[Wanderer]

Originally posted by Dogscoff:
I will never be able to take that guy [Colin Powell] seriously until he learns to say his own name correctly.

I agree, although if my name was Colin I'd want to change it!

Originally posted by Thermodyne:
Seriously, the war has already started. America has air superiority in the south and north, and is in the process of making it uncontested.

This has been going on since the Gulf War ended - planes have been policing the no-fly zones by (for example) demolishing any radar station that has the temerity to lock onto them for years. Last year RAF Tornados dropped bombs on some complex, and the next day the UK tabloid press gave the impression troops would be in Baghdad within a week.

Last I heard that program was dead. The ships were part of a NATO deal that had been put on hold. NATO's need no longer existed. Last I heard the strike fighter was stone dead, our navy is about to roll out a new strike fighter on its own.

Well the old carriers are going to need replacing - they'll be 30 years old by the time the new ones are ready. I think the intention is not to disappear up our arses counting our pennies.

2001 - carrier construction confirmed

2003 - contracts awarded to UK and French companies

Looks like the Royal Navy is going to buy American aircraft

As for the French, we get the feeling they'd fully support NATO if they were the chief member. In Britain, France has very poor PR - it always looks as if the EU is intended to benefit France at the expense of others (not that there isn't some truth in that). In particular, the plans for an EU Defence Force have brought criticism that France essentially wants an alternative to NATO - one they can have a great deal more influence over. I guess some of you will have received the email that lists all of France's not so glorius military reverses.

Of course, not liking the French is virtually a national sport in Britain... I'd love to know how many people chose to bLast the Eiffel Tower (ahead of Big Ben, the Brandenburg Gate and the White House) first at the end of the NOD campaign in the first Command & Conquer game. I know I did