The French go Nuke

[welsh]

Ok, so they had communal riots a few months ago.

So they have had bombings in their metro stations but Islamic extremists.

So what if they have a problem with Muslims.

Now the French are willing to go nuclear in response to a terrorist assault.

France Warns of Nuke Response to Terrorism By CHRISTINE OLLIVIER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 59 minutes ago

President Jacques Chirac warned Thursday that France could respond with nuclear weapons to a state-sponsored terrorist attack, broadening the terms of his country's deterrence in the face of emerging threats.

Wow! How's that you European peaceniks?

The warning came as France worked with other Western nations to ensure that Iran does not become a nuclear power. But officials and experts said Chirac's comments were not aimed specifically at Tehran.

No.... of course not.

"Nuclear deterrence ... is not aimed at dissuading fanatic terrorists," Chirac said in a speech delivered at the L'Ile-Longue nuclear submarine base in the western region of Brittany.

"Leaders of states who would use terrorist means against us, just like anyone who would envisage using, in one way or another, arms of mass destruction, must understand that they would expose themselves to a firm and fitting response from us," he said. "This response could be conventional. It could also be of another nature."

Ok, so is it better to overthrow the regime through conventional forces before it gets nuclear weapons, or should France wait to get hit before nuking Iran into the stone age.

France's nuclear arsenal is considered a purely deterrent force to protect the nation's vital interests and is not intended for regular combat.

But Chirac, who has the power to decide on deploying nuclear weapons, said there should be no doubt "about our will and our capacity to use nuclear arms" if the country's vital interests are threatened.

He addressed new threats in the post-Cold War world. While traditional enemies are now allies of the West, he voiced France's concerns about volatile new alliances emerging between regional powers and terrorists.

"In numerous countries, radical ideas are spreading, advocating a confrontation of civilizations," he said, adding "odious attacks" could escalate to "other yet more serious forms involving states."

One could read this as justification for extending nuclear non-proliferation.

And what would happen if the nuclear proliferation policy was backed up with nukes. Kind of like. "If you start a nuclear program to build nuclear weapons, we will nuke you."

Would that work?

Chirac did not explain what he meant by regional powers. But officials close to the president and experts said he was laying out France's strategic posture, not designating an enemy.

Bruno Tertrais, a defense expert at the Foundation for Strategic Research, said Chirac was not changing the threshold for use of French nuclear weapons but the array of threats that could trigger a nuclear response. The United States moved in the same direction last year.

"This is a message to any kind of regional power that might believe it could bypass French nuclear deterrence by using terrorist means," Tertrais said.

Considering the number of rogue states that are developing nukes, why wait?

"This is really Chirac's nuclear legacy," he added. The 73-year-old French president, who last addressed the nuclear issue in 2001, ends his second term next year.

Chirac said nuclear warheads have been reduced on some missiles on France's four nuclear-armed submarines with the aim of targeting specific power centers rather than risking wholesale destruction in an enemy country.

"Against a regional power, our choice is not between inaction and destruction," Chirac said. "The flexibility and reactiveness of our strategic forces allow us to respond directly on the centers of power."

Tertrais said he did not believe Chirac was sending a message to Iran.

"That being said, Chirac certainly realizes that Iran will be one of the countries taking notice of the speech."

Iran broke a 2 1/2-year moratorium last week and restarted nuclear research, which Western countries fear is aimed at developing arms. France, Germany and Britain had been seeking a diplomatic solution with Iran to avoid an international crisis.

Chirac was speaking at a western base with the 110-member crew manning The Vigilant — one of the four nuclear-armed vessels. Submarines carry 85 percent of French nuclear warheads.

Does this mean that the nuclear clock is ticking closer to midnight?

You've got to love the French!

 

[Brother None]

That's not surprising.

It's easy to forget France as a nuclear power with the whole flagwaving of the US and Russia going on and cheeky people like North Korea, Pakistan, India and Iran popping up, but France is a major and agressive nuclear power.

Chirac has always been a big fan of nukes. He's always supported development, research and controversial testing.

No surprise he wants to use his toys, at some point.

Nukes against terrorists, shit. America's response to terrorism has already been compared to killing as slicing bread with a chainsaw, but now we're talking about putting the bread through a shredder to slice it.