A second group of French soldiers have penned another open letter to the French government, published on conservative news magazine Valeurs Actuelles, again warning of “civil war”. The letter writers chose to remain anonymous this time, after the French chief of staff threatened disciplinary action against the signatories of the first letter (Gateway reported).
The letter has so far been signed by 250.000 supporters. The authors describe themselves as young soldiers on active duty. “We are what the newspapers have called the ‘Combat Generation’. Men and women, active soldiers, from all services and ranks, from all opinions, we all love our country. These are our only claims to fame.” Even if they have to hide their identities due to the threat of reprisals, the letter says, “it is impossible for us to remain silent.”
The letter writers accuse President Emannuel Macron of “concessions” to Islamism on French soil, while the country’s soldiers “shed their blood to fight the same ideology in countries like Afghanistan, Mali and the Central African Republic.”
As in the previous letter, the letter warns of an impending “civil war” threatening the very existence of the French nation. The authors of the letter indicate that at least some of them took part in the domestic military operation Sentinel, launched after the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015. “We have seen how certain ethno-religious groups in France live completely separate from the rest of the country”, the letter said. For such groups, “France means nothing more than an object of sarcasm, contempt or even hatred”.
“We see the violence in our towns and villages. We see communism taking hold in the public space, in public debate. We see hatred for France and its history becoming the norm”, the letter states. “It may not be for the military to state these facts, you might say. On the contrary: because we are apolitical in our assessments of the situation, this is our professional observation. We have seen this decline in many countries in crisis. It precedes the collapse. It heralds chaos and violence, and contrary to what you claim, this chaos and this violence will not come from a ‘military coup’, but from civil war.”
“We are talking about the survival of our country, of your country.” The signatories expressed their support for the retired generals who signed the first letter in Valeurs Actuelles, and were critical of the government’s response, calling it “pretty perverted” to crack down on dissent from patriotic military concerned for the future of their nation.
“Cowardice, falsehood, perversion: this is not our vision of the chain of command”, the letter said. “On the contrary, the Army is the place where we tell the truth because our lives depend on it.” If a civil war breaks out, the letter says, “the military will maintain order on its own soil, because it will be asked to. This is the definition of civil war. No one can want such a terrible situation, our elders no more than us, but yes, again, civil war is brewing in France and you know it perfectly well.”
