Comments on: No Additional French Troops for Afghanistan

By: markm

markm — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:03:50 +0000

Meh, sounds like we are backing down on Afghanistan anyways...apparently all of a sudden it's to quagmirey. For about seven months there has been talk of moving anywhere from 15,000-30,000 U.S. troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to put a beat-down on the Tali and AQ...now that they've actually looked at it there appears to be a case of the wobbles brewin'.

By: The American Pundit » Blog Archive » France: No More Troops for Afghanistan

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:51:01 +0000

[...] Via Outside the Beltway. [...]

By: Bithead

Bithead — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:14:03 +0000

So much for the value of the hind-lick maneuver in international relations.

By: Steve Schippert

Steve Schippert — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 03:48:59 +0000

Well, one of the keys is signaled in the third graph of the IHT story, James.

In Washington and Brussels, the United States is finalizing details over which command posts France will be offered when and if Sarkozy wins parliamentary approval for a policy shift that has prompted unexpected political opposition.

When I read it earlier today, that graph jumped out and screamed at me. The unfortunate natural inclination of political (and politically-inclined military) officials is one of status and command rather than contribution and deployment.

Sarkozy's heart is in the right place. His parliament and much of the dust gathering military staff officers? Not so much.

But their warfighters are quite excellent. No gripes from the field. ya just gotta get 'em there.

Sigh.