udawg Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 Yes Craig, CNN, but what can you do. http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/1...hals/index.html France... aren't they the supposed antithesis of Americanism? And yet... they are the first to adopt this American idea... Can't wait for Craig's comments on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 I'm sure Craig will have his usual articulate response to your claim, udawg, but in the meantime you'll have to settle for Morgan. France is putting air marshalls on board its int'l flights to the USA because if it didn't, French planes would not be allowed to fly into US airspace. So France is acting out of SELF INTEREST not because of a new found French co-operative spirit, as you suggest. Also, France has to make nice with the USA post haste for lack of proper airline security oversight by the French gov't for the past 2 years. America could have suffered another 9/11 due to France's negligence. Read this article from the Guardian, which usually spouts off blame America garbage and even the Guardian's reporter seems to be shocked at France's bumbling incompetence in regards to fighting terrorism. After 9/11, the French talked about fighting terrorism on aircraft but didn't do the walk...it was yawn, comme ce comme ca business as usual until the US got in the French gov't's faces and said France could LOSE MONEY if they didn't take airline security seriously. Killer and worse were serving as Air France guards, Dec.31/03, The Guardian The company put in charge of security for Air France flights employed a convicted murderer and a number of others with serious criminal records, it emerged yesterday. The background of the guards was disclosed in a Paris court during a hearing to wind up the company, Pretory, which had been operating security on the French airline for more than two years but went into bankruptcy after tax fraud allegations. The revelation of its lax recruiting methods coincided with the disclosure that armed French police have been flying with Air France to the US since December 23. The government ordered the use of the gendarmerie after the US said that flights without armed escorts would be banned from overflying or landing, because of the fear of terrorism. Last week Air France cancelled six transatlantic crossings at short notice after Washington said terrorists might be on board. The airline refused to make any comment on a possible link with the use of a dodgy private company. Four days after the terror attacks in the US on September 11 2001 Air France was one of the first networks to announce that passengers would be accompanied by "specially trained agents". But in a rush to recruit guards, it had taken on disco bouncers, dog handlers, nightwatchmen, and other staff with little or no experience of arms or safety procedures. The police also looked into the record of Pretory's sub-contractors. This led to unconfirmed reports that some guards had been sent for arms training courses in Middle Eastern countries suspected of harbouring terrorists. A few weeks before yesterday's liquidation hearing Air France announced that it was ending the contract with Pretory from today. American anxiety about the quality of Air France's protection service was at the centre of discussions in Washington this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
udawg Posted January 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 Thank you Morgan, for YOUR articulate response. And yes, it is out of self-interest... but isn't everything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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