

Tucker has it coming to him, and I am certain that, in a fistfight, I could whoop his ass. He would probably win the inevitable civil suit, though, so I should probably shut up now.

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Swede

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Sun Jul-23-06 12:53 AM
Response to Reply #10

12. They didn't lose Viet Nam,there Government did.

Probably sounds like your USMC.

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Nevernose

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Sun Jul-23-06 01:02 AM
Response to Reply #12

13. We didn't lose Vietnam.

They just happened to win. Politics or ability had nothing to do with it. We lost, because they wanted victory more. If we'd bombed the shit out of Hanoi, maybe things would have been different, but it didn't work out that way.

Don't rub it in, you Canadian bastard. ;)

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Swede

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Sun Jul-23-06 01:13 AM
Response to Reply #13

15. I take that as a compliment Nevernose.

Damn Yank. Canada has your back.

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