"Why should France commit troops to Lebanon?" For eleven centuries France served as the protector of Christians in the Holy Land. Following World War I France ruled the Lebanon Mandate until 1941. And following World War II it served as the protector of a multi-religious state until the close of the Six Day War in 1967. Then, tragically, France began its slow, long withdrawal from the region. It attempted to use a feckless diplomacy to retain its former grandeur in Lebanon and Syria, but its unwillingness to shed French blood to ensure French interests was only too obvious. Today the French are seen as the poseurs they are. Thus, the presence of 100 French troops in Lebanon, or 1,000, or 10,000 is seen for what it is. Being and nothingness.
"Today the French are seen as the poseurs they are."
- Yes, there is a school of thought that most of the regions problems go back to the time, between 70 and 100 years ago, when the English and French, as rival colonial powers, divided up the Middle East between themselves. They drew up the present boundaries between the "countries" but which were in fact, areas of influence for each. They then placed puppets in charge of each country and controlled their respective areas through them.
As Britain and France slowly withdrew from the colonial empire game, the puppets evolved into repressive dictatorships and the situation slowly festered.
But, so long as the oil kept flowing and the political situation was kept under control, no one in the West gave a damn.
Now, with a virulent, cruel and aggressive form of Islam, funded largely by Saudi oil money on the move, we have a major long term war on our hands which, ironically, France is trying to manipulate to it's political advantage - having largely created the problem to begin with.