Arkroyal,
Generally I am in agreement with all you have said on this thread. I must add though I do not agree that the CDG incident was completely ATC's fault. I think the crew of the Shorts (putting aside the tragic outcome for a moment) still had a part to play in the events. Regardless of what language the Take-off clearance was issued in, I believe if you are at an intersection departure point and are cleared to line up "number 2", you should make sure you know whereabouts of number 1. If they are not in sight (in this case in front of them) a rat should be smelt.
I believe they where suffering, for whatever reason, from a dose of reduced situational awareness that we can all take as a wake up call.