synarchy movement of empire book ii - Pierre Beaudry's Galactic ...

Nations' fighting Hitler, but our belligerency does not diminish the necessity
of waging diplomatic battles as successfully as we can until we are ready for
military battles…
"The St. Pierre affair cannot be considered apart from our policy
toward France as a whole, and to criticize it as State Department policy is
absurd to anyone who knows the facts…The fact is that Washington has
been fighting a delaying action in France, as truly as General Macarthur has
been playing for time in the Philippines. And every week gained in the
campaign against French collaboration with Germany is as important as any
action in the field." (Langer, Op. Cit., p.223)
For once, it is refreshing to read an intelligent response being
published in the New York Times. The comment is significant in that it
reflects a balanced evaluation, which is not an automatic criticism of the
State Department policy, nor an appeasement of Vichy. The delaying tactic
in France was actually represented by the forceful presence of Admiral
Leahy at the side of Petain in Vichy, whose very role had served as the
determining factor of strength in the later American invasion of North
Africa.
The only problem, which remains to be clarified, is why Charles de
Gaulle made such a fuss in disagreeing with the American Vichy policy? No
doubt it was de Gaulle's duty to do so, and to steadfastly stand firm against
Vichy and Laval. After all, de Gaulle was a warrior, not a diplomat.
Furthermore, de Gaulle represented the unwavering fighting spirit of
France's independence vis-a-vis America's aggressive strategy of leading the
war. While Churchill was playing second fiddle to Roosevelt, de Gaulle
refused to play third fiddle with the sovereignty and unity of the French
Empire at stake. Even when de Gaulle would go further than the required
measure in attacking the United States policy of collaboration with Vichy,
many reports show effectively, that Americans did want to let the Free
French occupy Morocco, Algeria, or Tunisia.
Since de Gaulle wished to stay clear of diplomacy, he kept on a steady
course of pursuing the military fight against both Vichy and the Germans.
His military conduct was unflinching as was shown to be just, after the
American invasion of North Africa, when the remaining part of the French
fleet was sunk in the port of Toulon. De Gaulle’s' position was made clear to
the President through a report submitted by Colonel Donavan:
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