Posted on 12/17/2006 12:44:46 PM PST by lizol
France to pull elite troops from Afghanistan
Last Updated: Sunday, December 17, 2006 | 1:54 PM ET CBC News
France will withdraw its 200 special forces troops from Afghanistan within weeks, authorities announced Sunday.
The elite soldiers have been serving under U.S. forces in the southeast, battling Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.
The rest of France's contribution in Afghanistan — about 1,100 troops — have been under NATO leadership and stationed in the relatively safe capital, Kabul. French authorities have resisted repeated calls from NATO leaders and individual countries in the coalition, including Canada, for the troops to be deployed in more volatile areas.
News of the withdrawal came amid growing militant strength despite the efforts of NATO's 32,800-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
France said the decision to pull the special forces troops, based in the southeastern city of Jalalabad, didn't indicate a weakening of its support for the mission in Afghanistan.
"There is a general reorganization of our [troops]," Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said during a visit to Afghanistan, in comments that aired on France-Info radio.
Among planned changes is a "withdrawal of special forces from Jalalabad in the coming weeks," she said.
Alliot-Marie said France would continue to supply air support and would add two helicopters near Jalalabad.
Capt. Sébastien Caron, a Paris-based spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said the country's NATO contingent would remain in Afghanistan.
France is among the countries in ISAF that have faced heavy pressure to boost their contribution in Afghanistan in recent months, including from Canada, the United States and top NATO leaders.
France and some other countries have been accused of putting too many restrictions on their troops, including refusing to let them serve in places where most of the militant attacks are taking place.
During the past year, Afghan, Canadian, U.S., British and Dutch forces have done most of the fighting and borne most of the casualties as the insurgency intensified.
They need to send those troops into those French Mulism areas and stop the nightly rioting.
Dam, I didn't know France had 200 men left.
Yup- they have a civil war going on in their own country- The 'elites' need to secure their own country before they can assure the world that they can secure other countries http://sacredscoop.com
France is leaving because we are not letting them fight enough ? Time for a cold beer after this....
Aren't "French" and "elite troops" a contradiction in terms?
Maybe the word "elite" is designated for troops who know how to fire a weapon.
Elite French troops are capable of surrendering at blindingly fast speed. :^)
They have some fine units, with a lot of combat experience.
Many people don't realize the French elite units do a lot of missions in places like central Africa.
french. Should have been treated like the Nazis.
Oh for heavens sake... they must be counting each man at least 20 times. There are not 200 true men in that entire country. And I am sure they will not be missed for one second as they exist the country. We can always get someone to step in and photocopy the week's menus for the cafeteria.
The amazing thing is that they stayed there for this long....
After all, the French now lead the world in one and only one thing (and it also happens to be their top export):
The fine art of SURRENDER!!!
The ONLY 'elite' force in France is the Légion étrangère (Foreign Legion).
Got any stories?
The French never associated with any other NATO force. I use to tell the Germans that if they attacked them again, we were on their side. The Germans would laugh.
France must be worried about a possible attack by an unarmed Green Peace vessel.
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