Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler / You Make Us Proud / Part 2

What motivated Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler to take action as they did in the French train incident?  Why them?  OK, and this “American thing” the ‘thing’ the British Colonel referred to, is there something to that?

I’m not certain of course, but I’ll take a stab at it.  Actually, I have two theories.  These are just my opinions.  No offense is intended.  One of my theories is about France the country and the current cultural, sociological traits of their citizens.  A subject of which I admittedly know little, other than generalized observations.  The other is about guns.  A subject about which I know quite a bit.

First Theory:  In contrast to the United States, France has evolved, since World War II, into a pacifist country with an emasculated military; and that same description could be applied to their general population – depending upon other countries to do the heavy lifting in world affairs.  France sometimes talks a good game, but militarily they are a non-entity.  And, without doubt, their citizenry reflects that characteristic.  France is what in global affairs would be considered a 'soft target.’  Is ISIS aware of that?  Of course.  Yes, I recognize that it is not inconceivable that a French citizen could have rushed Ayoub El-Khazzani, but that French person would be, in my opinion, an anomaly.

Regarding Iraq and Afghanistan and the conflicts there, France was considered a U.S. ally; but in name only - an ally in the sense that if you are about to be in a fight, France would be happy to hold your coat.

In support of the French militarily some may cite the First Indochina War (1946–1954) where France fought a war in which they sustained casualties in the tens of thousands – a monumental sacrifice in an, unfortunately, losing cause.  However, most are not aware that the vast majority of those casualties were from France’s colonies and were largely made up of Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Laotian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese forces.  Metropolitan or actual French soldiers were generally excused and/or prohibited from combat due to the lack of public support for the war.  Yes, there were some French professional soldiers in the conflict, but they were by far in the minority.

Now, what about guns?  My second theory:

To be continued…

True Nelson