French army falling apart, documents show.

The repubublicon homelander cronies can't figure a way to make Massive Profit from invading France, or they probably would...

Why it doesn't is an issue French citizens should pick up with their elected leaders.

To feed profits to a few greedy CEOs and politicians.

I think they're too busy taking 2 months of vacation every year and paying for national healthcare etc.

Good for them. They should be praised,.

Whether you want one or not, it's just part of how we structure society. The problem is that the US taxpayer has the burden of paying for that global military. It's the same idea behind national healthcare. The more people pay into the system, the less each person has to pay. The more people around the world that would pay for a military, the less everyone would have to pay. Since everyone else is taking 2 month vacations, and having national healthcare, the US taxpayer is the only person paying for a global military. Then we wonder why the US Government doesn't listen to anyone when the US Government wants to bomb someone. Who can stop it? Yeah, there are problems in Iraq, but the US Government went there, is there, and will remain there.

And what a sick structure results, too.

Check out this Youtube video of John Perkins (author of "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man") explaining America's Secret Empire and how the game is rigged in the globalized economy to funnel the resources of poor countries to wealthy individuals and fat-cat multi-national corporations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0JCJ4pIFEw

"This incredible prosperity that we enjoy here is built on an empire. It's built on slavery and servitude and tremendous suffering. We don't stop to think about the fact that we represent less than 5% of the worlds population, and we consume more than 25% of the world's resources."

More Youtube videos with Perkins:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=john+perkins&search_type=&aq=f

my way through Greider: Secrets of the Temple, Fortress America, and Who Will Tell the People?

Why should they spend their tax resources funding an army or navy. The overseas empires is largley gone. NATO and the U.S. are presumably the defenders of Western Europe. The largest deployed contingent of French military is the Foreign Legion. Look at what they get for their tax money vs what we get for ours.

In the US, the taboo is that you should not cut military funding. In France, the taboo could be that you don't increase funding, simply because it is against the political orthodoxy.

Adequately maintaining an army of 50,000 is not the same as rebuilding France's former imperial armies of several hundred thousand in previous centuries. Not the same at all.

I don't think French citizens, if they are truly made aware of the state of their military, would honestly support the status quo on the issue. They'd likely demand that the government ensure that its military is prepared to defend France in a time when the world is once again moving into an age where multiple world powers exist instead of just one.

At the current rate, Switzerland is better prepared to defend itself in case of invasion than France. If the French don't want a traditional Prussian-model military, maybe they should re-structure their entire army along the lines of the Swiss militia system instead. The Swiss are likely better prepared than any other nation in Europe to defend its borders in the shortest amount of time given its decentralized nature.

Like really fast sailboats: