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I have read in many places that NATO lacks resources for a war against Russia. So why are Macron and others expressing such bravado, unless they know something we don't?

I suppose "stupidity" is an answer, but I find it hard to believe that there is not one person in the French Ministry of Defense or military that cannot take Macron aside and tell him that his mouth is writing checks that his ass cannot cash.

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Macron does not ask advice.

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And nobody tells him? Is everyone that afraid of the man? Come on!

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If you don't listen then it really doesn't matter, does it?

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And nobody in France knows how to leak or play the bureaucratic games that are second nature in the US?

I do not believe that. Not to mention that assumes that Macron really is that stupid, but at the same time, smart enough to get and keep his post.

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Early in his presidency Macron said he didn't do press interviews because his thinking was too complex for journalists to understand.

Not easy having Napoleon's height but not his stature.

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My impression is he wants France to take leadership of EU and resurrect its former "prestige". With Germany committing economic suicide at the behest of the FJB team,the power landscape in the EU is changing. He is a weak man trying to scare a porcupine with his bare a$$!

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Macron is insulated by Germany and Poland, so talk is cheap. Polish rhetoric, OTOH, now seems more sober than it was

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it depends on which day of the week.

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Just yesterday the head of the Law and Justice party declared that the crash of the Polish Tupolev in Smolensk was a "Putin assassination". Luckily, that party is out of power now and the current government is mostly focused on purging its domestic enemies. A recent survey put public support for sending troops to Ukraine at 75% against 10%. Among people who voted for the governing coalition it's even more lopsided, something like 90% to 4%. There's minimal appetite for intervention in the east.

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I am sure that nobody will ask the Polish public if an American snaps his fingers.

That said, Poles being some of the most hysterically russophobic people imaginable having cold feet is instructive.

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Poland is not Russia. This is the land of the liberum veto. Everyone is king! The government couldn't even get the farmers to stop blocking the border with Ukraine.

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Dude, I speak Polish every day. Not Polish, BTW.

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Apr 11Edited

Yes I saw one of those polls. That would be 75% opposed to sending troops. Seemingly from practical reasons (I.e. high risk not coming back & likelihood of being taken advantage of by NATO partners). The paranoia and desire to have *someone* fight Russia haven't changed at all AFAIK.

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Former French chief of staff, this april in Le Monde Diplo, a segment translated in this LI post:

'General Lecointre, former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, said the following about irresponsible consultants who are careful not to go and kill their children:

"What strikes me is that for the past 2 years I've been hearing on all the TV sets, the radios, a lot of commentators with a very developed moral sense, saying: 'we are ready to be killed to the last Ukrainian''

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7184429301595828224-o5JP/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

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The first units of the French Foreign Legion were transferred to Slavyansk.

According to the Military Chronicle, representatives of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the French Foreign Legion arrived the day before at the location of the 54th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Slavyansk.

According to preliminary information, the first group of 100 people are specialists in artillery reconnaissance, as well as an engineering group whose specialization is fortification and construction of field fortifications.

Apparently, the French, who move around the city only accompanied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, will help the Ukrainian army defend Slavyansk when the front line shifts towards this city.

source: https://t.me/c/1595839251/3720

For what it's worth.

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