Many of the assumptions about the French Navy seem to be based on the idea that there is no Franco-Soviet nuclear exchange of any sort that would account for a number of French vessels. As I have said on many occasions, I find this line of thinking to be out of character for the Soviets. These are not nice guys. If anything, the Anglo-American invasion of East Germany in late 1996 following the apparent Pact success in containing the West German invasion will prove to them that you address your potential enemies while you have the means in hand. Once the nukes start flying, the Soviets are going to hit the French specifically to keep them from making dramatic changes to the balance of power in the post-Exchange world. Imagining otherwise is to give the Soviets either a generosity of character or a naivete that is incompatible with the Soviet regime that fought WW3.
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“We’re not innovating. We’re selectively imitating.” June Bernstein, Acting President of the University of Arizona in Tucson, November 15, 1998.
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