Since Independent Sources has found itself posting a few articles deriding the French for everything from their screwed up economy to how bad of a friend they’ve historically been to the US, we thought that it was appropriate to point out something they are doing right–even if we could only find one.

France appears to be starting to recognize that the war on terror is not a U.S. war after all, nor one in which they can sit on the sidelines and hope that it goes away on its own. Here is what Paris has been doing as of late, namely significantly boosting their military presence in Central Asia and Afghanistan.

French fighters have been flying sorties under U.S. command in Afghanistan since Aug. 16, and France also took command this month of an international naval task force on terrorism-related patrols in the seas between the Horn of Africa and Pakistan.

Since earlier this month, French Mirage-2000 fighters have been flying alongside U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthogs to assist American and Afghan ground troops near Kabul, Ghazni, Delaram and Qalat, said Capt. David Small, spokesman for U.S. Central Command Air Forces in Qatar.

Mirage F1-CR fighters also are handling reconnaissance missions, shooting intelligence video and imagery for targeting purposes, while French cargo planes supply bases in the theater.

A pair of French C-135 tanker planes, a version of the Boeing 707, are running air-to-air refueling for Mirages and Belgian and Dutch F-16s. By month’s end, French tankers also will be refueling U.S. A-10s, said Michel.

France’s current deployment is its largest since the Afghan campaign’s early days, Michel said from Afghanistan’s Bagram air base. It includes some 500 French pilots, air controllers and ground crew who arrived this month at U.S.-operated bases in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Qatar.

Of course, France has not changed its position on Iraq nor is it applying suitable pressure on the Palestinian Authority to control terrorism. Finally, their inexcusable and jealousy-driven actions with regard to Lance Armstrong are probably the biggest indicator that the French are still French to matter what they do in Afghanistan.

source: A/P (Yahoo News)

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 28th, 2005 at 10:49 pm by Insider and is filed under War, France, We Taunt You. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.