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| Afghanistan |
| France may come to Canada's aid in Kandahar |
| 2008-02-07 |
| France is seriously considering a military contribution to southern Afghanistan, fuelling optimism NATO won't have to do without Canadian troops in volatile Kandahar. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is said to be seriously considering Canada's position that it would withdraw its 2,500 combat troops from Kandahar next year unless another NATO country can supply an additional 1,000 troops. Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke to Mr. Sarkozy on Tuesday by telephone and relayed the core demand of the report by the independent panel headed by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley: that Canadian troops would not stay in southern Afghanistan past February 2009 unless the extra troops were found. In Vilnius, Lithuania, where NATO defence begin two days of meetings, Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is expected to urge the alliance's 26 members to show greater solidarity and end the public finger-pointing. There are fears the public spat could bury recent good news, from NATO's perspective, such as Belgium's commitment of four fighter jets and an extra 140 soldiers this year. There is also talk one or two other countries might announce larger contributions to the war effort. "This is a critical week for the alliance," Christopher Langton, an analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Agence France Presse. France and Germany, which have about 4,500 troops between them in less volatile parts of Afghanistan, are facing increasing pressure within NATO for more troops in Kandahar, where Canada and its British, U.S. and Dutch allies are doing the bulk of the front-line fighting against the Taliban insurgency. Germany has flatly rejected redeploying any of its 3,200 troops from its area of responsibility in northern Afghanistan, or adding extra to the south. France, however, is considering adding to its 1,300 Afghanistan deployment, most of which is based in Kabul. "People are optimistic Canadians will get the troops. The French are the obvious choice," said a well-placed western official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A spokesman for the French Embassy in Ottawa said any decisions about further troop deployments were weeks away. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #16 JFM is right. We've seen the very occasional mention here. It will be good when France is openly proud of what her men are doing over there. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-02-07 18:14 |
| #15 Will they send in the Foreign Legion? Then will they actually be "French" troops? A number of soldiers and NCOs plus all the officers in the Forteign Legion are actually French. Also non Foreign Legion French ground troops have been operating against the Taliban for years. Some of them even died in action. Nice to see you spitting on their graces. |
| Posted by: JFM 2008-02-07 18:08 |
| #14 I just don't understand why the US and NATO (yes 2/3 are there to drink beer and work on their tans) are putting so many resources into Afghanistan. It's the least important battlefield in the WOT. Equip and pay the Tadjiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras a few hundred million dollars per year to thump the Pashtoons, Arabs and Pakis and steal their women. Hell, they'd do it ammo and beer money. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-02-07 17:36 |
| #13 So far : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan_War_order_of_battle#France |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-02-07 14:01 |
| #12 Will they send in the Foreign Legion? Then will they actually be "French" troops? |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2008-02-07 13:14 |
| #11 Thinking, Might, and Will send troops are three entirely different things. Wake me up when any French actually show up on the battlefield. This is just talk for the news reporters to OOOH and AAAH, over. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2008-02-07 12:57 |
| #10 hopefully this comes to fruition |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2008-02-07 12:35 |
| #9 True, liberalhawk, but given that the German's chose to stake all on the wrong principle, they deserve it. Let them try to find a different principle to hide behind in the next crisis.* *Unfair and unwise, I realize, but I'm in a mood today, and the Germans worked long and hard to box themselves into this corner. When they fuss that their taxes are going to support unemployed Frenchmen on the dole, or perhaps job losses from a strengthened Euro, well that's the price subject peoples pay in an empire. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-02-07 12:07 |
| #8 note well - if France does this, satisfyting the Canadians and healing the rift in the alliance, the Germans will owe the French massively |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-02-07 11:06 |
| #7 A big move if Sarko sends troops. |
| Posted by: danking70 2008-02-07 11:02 |
| #6 Any move to assist the GWOT by France should be applauded, even if only politely. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-02-07 10:54 |
| #5 A sign of the End Times, methinks. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2008-02-07 10:53 |
| #4 Canada sacrificed about 100,000 men in two world wars for France. It took Canada's parliament about 30 seconds to decide to enter those two wars. How many years did it take France to decide to send a few scraggly troops to help Canada in Afghanistan? |
| Posted by: Snealet Bonaparte6725 2008-02-07 10:35 |
| #3 time for the jaw dropping graphic, I think |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-02-07 09:28 |
| #2 Well what do you know, pigs do fly. |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2008-02-07 08:24 |
| #1 Bi-lingually, no doubt. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-02-07 07:49 |