I have a few Dutch cousins who've come over here on holiday at various times. In each case I was told their english wasn't good before they arrived and in each case there was nothing wrong with it...hell they actually spoke better english than some locals! Same goes for my German friends.
Poll
Should there come a European (Union) Army?
| Yes. | 55% | 55% - 61 | ||||
| No. | 44% | 44% - 49 | ||||
| Total: 110 | ||||||
Economic powers require military forces to protect their interests. For example the army of the East India Trading company. The UK don't do quite as badly as you suggest out of the EU, in fact we benefit from it immensely, especially with our rebate (which they tried to take away at the request of the French and Germans - but Blair said we weren't going to let it be taken away, unless there was a review of all EU policy - especially the CAP - one of Blair's greatest moments if you ask me).Bell wrote:
Eu was made to allow member countries to easily buy and sell good to each other, it was never meant to be a miliatary force. I tbh hate the EU, e.g UK puts in probably the most and gets the least out of it, phht, and it's just a bitch fight on a larger scale. Called the triangle of power, lets not kid our self's, the Brits, Germans and French are the main players, france and germany go at the UK, while the Uk ends up suckin up to bush (by that I mean blair).
Europe is different from America, to create an army could only ever occur if europe became the one nations, something like the USE, but I dunno how that would work, I dont want some frenchy runing my country. Nor would they want some random cockney git runing there's, as I said, it was only intended to be a markey, never a country, therefor never have it's own miliatary.
NATO is already essentially a long term European Coalition force and any European Army would merely replace this. I believe that is a good idea and Europe distancing themselves from America militarily would be a good idea. The fact that the Pentagon is so against the idea of a joint European armed forces makes me want it even more - not just to spite America, but they don't want to be a part of NATO out of the goodness of their hearts - they get a lot of power and influence in Europe from heading NATO.
have you guys ever heard of the french foreign legion??? The army is composed of recruits from diff. countries. They all learn french and fight toghether. And french citizens cannot join.stryyker wrote:
no. an army of different languages composed of different countries would not function properly.
besides, who are you gonna have that would be willing to fight? England? Germany? FRANCE?!?
Of course the French foreign legion is composed of people who aren't French. It's the only decent armed force they have. If they were French they'd be rubbish, like the regular French army.yuckfou09 wrote:
have you guys ever heard of the french foreign legion??? The army is composed of recruits from diff. countries. They all learn french and fight toghether. And french citizens cannot join.stryyker wrote:
no. an army of different languages composed of different countries would not function properly.
besides, who are you gonna have that would be willing to fight? England? Germany? FRANCE?!?
The Leclerc is almost as gay as the Mirage.
Nordic battlegroup: Sweden: 1100, Finland: 200, Estonia: 50 and Norway: 150
WTF, can someone else please contribute?
WTF, can someone else please contribute?
And you base this statement on?Bertster7 wrote:
If they were French they'd be rubbish, like the regular French army.
The Swedish secretly installed a bomb in each Ikea table, they now just waiting for the right time to strike.EnemyOfAllkind wrote:
O H M Y G O D ! !
You cant be serious saying that Sweden has a powerful army ??
As an argument. How about those fine Swedish fighter planes. Has one ever landed with out exploding ?? ;-)
And Yes I'm Finnish, witch explains why I just had to respond to this unbelievable claim....
Also we have a single common European language that everyone has learnt.
Esperanto........
We should create the 'Western Europe Armed Koalition', with its offshoot the 'Southern Operations Fighting Troops'.
Well we don't actually have an army we just have a lightly armed humanitarian aid force. And yes they put sauerkraut on hotdogs here but I have to say the practice is becoming more and more extinct since youngsters don't seem to be all that fond of it (I don't like sauerkraut either). If you ever come back here, which you won't, be sure to state specifically you do not want sauerkraut on your dog!SwampDog wrote:
Yeah but Switzerland are always neutral and Belgium is just crap.Reaxzion wrote:
An army of different languages can function properly, just look at Belgium or Switzerland.stryyker wrote:
no. an army of different languages composed of different countries would not function properly.
besides, who are you gonna have that would be willing to fight? England? Germany? FRANCE?!?
I don`t really have any real justification for calling belgium crap, i went to Brussels once and it was really Boring. And they put pickled cabbage on my hot dog! I mean come on... CABBAGE.. PICKLED... ON MY HOT DOG...
Brussels is the worst city in Belgium to come to, it's probably the bleakest, most boring town in continental Europe (well, except for some Ukrainian industrial town out there in the middle of nowhere). Brussels itself used to be only a very small city of little importance in the region compared to the other cities. Nowadays it's nothing but one big heap of office and diplomatic buildings (being the capital of Europe doesn't help things), and neither are meant to be exciting. Everybody hates Brussels, except for loonies and people who live and work in Brussels, perhaps.
As to the language issue: English is the most appropriate means of internal communication. Of all the languages in Europe I've been in contact with (Dutch, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Norwegian) English is BY FAR the easiest one to master sufficiently to ensure effective communication (especially if you bastardize it like the Americans did).
And leadership of such an army would not fall on one single nation, as one very intelligent individual here stated (England).
do you want me to bring up the history of french wars?Bubbalo wrote:
And you base this statement on?Bertster7 wrote:
If they were French they'd be rubbish, like the regular French army.
rules:
always lose to muslims
wins only when america is involved.
reason that france has a forign legion:
coz french ppl suck at fighting, in fact the first thing they learn in the military is how to say surrender in 10 languages
Yup, that's rightcyborg_ninja-117 wrote:
do you want me to bring up the history of french wars?Bubbalo wrote:
And you base this statement on?Bertster7 wrote:
If they were French they'd be rubbish, like the regular French army.
rules:
always lose to muslims
wins only when america is involved.
reason that france has a forign legion:
coz french ppl suck at fighting, in fact the first thing they learn in the military is how to say surrender in 10 languages
Although I have an irrational hatred of the French, probably from spending too much time in France, so my opinion on this issue might be slightly biased.
Also French military tech is crap - look at the mighty Leclerc.
ok people 1 2 3. I must admit that i enjoy making jokes about the french military, how much they suck blablabla.
But ok, funny time's over. The French army actually aren't that bad. Seriously. As a matter of fact they'd probably pwn 95% of all other armies. So, start making fun about some other countries army. Like north korea or something. They're cool
But ok, funny time's over. The French army actually aren't that bad. Seriously. As a matter of fact they'd probably pwn 95% of all other armies. So, start making fun about some other countries army. Like north korea or something. They're cool
there is one no stfu
I do think there should be an EU army, a force that would challange the US an stop them from pushin everyone else around.
About the language issue, it varies from country to country.
I have found that most of my fellow Dutchmen have at least a basic understanding of English, and the same goes for Germans. In France nobody seems to even know what English is...
I have found that most of my fellow Dutchmen have at least a basic understanding of English, and the same goes for Germans. In France nobody seems to even know what English is...
"If you want a vision of the future, imagine SecuROM slapping your face with its dick -- forever." -George Orwell
Technically, there already is an EU Army of sorts (EUFOR), which is currently deployed in Bosnia and the DR of Congo.
But still, no, I hate to think of the EU's various national armies being merged into one behemoth which takes orders from Eurocrats in Brussels. I could forsee many issues about languages, equipment compatibility etc.
But still, no, I hate to think of the EU's various national armies being merged into one behemoth which takes orders from Eurocrats in Brussels. I could forsee many issues about languages, equipment compatibility etc.
France?? your joking right? The last major 2 world wars, look what happened. 1st world war, they got whooped like all sides, but world war 2, they build a defensive like (great work by the way france) and forget to build it along the border with belgium. Now the germans arent stupid enough to walk right into a huge defesive position are they. the french were very stupid, but im not sure what theyre like now..... do they still use flintlock muskets?stryyker wrote:
no. an army of different languages composed of different countries would not function properly.
besides, who are you gonna have that would be willing to fight? England? Germany? FRANCE?!?
again...... your joking right? name one major war the french have actually won, and held the ground they took? please id love to hear one. Anyone ever read a book on french war heroes? i did once, but then again it doesnt take long to read the book the size of a kiddies bedtime storySh1fty2k5 wrote:
ok people 1 2 3. I must admit that i enjoy making jokes about the french military, how much they suck blablabla.
But ok, funny time's over. The French army actually aren't that bad. Seriously. As a matter of fact they'd probably pwn 95% of all other armies. So, start making fun about some other countries army. Like north korea or something. They're cool
HAd to say NO, MAinly because, The UN cant even put together a peace force to goto the Border with Isreal Now, Getting an Army together that has 200 different warped views on things would be next to impossible.
I see the brits no longer occupy any parts of France like they once did during the middle ages so I guess they pwned England at some point.James-m wrote:
again...... your joking right? name one major war the french have actually won, and held the ground they took? please id love to hear one. Anyone ever read a book on french war heroes? i did once, but then again it doesnt take long to read the book the size of a kiddies bedtime storySh1fty2k5 wrote:
ok people 1 2 3. I must admit that i enjoy making jokes about the french military, how much they suck blablabla.
But ok, funny time's over. The French army actually aren't that bad. Seriously. As a matter of fact they'd probably pwn 95% of all other armies. So, start making fun about some other countries army. Like north korea or something. They're cool
To be fair on the French, in the two world wars they had the main aggressor sat on their door step and were amongst the first major targets. If there were a land path from mainland Europe to the UK we'd have been pwned as well, probably the US as well if the Germans could have gotten there. Go back two hundred years and the French were kicking ass all over Europe. As much as mocking the French is fun it's not overly justified.James-m wrote:
again...... your joking right? name one major war the french have actually won, and held the ground they took? please id love to hear one. Anyone ever read a book on french war heroes? i did once, but then again it doesnt take long to read the book the size of a kiddies bedtime storySh1fty2k5 wrote:
ok people 1 2 3. I must admit that i enjoy making jokes about the french military, how much they suck blablabla.
But ok, funny time's over. The French army actually aren't that bad. Seriously. As a matter of fact they'd probably pwn 95% of all other armies. So, start making fun about some other countries army. Like north korea or something. They're cool
fair one, i see your point, but french mocking is fun, i dont mean it offensivly, they hate us too lol.
I would say YES, because an army fighting together is always better than fighting each other, where best would be no fighting at all.
And the problem with languages is not a real problem. Lets use english as common language and the national language for groups. English, because it is so easy to learn that even George Doubleboo was able to learn it.
Hawk
And the problem with languages is not a real problem. Lets use english as common language and the national language for groups. English, because it is so easy to learn that even George Doubleboo was able to learn it.
Hawk
wtf!?! the european union has its "own army". it is organized like nato, so every country gives some capacity.... http://www.weu.int/
stupid thread/americans...
stupid thread/americans...
Last edited by [pt] KEIOS (2006-08-22 05:25:45)
translating numbers... that i would like to see...Spearhead wrote:
Mathematical problems for space-borne missions can completely fail even if they're off by .000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001.stryyker wrote:
considering a joint space mission failed due to a metric-imperial miscalculation, the margin for error during war, especially with orders, is too great to overlook.
With something as simple as translating, especially in Europe, they'd have to be pretty damn stupid to screw it up.
"hey... that's a zero..."
"what? not in my language!"
i just don't get one thing... why don't they all use the f*cking metric system... it's all brits faultSpearhead wrote:
NASA f*cks up every now and then, and they're dealing with American numbers and the English language. It's a wee bit harder than you think
man... the ESA (european space agency) speak in french, english and german... they do translate all the stuff and guess what... it works just fine... and they do calculations also...
uhhhh wait... i thought that there was no army there yet because the U.S. don't have any interest in it to happen...<[onex]>Headstone wrote:
HAd to say NO, MAinly because, The UN cant even put together a peace force to goto the Border with Isreal Now, Getting an Army together that has 200 different warped views on things would be next to impossible.
you mean down to the napolean ages? the one that got his ass wooped while attempting to conquer portugal? unless you ment about asterix and obelix... man... those guys rocked....:XDR:.PureFodder wrote:
Go back two hundred years and the French were kicking ass all over Europe. As much as mocking the French is fun it's not overly justified.
Last edited by dalexa (2006-08-22 05:53:59)