I'm not the French Military Basher that some here are. However, following this line in the article, the peice spends all the rest of the words parcing the effectiveness of "pin prick" aggression that France is capable of. It also throws in how much more powerful they can be with American help. The article doesn't do much to intimidate the enemies of France.
Contrast this to any reports about the Russian Military. They are ruthless, inhumane, killers that leave death and destruction at every step.
America used to keep a stable of Warrior Generals under lock and key. Break Glass in case of emergency type Military Leaders. Schwarzkopf and Franks may have been the last of the Great Warriors. The best generals were always the hardest to rein in by politicians. And that is the way it should be. Give them a mission and let them execute with no strings attached. Patton, Eisenhower, Macarther, Grant, Sherman, Washington, Jackson... These were guys that Presidents begrudgingly unleashed on enemies. These were the men that men would fight and die for. These were the men that loved our country enough to orchestrate death and destruction in whatever brutal form necessary to accomplish the mission.