France pulls SF troops from Afghanistan
The French have done it again. At the start of 2007, they will withdraw their contingent of 200 special forces soldiers from Afghanistan, at a time when NATO is asking for more troops.
From Reuters:
"We are reorganizing our presence because ISAF has spread across the country and so we are also making a change, which is to withdraw our special forces from Jalalabad," Alliot-Marie told France Info radio.
She said France would instead step up training of the Afghan army, particularly its special forces.
Some 1,100 French troops will remain in the region of Kabul as part of the ISAF, the French defense ministry spokesman said.
Ten French troops have been killed since the conflict in Afghanistan started in October 2001. The majority belonged to the special forces unit based in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
We certainly appreciate the (little) help that France has given us in the GWoT, but this has got to be a devastating blow to the NATO-lead forces there. recently, Sen. John McCain asked for more troops in the region.
Afghan, U.S., Canadian, British and Dutch forces have done most of the fighting in Afghanistan over the past year, McCain said, at a time when ambushes, suicide bombings and other attacks have multiplied. Those nations have also borne the brunt of the casualties.
[...]
Several NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan _ including Germany, France, Spain and Italy _ restrict the use of their forces to relatively peaceful areas of the north.
That, McCain said, makes it "extremely difficult for our NATO commanders to call on them for assistance when needed in combat zones."
He also pressed European leaders to increase their efforts to stem the flood of heroin out of Afghanistan, which he warned could become "Europe's Colombia."
Maybe the "relatively peaceful areas" are even too much for them.
Go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!
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