February 16, 2006
THEY CAN'T EVEN BEAT GREENPEACE ANYMORE?:
Humiliation for France as court sinks toxic ship's passage to India (Charles Bremner, 2/16/06, Times of London)
FRANCE suffered a humiliating blow to its prestige yesterday when President Chirac was forced to order the return of the former flagship of the Gallic navy from the Arabian Sea after environmentalists scuppered its proposed break-up in an Indian scrapyard.The President commanded the U-turn by Le Clemenceau, the decommissioned aircraft carrier, after France’s highest court ordered her to stay out of Indian waters, pending a suit by environmental campaigners.
An Indian court had already banned the 27,000-tonne warship from entering port while deciding whether her asbestos was a hazard to shipyard workers.
The decision was a triumph for environmental pressure groups, led by Greenpeace, which have led a vocal campaign against the practice of industrialised nations to export waste to South-East Asia for disposal.
Humiliating> Isn't it a French victory that thing actually floats? Posted by Orrin Judd at February 16, 2006 8:05 AM
At this point, the French would consider it a victory if it sank.
Posted by: pj at February 16, 2006 8:20 AMI saw a great show on the Discovery/New York Times channel about those Indian ship scrapyards. Apparently, they just run the ship up onto the beach at full steam. Then a hundred guys swarm over it with welding torches and slice the thing up. It was a thing of beauty to watch. Of course, this being the Discovery/Times channel they were all about what an environmental nightmare it is and how the whole operation exploits the proletariat, but I just found it really cool.
Posted by: Bryan at February 16, 2006 8:21 AMYes, it's a victory that it floats--so au naturallment, they're trying to sink it.
This is the FISA-dream of Jean Kerree, in which judges order battleships around.
Posted by: Noel at February 16, 2006 8:37 AMZe Sharl De Gall is next.
Posted by: Genecis at February 16, 2006 9:44 AMLa Belle is getting so pathetic, it's no fun ragging on them anymore.
Posted by: erp at February 16, 2006 10:13 AMWhen we evaluate institutions, cultures and civilizations from a cultural perspective, we often ask what went wrong and right with this or that path.
For some reason, only the Americans, the British and the Japanese have ever gotten aircraft carriers right. When the inquiry is narrowed to modern, fixed wing, non-VSTOL jet aircraft, no one but ourselves has done so. These "carriers" which countries like France have played with, even if they worked, would be pitiful little things, inferior to one of our amphibious assault ships.
Why is this important? Comparison of force projection/defense capabilities mark the risae and fall of systems. Who can forget that the FORMER SOVIET UNION had laid the keels for four full-size carriers and then failed to complete them--failed being the operative word.
Posted by: Lou Gots at February 16, 2006 12:34 PM