The French are almost beyond parody at this point. Yesterday, French media leaked the fact that Jacques Chirac would only send 200 engineering troops to the UN peacekeeping force. Apparently, Kofi Annan shamed him into increasing that commitment. So now France will send 400 troops. But they want command of the entire force in exchange. We have descending into farce.
President Jacques Chirac announced Thursday that France will immediately double to 400 troops its contingent in the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
The statement from Chirac's office came after he spoke by phone with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. France currently leads the UNIFIL force in southern Lebanon, and its decision-making on its role in a strengthened force has been closely watched.
Chirac told Annan that France "will immediately double its current contribution by sending 200 men," the statement said.
The plan will be presented at a U.N. meeting in New York later Thursday to flesh out which countries will participate in the peacekeeping force as it expands from the current 2,000 troops to as many as 15,000, Chirac's office said.
Chirac told Annan that France is ready to command the strengthened force, which is expected to work with about 15,000 Lebanese troops to restore peace to southern Lebanon after more than a month of violence between Israeli troops and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia.
France also is prepared to keep in the region 1,700 troops who in recent weeks have been evacuating French and other foreign nationals from Lebanon and bringing in humanitarian aid.
So give the French command because they have an evacuation force ready and waiting. This way they'll be able to surrender and evacuate more efficiently.
Please, I ask you don’t blame the french soldiers. They are there, they do what they have to and allowed to do, they risk their lives.
Blame only the high command and the politicians.
I think, the soldiers deserve your respect just as much as you demand respect for the US soldiers in Iraq.
Hmmm.. I don’t know if we will send anyone there.
Not that we have an army at the moment, most of them are in Afghanistan or Iraq.
I have to look it up, what the Big Head around here says about this.
The French Army isn’t the problem…it’s the French government (like Roland said). That’s why the Army got rid of the government in the early 60s…
I read on another comment string (somewhere) that the French may not have that many Foreign Legion troops available due to other commitments. I don’t know if that’s true, but it is true that the France isn’t afraid to send the FL in, unilaterally, just about anywhere. We don’t hear alot about it becuase these deployments are usually in Africa or Asia, where the US doesn’t really get involved.
A great insight into the French ‘insanity’ is the book ‘To Lose A Battle’ by Alistaire Horne. It’s the last of three he wrote about the French getting their hinders kicked by the Prussians/Germans (Franco Prussian War of 1870, WWI and WWII).
Anyhoo, the French GOVERNMENT certainly has some explaining to do regarding their ‘leadership’ in bringing about the cease-fire, and actions since. Just what were their goals? Changing the conditions in Lebanon to facilitate a long term, possibly permanent, peace doesn’t seem to be one of them (just my opinion).
Perhaps the framework should be ‘once again, the French government makes a promise they can’t deliver’ or ‘French government talks tough, won’t let the Army prove it’. Or ‘Sacre Bleu: French government mouth writes check, won’t let Army cash it!’.
Lebanon sure is a sticky wicket.
And I will add that, in my opinion, the German Army has a similar problem with their government (for different reasons, but same result).