France to send 2,000 troops to Mideast

Marvelous.

PARIS - President Jacques Chirac announced Thursday that France will send 2,000 soldiers to southern Lebanon and hopes to retain command of the U.N. peacekeeping force, as a top European Union official said international troops could start deploying within days.

Hey, if they’re going to surrender, then they might as well do it in force. 

1. They are being equipped with easy-drop rifles and handy white flags.

   Posted by Peter on August 24, 2006 at 2305 hrs




2. Q. What do you call 10,000 Frenchmen with their hands in the air?

   A. The French Army.

   Posted by on August 24, 2006 at 2306 hrs




3. Having no real opinion on France politically or militarily… must you guys insult everyone who might be of use to us?  I’m really asking.

   Posted by scott on August 25, 2006 at 1305 hrs




4. If you think a UN peacekeeping force will be of any use to us, you really haven’t been paying attention over the last few decades.

   Posted by Jed on August 25, 2006 at 1311 hrs




5. If you think pissing off the citizens of every ever allied country on earth simply means we will get fewer UN peacekeeping missions, you don’t understand the war on terror - or much else, for that matter.

   Posted by scott on August 26, 2006 at 2219 hrs




6. If you think pissing off the citizens of every ever allied country on earth simply means we will get fewer UN peacekeeping missions, you don’t understand the war on terror - or much else, for that matter.

   If you think our “allies” opinions of us will change one iota based on stuff like this, you don’t understand our place in the world, or much else, for that matter.

   Posted by Jed on August 27, 2006 at 0737 hrs




7. Perhaps you think our behavior has no effect our global reputation.  I simply point to how low it has sunk in the last few years as evidence that it does.  You may make an interesting case about how it’s all worth it in some calculated, larger sense, but I don’t think you can seriously deny that our relationships with our allies in Europe have worsened in the last 3-4 years.  I maintain that this worsening of relationships cannot continue if we are to maintain our influence in the world - and if we are to effectively fight against Islamic extremism and other threats.

   Posted by scott on August 27, 2006 at 1138 hrs