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UPI) -- President Nicolas Sarkozy of France says he wants to see victory in Afghanistan but has no plans to send more French troops to that country. Speaking to the Le Figaro newspaper, the French leader said he believes there should be a build-up of more Afghan troops, CNN reported. As for staying on in Afghanistan, Sarkozy told the newspaper: "I answer yes -- and stay to win. "But France will not send one more soldier," he added. "My belief is that more Afghan soldiers are needed. It is them who will be the most efficient to win this war...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday pledged to continue the fight in Afghanistan while attending a state funeral in Paris for the 10 French soldiers killed in a Taliban ambush earlier in the week. Sarkozy, who was accompanied by other French leaders at the funeral ceremony in a church at Les Invalides, said France will not give up its fight against terrorism in Afghanistan "We don't have the right to lose over there, we cannot renounce our values," he said. "We cannot let the barbarians triumph because a defeat at the other side of the world will be paid for...

<p>President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday he had no regrets about sending 700 more troops to Afghanistan, after insurgents killed 10 French soldiers, the biggest single loss for foreign forces in combat since 2001.</p> <p>The troops were killed in a major battle that erupted when Taliban insurgents ambushed a French patrol just 60 km (40 miles) east of the Afghan capital on Monday. The fighting has heightened fears the militants are gradually closing in on Kabul itself.</p>

President Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived in Afghanistan to support French troops a day after one of the deadliest attacks on France's forces abroad. Ten French soldiers were killed and 21 injured in an ambush by Taleban fighters east of the capital, Kabul. Mr Sarkozy said France was committed to the fight against terrorism, and the mission in Afghanistan would continue.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2008 – Ten French soldiers were killed in Afghanistan when their patrol was attacked by Taliban fighters in Kabul province during fighting that spanned from late yesterday until early today, U.S. officials said. Twenty-one other French troops were wounded in the engagement, which reportedly involved up to 100 insurgents, according to a NATO news release. Afghan security forces were with the French soldiers when enemy fighters attacked. “As I understand it, it was a complex attack involving multiple weapons systems, small arms, mortars, rockets, and [it] lasted for several hours,” senior Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters...

This video is subtitled with English Subtitles . viedo at post 2

080722-N-7571S-001 ATLANTIC OCEAN (July 22, 2008) A French F-2 Rafale launches from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) during the first integrated U.S. and French carrier qualifications aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier. The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group is participating in Joint Task Force Exercise "Operation Brimstone" off the Atlantic coast. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan Snyder/Released) 080721-N-7241L-009 ATLANTIC OCEAN (July 21, 2008) A French Rafale M prepares to land aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) during combined French and American carrier qualifications. This event marks the first...

US President George W Bush and France's Nicolas Sarkozy have emphasised the strength of relations between the two countries after talks in Paris. The pair discussed a range of issues including Iran's nuclear ambitions and co-operation over Afghanistan. But correspondents say the mood of the meeting was dominated by the extent to which France and the US see eye-to-eye. Mr Bush is in Paris on the latest leg of his European tour, expected to be his last before leaving office. The visit is seen as a sign of further reconciliation between the US and France, after tensions over Iraq. On...

PARIS - Iran rejected a six-nation offer of incentives to stop enriching uranium on Saturday, prompting President Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to jointly warn Tehran anew against proceeding toward a nuclear bomb. "Our allies understand that a nuclear-armed Iran is incredibly destabilizing, and they understand that it would be a major blow to world peace," Bush said at a news conference with Sarkozy at Elysee Palace. The quickly unfolding series of events began in Tehran, where European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana played the role of messenger for the offer from the United States, France, Germany, Britain,...

President Bush heralded a “new era of transatlantic unity” when he arrived in France yesterday, with the location of his speech as significant as its content. By choosing Paris for what White House officials described as “the centrepiece” of his week-long farewell trip to Europe, Mr Bush sought to put the seal on a dramatic transformation in relations with France since President Sarkozy was elected last year. Britain, which for so long has acted as a sometimes rickety bridge across the Atlantic, no longer has such strategic diplomatic importance. President Bush is spending two nights in Paris, but only one...

President Bush heralded a “new era of transatlantic unity” when he arrived in France yesterday, with the location of his speech as significant as its content. By choosing Paris for what White House officials described as “the centrepiece” of his week-long farewell trip to Europe, Mr Bush sought to put the seal on a dramatic transformation in relations with France since President Sarkozy was elected last year. Britain, which for so long has acted as a sometimes rickety bridge across the Atlantic, no longer has such strategic diplomatic importance. President Bush is spending two nights in Paris, but only one...

"French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner discussed investment projects to help rebuild Iraq on Saturday on a visit to the country whose 2003 invasion by U.S.-led troops Paris strongly opposed."

In the past few months, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced the first French military base in the Middle East, christened his country's costliest nuclear submarine and advocated returning troops to NATO command. Sarkozy's efforts to project the image of a militarily powerful France reasserting itself on the global security stage mask a behind-the-scenes struggle over withering defense budgets that threaten to reduce combat-ready forces by as much as 40 percent, sideline major new weapons programs and eliminate bases in Africa. Philippe Moreau Defarges, an analyst at the French Institute of International Relations, described Sarkozy's public pronouncements as "mostly an...

France has agreed to deploy a battalion of new troops to Afghanistan, a NATO spokesperson announced Wednesday. The Prime Minister's Office confirmed with CTV News that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has offered a battalion of soldiers -- normally around 700-800 troops -- to be deployed to the eastern region of Afghanistan. The announcement comes from just before the opening of a NATO leaders summit in Bucharest, Romania. "And the Americans, we are told by the PMO, have agreed to boost their resources as well," reported CTV's Graham Richardson in Bucharest. The U.S. troops, expected to number 1,000, are expected to...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he will send more troops to Afghanistan to support Nato's mission. Mr Sarkozy, who is on a state visit to Britain, said he would make the offer at next week's Nato summit in the Romanian capital, Bucharest. Nato leaders have frequently called on member countries to contribute more soldiers to the mission in Afghanistan. The Nato-led International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf) currently has over 43,000 personnel in Afghanistan. In a speech to the British parliament in London, Mr Sarkozy said defeat to Taleban insurgents was not an option. "In Afghanistan something essential is...

LONDON (AFP) - President Nicolas Sarkozy will tell British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during a state visit next week that he plans to send an extra 1,000 French soldiers to Afghanistan, the Times reported Saturday. One anonymous senior minister told the paper that Britain's Ministry of Defence is working on the assumption that Sarkozy will reveal a deployment of "slightly more than 1,000 troops to the eastern region" to fight the Taliban. Sarkozy wants to underline his commitment to NATO during the visit but a formal announcement may not be made until a NATO summit in Bucharest next month, the...

Counterterrorism, like espionage and covert action, isn’t a spectator sport. The more a country practices, the better it gets. France has become the most accomplished counterterrorist practitioner in Europe. Whereas September 11, 2001, was a shock to the American counterterrorist establishment, it wasn’t a révolution des mentalités in Paris. Two waves of terrorist attacks, the first in the mid-1980s and the second in the mid-1990s, have made France acutely aware of both state-supported Middle Eastern terrorism and freelancing but organized Islamic extremists. In comparison, the security services in Great Britain and Germany were slow to awaken to the threat from...

France to send more troops to Afghanistan: report Updated Tue. Feb. 26 2008 5:31 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff France may be sending hundreds of ground troops to eastern Afghanistan to help NATO-led forces in the battle against Taliban insurgents, a French newspaper is reporting. The move comes as Canada has been appealing its NATO allies for troop reinforcements in the more dangerous southern region of Afghanistan. The Le Monde report said the French move is part of a new Afghan policy being worked out by President Nicholas Sarkozy. France has just under 2,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan, but most...

Earlier this month, I wrote that Nicolas Sarkozy might consider showing some leadership in Europe by bolstering France's combat participation in Afghanistan. Le Monde reported earlier today that Sarkozy has all but committed the troops to the front lines: France may send hundreds of ground troops to east Afghanistan where NATO-led forces are fighting al Qaeda-backed insurgents, Le Monde newspaper reported on Tuesday. It said the move would be part of a new Afghan policy being worked out by President Nicolas Sarkozy and his advisers. France has about 1,900 soldiers under NATO's Afghan command, most of them based in relatively...

They had big black beards, big warm smiles. They had a dozen young Afghan army trainees in tow, each with a grin to match. They didn't even have flak jackets, let alone a speck of armour on the two brown pickup trucks that kept their show on the road. They were French special forces, in an especially dodgy part of Afghanistan, where the French supposedly don't go. And they'd been there a while. It was late February 2006 – nearly two years ago now – but this close encounter came vividly to mind yesterday when talk of a possible French...

February 9, 2008 Nicolas Sarkozy offers French troops to join Canadians in fighting the Taleban in Kandahar Michael Evans, Defence Editor President Sarkozy rode to the rescue of beleaguered Nato forces in southern Afghanistan yesterday when he offered to deploy French troops alongside Canadians in Kandahar. The French leader has been the most forthcoming of Nato leaders in answering the urgent call to help the troops fighting Taleban insurgents. After Canada’s repeated warnings that it would pull its 2,500 troops out of Kandahar if no other alliance member came to support them, France has been the only country to hint...

<p>In a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Saturday, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said France might increase its troop presence in the country to help defeat the Taliban-led insurgency.</p> <p>“There is a war going on here — a war against terrorism, against fanaticism, that we cannot and will not lose,” he told reporters who accompanied him on the trip.</p>

The United States Congress welcomed Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, with loud cheers and standing ovations on Wednesday, a sign that France had been forgiven for opposing the American-led war in Iraq. In a speech to a joint meeting of Congress — a rare honor for a head of state — Mr. Sarkozy seemed to strike all the right notes. He spoke of his love of the American dream and cultural icons of the 20th century, from Elvis Presley to Ernest Hemingway. He expressed admiration for American values and for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He thanked the...

state visit is a natural occasion for rhetoric celebrating the ties between guest and host. Having declared at the White House on Tuesday that he wished to "reconquer the heart of America in a lasting fashion", Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday wooed a joint session of Congress with mentions of Lafayette and Washington, American intervention in Europe in 1917 and 1944, the Marshall Plan and the Berlin airlift. But on top of these familiar historical references, the French president lauded the "can-do" spirit of America, whether expressed through stars such as Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe or through the moon landing of...

On the second day of his official visit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy met again with President Bush, this time at Mount Vernon, Virginia, the historic home of our first president, George Washington. There the two leaders discussed the War On Terror, including Iran, and made themselves available for questions during a press conference at the estate. President Bush: Mr. President, welcome. Thank you very much for coming here to Mount Vernon, and thank you for coming to the United States. I think it's safe to say that you've impressed a lot of people here on your journey. (Transcript) Before arriving...

Diplomacy: Nicolas Sarkozy's warm embrace of America on Wednesday did much to improve a relationship his "sophisticated" predecessor had trashed. Ironically, it's likely to raise France's standing in the world.France's president seemed to know this. His quip that he proved it possible to "be a friend of America and win an election in France" went to the heart of his new approach: Being friends with the U.S. is a very good way to be popular with voters. Rather than undercut the U.S. behind the scenes and openly hurl insults, as the supposedly urbane Jacques Chirac did, Sarkozy harmonized the two...

Following is the speech that French President Nicolas Sarkozy delivered Wednesday in a rare address by a foreign dignitary to a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives. U.S. lawmakers gave the French leader a three-minute standing ovation and his address was met bursts of warm applause.Madam Speaker, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the United States Congress, Ladies and Gentlemen, the state of our friendship and our alliance is strong. Friendship, first and foremost, means being true to one's friends. Since the United States first appeared on the world scene, the loyalty between the French and American...

<p>U.S. and French presidents agreed on Wednesday to keep up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, signaling a further warming of once-chilly relations between Washington and Paris.</p> <p>In a sign that diplomatic ties have advanced beyond the era of "freedom fries," U.S. President George W. Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy found common ground against Tehran, insisting it could not be allowed to develop nuclear arms.</p>

Since Tony Blair left office, there have been few applicants for the vacant post of George W Bush's best friend. The Dalai Lama beamed his way through Washington recently, receiving a Congressional Gold Medal and a warm handshake at the White House. Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was proud to receive a Presidential Medal of Honour this week in recognition of her work as Africa's first elected female head of state. Major actors on the world stage have not been beating a path to the door of the man responsible for the debacle in Iraq, with one exception. This summer, within weeks...

Since Tony Blair left office, there have been few applicants for the vacant post of George W Bush's best friend. The Dalai Lama beamed his way through Washington recently, receiving a Congressional Gold Medal and a warm handshake at the White House. Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was proud to receive a Presidential Medal of Honour this week in recognition of her work as Africa's first elected female head of state. Major actors on the world stage have not been beating a path to the door of the man responsible for the debacle in Iraq, with one exception. This summer, within weeks...

France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, burst onto the Washington scene on Tuesday, clearly reveling in his first official visit to the White House and asking the United States to embrace him as a friend. Mr. Sarkozy has met President Bush several times, so the brief visit was a vehicle for Mr. Bush to reward him for his friendship and for the French leader to introduce himself and his team to official Washington. Setting aside the recent anger he has shown because of his divorce, Mr. Sarkozy backslapped and hugged his way through the day. He also proclaimed his determination to be...

Madam Speaker, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the United States Congress, Ladies and Gentlemen, The state of our friendship and our alliance is strong. Friendship, first and foremost, means being true to one's friends. Since the United States first appeared on the world scene, the loyalty between the French and American people has never failed. And far from being weakened by the vicissitudes of History, it has never ceased growing stronger.(snip) In times of difficulty, in times of hardship, America and France have always stood side by side, supported one another, helped one another, fought for each other's freedom....

WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday that his country would stand by Washington in the fight against nuclear proliferation in Iran and terrorism in Afghanistan. "America can count on France in its battle on terror," Sarkozy said in a speech that was filled with effusive praise for U.S. values and underscored his desire for warmer ties with Washington. "It is together that we must fight to defend and promote the values and ideals of freedom and democracy that men such as Washington and Lafayette coined and invented...

President Nicolas Sarkozy heads to Washington on Tuesday for a trip during which France and the United States aim to put their rift over the Iraq war definitively behind them, his spokesman said. "The aim of this trip is to seal the renewal of ties between France and the United States following the crisis of 2003 and to send a message to the American people through the president's speech to Congress," David Martinon told reporters. Relations between Paris and Washington deteriorated sharply under Sarkozy's predecessor Jacques Chirac who spearheaded global opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq. During the two-day...

Could this be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between America and France? Like Rick and Louis in "Casablanca," the two countries are reaching a new, post-Iraq-invasion appreciation of each other – long overdue, and due mostly to France's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy. It started with his different – for France – attitude toward the United States. (Former French President Jacques Chirac would never have vacationed stateside, let alone in New Hampshire, the way Sarkozy did this summer.) And it's being followed up with encouraging changes in foreign policy. For decades, Paris has prided itself on its separateness from Washington....

Nicolas Sarkozy backs US on Iran bomb By Henry Samuel in Paris Last Updated: 2:13am BST 22/09/2007 Mr Sarkozy said France did not want a war President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has directly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear bomb and urged "stronger sanctions" against Teheran. It was the latest sign that Mr Sarkozy is positioning France as America's key European ally in tackling Teheran's nuclear ambitions. Mr Sarkozy said France did not want a war, but flatly declared in a television interview that "Iran is trying to obtain an atomic bomb". He added: "That is unacceptable and I tell...

- France said on Friday it may be prepared to provide assistance to Iraqi troops and police, a further sign of a thaw in relations with the United States after its foreign minister visited Baghdad this week. Bernard Kouchner's three-day trip to Baghdad was seen as part of President Nicolas Sarkozy's effort to improve relations with Washington after a bitter fallout over the U.S.-led invasion under previous president Jacques Chirac. "Our intention is not to send French soldiers to Iraq. But we can perhaps see what we can do in terms of assistance to the police or the authorities that...

One of the key promises that Nicolas Sarkozy had made during his presidential election campaign last spring was to "correct" foreign policy "mistakes" made by his predecessor Jacques Chirac. Chief among these was Chirac's desperate efforts to prevent the liberation of Iraq from Saddam Hussain's regime of terror. Chirac failed to save his friend's regime but managed to do serious damage to relations with the US, Great Britain and more than 40 other nations that joined the coalition of the willing to liberate Iraq in 2003. Sarkozy's moves to correct the mistake started even before his election when he met...

PARIS: After years of shunning involvement in a war it said was wrong, France now believes it may hold the key to peace in Iraq, proposing itself as an "honest broker" between the Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions. The shift was one of the most concrete consequences yet of the thaw in French-American relations following the election in May of President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose administration no longer feels bound by the adamant refusal to take a role in Iraq that characterized the reign of his predecessor, Jacques Chirac.

Donald Rumsfeld is out of the Pentagon, Nicolas Sarkozy is in the Elysee presidential palace and -- voila! -- the nearly five-year drought in official Washington visits to France is over. With relations between Paris and Washington warming rapidly after nasty disagreements over the Iraq war, the rush is on to make up for lost time in the gilded government salons, air show chalets and scenic ports of the world's premier tourist destination. In the last two months, Pentagon generals flocked to the biennial Paris air show, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise stopped for a port call in Cannes on...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday at the end of his US vacation that France is popular again in the United States and hailed the countries' "terrific" relationship. "France is back, there are no problems between France and the United States, or between the French people and the American people," said Sarkozy on the eve of his departure from a two-week family holiday in New Hampshire. The leaders met at the Bush family residence in Kennebunkport, Maine, and dined on an American picnic lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers, though Sarkozy's wife Cecilia bowed out at the last minute citing...

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine - President Bush, using all the trappings of his family's oceanfront estate, worked on a cozier relationship with France and its new president Saturday. Bush welcomed Nicolas Sarkozy, the French leader known for his fast-paced style who may also be this White House's last true chance for better relations between the two nations. "He's bringing a good brain, good vision and goodwill," Bush said from his parents' compound, which juts out like a finger pointing into the Atlantic Ocean. Bush called Sarkozy a friend who could be counted on to speak frankly. "We have had good disagreements —...

"How can we help you in Iraq ?". This very amicable question, asked to State Department boss Condi Rice by Bernard Kouchner, speaks volumes about the new course taken by the Franco-American relationship. The "road map" charting this new course has been given by Nicolas Sarkozy to Jean-David Levitte, his special assistant for Foreign affairs, and to Bernard Kouchner. Both men have been instructed to strengthen the partnership with the United States in every possible respect, and to build as friendly a rapport with the Bush administration as possible. To put it simply, the goal was to break completely free...

First, the good news. America and France have patched up the most rancorous diplomatic dispute of the 21st century and agreed a ceasefire resolution designed to end the brutal conflict raging in Lebanon. And the bad news? There isn't a hope in hell that this resolution will curtail the violence. It is inconceivable that Hizbollah will agree to a "full cessation of hostilities" so long as Israeli troops occupy Lebanese territory. The militia's response to the deal was to fire a barrage of missiles, killing at least 10 Israelis. The Israeli military, for its part, has no intention of withdrawing...

U.S. Marines Train with French Marines in Desert Troops learn how to survive in Africa where temperatures can reach 125 degrees. By U.S. Air Force Capt. Martin Gerst Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa Public Affairs CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti, Aug. 2, 2006 -- Twenty-five U.S. Marines and one Navy corpsman recently completed a 10-day desert training course conducted by a French Marine regiment from a neighboring camp.  Marines from the 4th Provisional Security Company here were invited by the 5th French Marine Regiment at Briere de L’Isle Barracks to participate in the course.  The goal of the course is...

SOUTHWEST ASIA: The French Navy Carrier Air Wing returned to the coalition fight last week, flying their first missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom since November. "Our main mission while we are here is to support troops on the ground and contribute to reconnaissance efforts as well," said Lt. Col. Gerard Brunel, commander of the French detachment at the Combined Air Operations Center. It is Central Command Air Forces policy not to disclose the specific location of its forward headquarters or the CAOC.

SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 9, 2006 – The French Navy Carrier Air Wing returned to the coalition fight last week, flying their first missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom since November. "Our main mission while we are here is to support troops on the ground and contribute to reconnaissance efforts as well," said Lt. Col. Gerard Brunel, commander of the French detachment at the Combined Air Operations Center. It is Central Command Air Forces policy not to disclose the specific location of its forward headquarters or the CAOC. The French also hope to strengthen cooperation with countries in the Indian...

March 23, 2006--Only 18% of Americans agree that France is an ally in the war on terror. Almost as many believe France is an enemy in that war. But most (57%) say that France's status lies "somewhere in between" ally and enemy. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to regard France as an ally, and less likely to regard her as an enemy. Our November, 2004 survey, taken not long after a presidential campaign largely focused on Iraq and the war on terror, found that 31% of Americans were then willing to characterize France as an enemy in the war...

PARIS -- Once every five or six weeks, a French presidential adviser named Maurice Gourdault-Montagne flies to Washington to meet with his American counterpart, national security adviser Stephen Hadley. They spend several hours coordinating strategy on Iran, Syria, Lebanon and other hot spots, and then the Frenchman flies home. In between trips, the two men talk often on the phone, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Welcome to the French Connection. Though the link between the top foreign policy advisers of Presidents Bush and Jacques Chirac is almost unknown to the outside world, it has emerged as an important element of...

Task Force 150 is under the direction of the Combined Maritime Forces Component Commander. It operates in the support of the OEF in the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, and is responsible for Maritime Security Operations that combats the illegal movement of terrorists, weaponry and support materials in International Waters....