Victor Laszlo: Welcome back to the fight.
President Sarkozy of France will tell Gordon Brown next week that France plans to send an extra 1,000 soldiers to Afghanistan to bolster the battle against the Taleban. Senior ministers have told The Times that Mr Sarkozy wants to underline his commitment to the alliance during his state visit to Britain. The Ministry of Defence has made a working assumption that President Sarkozy will announce a deployment of "slightly more than 1,000 troops to the eastern region", one said.
France already has 1,900 soldiers in Afghanistan. President Sarkozy hinted at stepping up his engagement during a surprise visit shortly before Christmas. "There is a war going on here, a war against terrorism, against fanaticism, that we cannot and will not lose," he said at the time. Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
French diplomatic sources in London insisted last night that no final decision had been made. "We hope to talk this maniac out of it."
President Sarkozy is said to be still deciding whether the extra troops should be sent to the south to fight alongside the Canadians or east to the border with Pakistan. In the latter scenario, the presence of French troops would allow the US troops currently policing the border to be sent south. The operative word, I trust, is "fight."
Canada, which has 2,500 troops operating in Kandahar province in the south, had said that it would pull out next year unless another Nato country offered to send at least 1,000 soldiers to back them up. Remember Dieppe.
However, even the United States, which has criticised its European allies for failing to come up with more combat units, has some sympathisers within its ranks for Europe's difficulties. Huh?
Victoria Nuland, the US Ambassador to Nato, told The Times in an exclusive interview: "One of the problems is that European defence budgets are going down. When you look at the alliance, you don't see 30,000 troops sitting in a parking lot with nothing to do and waiting to be sent somewhere." I blame Bush.
There's a cure for this ...
The Americans are in the process of sending 2,200 Marines to the south. They will be used in special operations along the border and in places such as Musa Qala in Helmand. Another 1,000 US Marines will embed with the Afghan police. The Marines will be fully supported and have their own fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Speaking of which, perhaps JFM or A5089 could enlighten us on how the new French force will be equipped.
"But it's tough on the Marines," Mrs Nuland said. "This is the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. It's an enormous sacrifice for them. They have already been to Iraq twice and they should be having a rest. We're asking a lot of the soldiers." I believe the requisite observation is "Ms. Nuland, they're not soldiers, they're Marines."
By the way, the article is from the Times (of London) and the comments are worth a look if your blood pressure needs a boost.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/22/2008 09:09 ||
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#1
The French soldier, when well-led, will fight. I don't know if these will be Legionaires or French troops.
As a practical matter, having a unit of troops that is combat trained and experienced is not a bad thing for any nation.
#2
Victoria Nuland, the US Ambassador to Nato, told The Times in an exclusive interview: "One of the problems is that European defence budgets are going down. When you look at the alliance, you don't see 30,000 troops sitting in a parking lot with nothing to do and waiting to be sent somewhere."
Bravo to Sarko and the French! Damn the diplodink democracy for everybody moonbat and her troops in "parking lot" comment. The reason the Euros have declining military budgets is because they no longer have the Russian bear at their door and unitl most recently, they've permitted the United States to bankroll the GWOT.
#3
The reason the Euros have declining military budgets is because they no longer have the Russian bear at their door and unitl most recently, they've permitted the United States to bankroll the GWOT.
The reason is that the US guarantees their defence. It's time to get out of Nato. Let them defend them selves like grown-ups or live in submission like children.
#4
We've been making fun of the eurines for a long time now, but once upon a time, the best or worst thing that could happen to you (depending on whose side you were on) was to encounter a French or Belgian paratrooper on patrol in Africa. I hope they can bring some of that to the 'stan...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/22/2008 10:51 Comments ||
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#5
See a French Army or Legionnaire, buy them a drink.
They've finally been allowed to step up to the plate.
#6
France's problems have never been her troops. And now that the French are led by a Hungarian, they are headed in the right direction. Let's hope he stays in charge a long time.
#7
Even support troops will lift some of the burden off the US and are very welcome. The average French fight man is good. Leadership... not so much. But, many western nations have the same issue.
#12
Too bad the French don't have the equivalent of the Italians Carabinieri, especially the Spec Ops ones like the 1st Rgt in Livorno.
Yes they have it is called Gendarmerie: a branch
of the French military who does police work in rural areas with subsidiary duties as MP. They have some armor but AFAIK no artillery. In 1940 Gendarmerie's armored units were engaged against the Germans. AFAIK they don't have a special forces regiment only a (very good) SWAT like unit.
#14
You think this tweeked the diplos noses, wait'll they get a load of Sarkozy's comments on keeping their nukes (and subtly referencing the "Iranian issue").
Posted by: BA ||
03/22/2008 23:58 Comments ||
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(Xinhua) -- One policeman was killed and three others were wounded when a suicide bombing hit the main shrine of southern Afghan city Kandahar Friday, an official said.
Amanullah Khan, deputy police chief of Kandahar province told Xinhua that a suicide attacker came by bicycle and blew himself up near the police who were patrolling outside the famous shrine which was filled with people celebrating the traditional new year in Arghandab district.
According to Xinhua reporter on the spot, there could be more casualties on civilians.
Earlier, an explosion hit the northern city of Mazari Sharif, leaving at least four people wounded near the city's main shrine.
Over 220 people have been killed mostly in militant-related violence so far this year across Afghanistan, where anti-government militants have vowed to intensify their guerrilla-style attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2008 00:00 ||
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A group of unidentified armed men opened gunfire on a convoy transporting Puntland Finance Minister Mohamed "Gaagaab" Ali as the vehicles drove through town in the port of Bossaso, witnesses said. No one was reported hurt, but the incident underscored the growing trend of criminal acts in the relatively quiet regional autonomy in northeast Somalia.
Minister Gaagaab was quickly transported to his hotel in Bossaso, where extra armed police were deployed to keep guard. Puntland police have not yet identified the attackers. Conflicting reports are emerging with regard to the identity of the gunmen. One unconfirmed report said that the gunmen are members of the Puntland security forces, who are angry with the Ministry of Finance for the nonpayment of wages during the last five months. Sources close to Finance Minister Gaagaab suggested that the gunmen who attacked his convoy are soldiers loyal to Abdullahi Said Samatar, the region's recently-appointed Minister of Security.
An internal dispute has lingered between Mr. Gaagaab and Mr. Samatar since January, when Puntland President Adde Muse appointed former police official Samatar to head the Ministry of Security. Samatar has demanded that his Ministry's budget be independent of Gaagaab, who personally manages the government's finances, including all the ministries' budgets.
This article starring:
Abdullahi Said Samatar
Adde Mus
Mohamed "Gaagaab" Ali
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2008 00:00 ||
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At least 1 people has met his fate and 17 wounded, including 2 seriously injured in riots erupted between fanatic tribal groups in Beriane town, 550km south Ghardaia, southern province. Dozens of commercial shops have been burned in the clashes. According to eye witnesses, the riots broken out after skirmish opposing some young people while celebrating the Prophets Anniversary (May his drip clear up), these confrontations lasted till 4: am. The National Gendarmerie and police forces have managed to ease the tensions, but the situation has worsened during the week end, turning the town into a hell.
Thanks to a great number of National Gendarmerie and Police forces, Beriane town has got back its usual calm. The province security commission, headed by the Prefect, has decided last weekend convening hundreds of National Gendarmerie and Police riot forces, which has set up checkpoints at the towns accesses. By yesterday morning, the town has recovered it calm, unless some insignificant skirmishes persisted, while the province Prefect has gathered several meetings attended by the regions senior citizens, along the week end, at the aim to bring the calm back to the usual very calm Saharan town, Beriane.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2008 00:00 ||
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Three Malian soldiers were killed and around 20 were captured by Tuareg rebels who attacked a military supply convoy near the northeastern border with Algeria, Malian military authorities said on Friday. First reports of the ambush, which occurred early on Thursday 18 km (11 miles) from the border garrison town of Tin-Zaouatene, had said four soldiers were wounded.
The attack triggered a series of gunbattles between troops and rebels which went on for most of Thursday, a defence ministry official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. He said the army suffered three dead and several wounded in the attack. There were no details of rebel casualties. Another military officer later told Reuters that some 20 government soldiers were captured by the rebels, who pulled back under cover of nightfall towards the Algerian border. "We're in control of the situation now," the ministry spokesman said, but gave no more details.
The fighting took place in the northern sector of Mali's Kidal region where al Qaeda kidnappers are reported to be holding two Austrian tourists seized last month in Tunisia. There was no suggestion of any link between Thursday's attack and the kidnapping of the Austrians.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2008 00:00 ||
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Canada's Supreme Court gave a young Canadian prisoner held at Guantanamo Bay the chance on Thursday to try to force Ottawa to release secret documents that could help show his innocence. Lawyers for Omar Khadr, who is charged with murdering a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan in a firefight when he was 15, will argue before the court next week that his detention violated international law.
Khadr, now 21, was taken prisoner in 2002. He said in an affidavit that U.S. interrogators repeatedly threatened to rape him and Canadian government officials told him they were powerless to do anything.
Defense lawyers say interrogations of Khadr in Guantanamo, carried out by members of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, had violated Canada's charter of rights. "That argument in turn requires a lot of analysis of whether or not what is going on in Guantanamo is contrary to international law," Khadr's lawyer Nathan Whitling told Reuters. "If they (the judges) were to accept our arguments, that would be a basis for directing the Crown to produce the documents that we want to use as part of his defense."
Unlike other Western governments that have intervened in the cases of their citizens held in the U.S. prison on Cuba, Ottawa has not asked Washington to release Khadr, saying his case is serious.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Lawyers for Omar Khadr, who is charged with murdering a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan in a firefight when he was 15, will argue before the court next week that his detention violated international law.
Of course his detention violates international law. He should have been shot on the battlefield.
As if the Canadian Supreme Court can actually do anything about his release. This stunt is all about using a poster boy to embarrass the Canadian Government.
This kid has become the Canadian Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Posted by: Creling Darling of the Lichtensteiners8341 ||
03/22/2008 9:13 Comments ||
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#2
You'll know this case has run its course when omar appears on American Idol...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/22/2008 10:56 Comments ||
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#3
Creling Darling has it right. It's just another shot at the Canadian Guv. He ain't gettin' out and iffen he does he ain't gettin' out up here and iffen he does he ain't stayin' out for long. Wonder how long he'd last out in the bush, working a trap line and arguing International Law?
Two insurgents, one belonging to the ULFA and the other to the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel), were killed in two separate gunbattles in Assam, police said on Friday.
The gunbattle took place on Thursday night and arms were seized from the dead militants, police said. Manindra Rai, a suspected ULFA militant, was killed in a gunfight with a team of police and army personnel at Gouripur in Lower Assams Dhubri district. In another gunfight with army personnel at Maibongdisha in Central Assams North Cachar Hills district, a hardcore militant of the DHD (Jewel) Joydeep Maibongsa was killed on Thursday night.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2008 00:00 ||
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Pakistani troops shut down three FM radio stations Friday after the stations aired a speech by a pro-Taliban cleric. The military said it confiscated a large quantity of illegal arms, ammunition, audio cassettes, and what it described as "provocative literature." At least seven suspected militants who worked at the stations were arrested. The raids took place in Pakistan's Swat Valley, a restive resort area in Pakistan's northwest. On Thursday, the stations had broadcast a recording of a fiery speech by Maulana Fazlullah, a radical Muslim cleric who has tried to enforce Taliban-style Islam in Swat. Pakistan's security forces have been battling Fazlullah's supporters since last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Imagine the faithful tuning in this morning to discover their favorite stations are now reprogrammed as easy listening, 70s-80s rock and talk radio (American style)...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/22/2008 10:55 Comments ||
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With current ROE it seems unlikely - unless neighborhood patrol was celebrating a wedding or a soccer victory and shots came at the helicopter.
Six members of a U.S.-backed neighborhood patrol group were killed early on Saturday in a U.S. helicopter strike on their checkpoint in Salahuddin province, police and a local tribal leader said.
The U.S. military said it was checking the report.
#4
They may well be CLCs on the US payroll, but that doesn't preclude them from planting bombs. The video on the Apache will provide the proof. If guilty, then weed out the turncoats in their chain of command.
Posted by: ed ||
03/22/2008 15:19 Comments ||
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#5
ed: They may well be CLCs on the US payroll, but that doesn't preclude them from planting bombs.
This isn't all that unlikely. The easiest thing for our enemies is to take our paychecks and plot against us. Wouldn't be the first time it's happened, either. Just because someone takes your money doesn't mean he's on your side.
As was said about the Afghans, "You can't buy their loyalty; you can only rent it."
#1 RD,
I've already noticed (more) stories lately of US forces whacking putative allies/friendly fire/innocent civilians. Later, the story is retracted but to the casual Obama supporting voter, the mental image of incompetent trigger happy Cheney-directed killbots lingers. MSM says, "Oops, our bad!"
BAGHDAD - Clashes involving fighters firing mortar shells and US-Iraqi forces in southwest Baghdad killed six suspected insurgents and wounded one, Iraqs interior ministry and American officials said on Friday. The clashes occurred in the Saydiyah neighbourhood on Thursday, the officials said.
There was an engagement yesterday in the Saydiyah area involving an aerial weapons team and an enemy mortar team, a military spokesman, Major Kirk Luedeke, told AFP. Six enemy combatants were positively identified, engaged and killed by the Aerial Weapons Team, he said.
An additional wounded combatant was treated for his wounds and taken into custody for further questioning, Luedeke said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/22/2008 00:27 ||
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#2
"Over the last year, Saydiyah has become one of the principal battlegrounds for the territorial war between Shi'a militias and Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in Baghdad. Located in the western end of the Rashid Security District, Saydiyah was formerly a mixed neighborhood, with a Sunni majority.
Prior to the invasion in 2003, many officials in Saddams government lived in the area, and following the outbreak of the war, it became a stronghold for the Sunni insurgency.
Although Al-Qaeda and other Sunni insurgent factions initially cooperated in Saydiyah, it appears that Al-Qaeda slowly pushed out the other Sunni groups, while simultaneously intensifying violence against the Shi'a residents of the neighborhood.
The reaction from Shi'a militias and Shi'a-dominated government security forces led to extraordinary violence during the summer of 2007."
A 13-year-old boy was wounded Thursday night in a terror attack targeting the car in which he was travelling near Hebron. The boy suffered light to moderate wounds and was evacuated to Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem for medical care.
Light to moderate is someone's wounds. Your wounds are serious.
Hospital officials reported that the boy sustained wounds in the leg, apparently from shrapnel, and was being treated in the trauma unit.
Israel Defense Forces troops arrived at the scene and began combing the area in search of the assailants. The IDF believes that the explosion was caused by an explosive device at the side of the road. At first, the incident was thought to be a shooting attack aimed at the vehicle in which the boy was traveling, but the driver reported that she had heard a very loud explosion.
The militant Fatah offshoot Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack, Army Radio reported.
Earlier Thursday, militants opened fire at an Israeli bus south Nablus. The bus sustained light damage but no casualties were reported.
On Tuesday, a Palestinian assailant stabbed a Haredi rabbi in the neck in Arab East Jerusalem, but medical workers said his wounds were light and not life-threatening.
The attack Tuesday came less than two weeks after a Palestinian from east Jerusalem shot and killed eight Israeli students at a Jewish religious school in west Jerusalem. Since then, tensions in the city have been high, and on Sunday, dozens of Jewish extremists tried to attack the Palestinian gunman's home.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2008 00:00 ||
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Three Qassam rockets were launched on Friday from the Gaza Strip and landed in open fields in Israel. No injuries or damage was reported. On Thursday, a Qassam fired by militants in Gaza struck a western Negev kibbutz.
In a separate incident on Thursday, the IDF spokesman's office reported that a roadside charge was detonated as an army patrol passed along the border fence, also in the central Gaza area.
The incidents of the past two days have occurred amid new signs that Israel is moving closer to a cease-fire with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, as Egypt, with U.S. backing, pressed Hamas to stop its rocket fire into Israel and urged Israel to halt military strikes.
The truce efforts intensified after a fierce round of fighting that began in late February and killed more than 120 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians, as well as three Israelis.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
A literal black hole of irony, that headline is...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/22/2008 10:53 Comments ||
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#3
Well, see, the Palestinians this time were aiming the rockets at open fields, cuz there's a cease fire. These were just, y'know, training rounds. Had there been no cease fire, they would have shot them at a school or the other usual targets.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
03/22/2008 15:34 Comments ||
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(Xinhua) -- The Philippine military on Friday morning clashed with a handful of members of the extremist group Abu Sayyaf in southern Philippine province of Sulu, killing at least one rebel, local Tv channel ABS-CBN News said.
Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino said troops have yet to identify the slain Abu Sayyaf member as pursuit operations are still ongoing. Seven magazines of an M16 rife with 170 rounds of ammunition, a mobile phone, and Abu Sayyaf communication documents were also found.
Founded in 1990s, the 370-member Abu Sayyaf is responsible for a series of atrocities inside the Philippines in recent years including a 2004 ferry arson in which more than 100 people were killed. The group is listed by both the U.S. and the Philippine governments as a prominent international terrorist organization.
The Philippine military, with the assistance from the United States, have stepped up the operation to root out Abu Sayyaf, primarily in the group's stronghold of southern Philippine provinces of Sulu and Basilan.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Russian bacarrat...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/22/2008 22:51 Comments ||
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Clashes have broken out between Palestinian factions in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon. The fighting was between members of the Fatah faction and an Islamist group called Jund al-Sham.
It took place in the densely populated Ein el-Hilwe refugee camp, which is located on the outskirts of the southern city of Sidon. Fighters launched rockets and exchanged gunfire in the middle of the camp, causing dozens of civilians to flee. Lebanese and Palestinian officials said one Fatah member was killed and four others wounded, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Tension had been high following the arrest by Fatah on Thursday of Samir Maarouf. He is a commander in the Jund al-Sham, a relatively small faction in the Palestinian camp, which is believed to have around 50 armed members. Fatah handed Mr Maarouf over to the Lebanese army, accusing him of violence.
Formed in 2002, Jund al-Sham - literally the Army of Greater Syria - is a radical splinter group.
This article starring:
Samir Maarouf
Jund al-Sham
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2008 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
At least 1 people has met his fate and 17 wounded, including 2 seriously injured in riots erupted between fanatic tribal groups in Beriane town, 550km south Ghardaia, southern province. Dozens of commercial shops have been burned in the clashes. According to eye witnesses, the riots broken out after skirmish opposing some young people while celebrating the Prophets Anniversary (May his drip clear up), these confrontations lasted till 4: am. The National Gendarmerie and police forces have managed to ease the tensions, but the situation has worsened during the week end, turning the town into a hell. 
Three Malian soldiers were killed and around 20 were captured by Tuareg rebels who attacked a military supply convoy near the northeastern border with Algeria, Malian military authorities said on Friday. First reports of the ambush, which occurred early on Thursday 18 km (11 miles) from the border garrison town of Tin-Zaouatene, had said four soldiers were wounded.
when he was 15, will argue before the court next week that his detention violated international law.
Pakistani troops shut down three FM radio stations Friday after the stations aired a speech by a pro-Taliban cleric. The military said it confiscated a large quantity of illegal arms, ammunition, audio cassettes, and what it described as "provocative literature." At least seven suspected militants who worked at the stations were arrested. The raids took place in Pakistan's Swat Valley, a restive resort area in Pakistan's northwest. On Thursday, the stations had broadcast a recording of a fiery speech by Maulana Fazlullah, a radical Muslim cleric who has tried to enforce Taliban-style Islam in Swat. Pakistan's security forces have been battling Fazlullah's supporters since last year.
BAGHDAD - Clashes involving fighters firing mortar shells and US-Iraqi forces in southwest Baghdad killed six suspected insurgents and wounded one, Iraqs interior ministry and American officials said on Friday. The clashes occurred in the Saydiyah neighbourhood on Thursday, the officials said.
Clashes have broken out between Palestinian factions in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon. The fighting was between members of the Fatah faction and an Islamist group called Jund al-Sham. 
