France to lead beefed-up UN force in Lebanon

[Flagg]

France to lead beefed-up UN force in Lebanon


PARIS, Aug 14, 2006 (AFP) - France and Italy are leading the scramble to beef up the small UN monitoring force in southern Lebanon which will be key to making the tenuous ceasefire that started Monday durable.

Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, unanimously adopted Friday, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is to swell from its current 1,190-strong force to 15,000 international troops.


Here is a provisional breakdown of countries prepared to contribute troops:

FRANCE

French President Jacques Chirac, whose country drafted the UN resolution with the United States, has said France will assume its responsibilities, "particularly concerning the new UNIFIL force."

Reports say France would command the UNIFIL deployment.

The defence ministry has said it is "too early" to put a figure to France's troop contribution, although press reports have spoken of several thousand. A French official, speaking anonymously, said 4,000 "seems a feasible number."

A French military planning officer was due to arrive at the UN peacekeeping operations department in New York Monday. In addition, five military engineers were expected in Lebanon to assess road transport reconstruction needs.

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=32267&name=France+to+lead+beefed%2Dup+UN+force+in+Lebanon

[Solo_in_MD]

1. I hope they do better than they have in the past

[wakeme2008]

2. Just IMHO they will do better than a US lead force

:shrug:

[Solo_in_MD]

16. Perhaps

The US has technology currently deployed that would greatly aid the supression of rocket attacks that the IDF and for that matter the French do not have. From a military perspective we would be the optimal choice.

From a political perspective, it would be suicidal.

[Igel]

5. They won't.

What are the odds that a French commander is going to tell a French or Thai unit to engage in fighting. Do Thai's really want their soldiers killed to keep the peace between Hezb and Israel? Do the French?

The Lebanese Army won't take on Hezb.

[RethugAssKicker]

3. Thank God its not US led!

[Az_lefty]

4. There's no US troops to put in there anyway...

[Schema Thing]

6. Just think if Israel bombed the UN force now...

...that it has a French face on it. France would bitch slap them back to BC.

[Mudoria]

7. When has France..

bitch slapped anyone since Napolean?

[Schema Thing]

8. I think you need to read more and listen to dumbass rednecks less

[Solo_in_MD]

10. He is right WRT to the French military performance post WWI

This ineptitude has in turn crippled their domestic defense companies competitiveness. Without significant government support, ala Airbus, France would be finished as a military supplier as well.

There is also an ego part of this. France still think it is a major player and has been given to fits of pique when shown otherwise. There are a number of well publicized incidents that in and of themselves do not matter, but taken as a whole amply demonstrate that. Their single largest embarrassment was the defeat of the EU Constitution.

France also senses opportunity in the ME. Their peacekeeping efforts in the last decade have not gone well. However for the first time since WWII they will be up against military forces that are as well equipped as they are (Hezbollah) or locally superior to them (Israel). If it works, they will regain some of the stature they have lost, and it may well help their arms export sales. If it doesn't, it will continue their downward slide. Its a crap shoot for them too. Were it not for their status as a nuclear power, France would have ceased to be a player decades ago.

[bronxiteforever]

11. The bottom line is American power is slipping away faster than France

We are not an honest broker anymore and our military is in ICU thanks to the destruction of the forces in Iraqnam
I also think the French are much stronger militarily than the US stereotype
see some info on French military
"The French Navy is also a force to be reckoned with. It operates the only CVN outside the U.S. Navy, the Charles de Gaulle. It also has a force of 12 destroyers (two guided-missile destroyers of the Cassard class, a single Suffren-class destroyer, two Tourville-class destroyers, and seven Georges Leyuges-class destroyers), and fifteen frigates (five Lafayette-class and ten D’Estienne d’Orves-class frigates). In addition to the four SSBNs, France also operates six Amethyste-class SSNs. This navy is slightly behind the Royal Navy – the French have a carrier that operates the Rafale, which outperforms the British Sea Harrier, but the British have a larger submarine force and the Royal Navy arguably has the best personnel on a man-for-man basis.

The French Air Force is also one of the best in the world. Among its aircraft are the Mirage 2000, which comes in several variants: The Mirage 2000C, which is primarily an air-defense fighter; the Mirage 2000D, a ground-attack version capable of carrying a wide variety of bombs and missiles join with the Mirage 2000N, which is the backbone of the French Air Force’s nuclear deterrence arm. France also has the Rafale, a powerful multi-role fighter that has some stealth features. France is retiring the older Mirage F1 and Jaguar fighter-bombers, while the Mirage 2000Cs are being upgraded to the Mirage 2000-5, making them potent multi-role aircraft."

[Solo_in_MD]

13. The US is not going to be in the peacekeeping force

and French prior performance in past peacekeeping roles is questionable.

The French have decent equipment but where will it operate from? France has not stated that they will commit the De Gaulle to support Lebanon. The only air assets they will have are a few helicopters. If things go badly, all they will be able to do is hunker down and take it, though that is typical of peacekeeping missions. Given the French history with Israel, I am also surprised that Israel agreed to them as the lead nation, but there were few other options.

As for overall French military power, it is still focused on nuclear weapons. The political establishment in France sees that as their claim to military stature, though it is not clear on whom they would use it these days. Their navy is mostly pier side, check the sortie and training rates. Depending on how you rate things their air force in not top 5 in the world currently, esp in terms of pilot skills and training.

The real issue is if the upgraded UNIFIL is really going to do the job, specifically stop rocket attacks and disarm Hezbollah. If it doesn't its Kosovo or Darfur all over again, and the UN will get yet another black eye. If they do, they will be as targeted just like the IDF by the Hezbollah militia. If they don't the IDF will continue air strikes with justification.

[bronxiteforever]

19. You raise good points as to relative strength of French Forces

but the issue comes back to Iraq and Shrub's failure. Shrub neutered the American forces probably for 10 years in Iraq and what did he get for it? Nada-and the Isreal/Lebanon war is an outcome of GOP foreign policy.
If the US was engaged in the ME would this have happened? Maybe but maybe not. We can't talk to Syrian but we talk to Pakistan and other dictatorships-the recent terror alerts was based in Pakistan not Syria, not Iraq and probably not Iran.

As to Disarming Hezbollah-it will be like disarming Texas-impossible. The US can't disarm Iraq and I would be pretty confident that the US forces would fail in Lebanon too. Modern weapons are so cheap finding these rockets is pretty much a no go. The idiocy of Israel in this war continues to amaze me. Israel can't occupy Lebanon period.so the diplomatic solution would have been the appropriate course. No to mention the moral course considering the thousands of fighters Israel created by the action.
-which comes back to the political solution issue-the US encouraged this action and is therefore inherits Israel's blunder.
What if Shrub favored caution and dipolmacy instead of bombs? Would we need a peace keeping force?

[Flagg]

20. Wow, we have an expert on France here

thanx for the laugh anyway.

And please stop worrying about our military forces.
We're doing fine, thank you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

[bronxiteforever]

9. Its true- imagine if we listened to them about Iraq and didn't invade

it would be a much worse place than it is today. :sarcasm:

[AllieB]

12. Obviously you haven't read about the Algerian Civil War

The Algerians gained their independence, but the French were brutal.

Maybe you've forgotten that there's 5000 French troops helping us in Afghanistan also.

[Solo_in_MD]

14. But they lost.

Even recent actions in North Africa have followed that pattern. However, this time they are trying to disarm a militia that is well equiped thanks to Iran and Syria. They also have to deal with Israel who is quite a bit more powerful than their local force will be.

[Yupster]

25. I doubt if there will be

any attempt to disarm Hezbullah. I'll be surprised if there is.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. Ivory Coast, 2004.

also involving an attack on French peacekeepers.

[Pavulon]

21. That led to a mass casualty

event. French troops fired crew served weapon into crowd. Video floated around the web.

[Pavulon]

22. When they bombed hezbolla

after they lew up their barracks in Beirut. They are perfectly willing to kill hezbolla and I am sure there are members of the french military who like the USMC would be happy to deal out payback if the opportunity arises.

Considering they have a significant airforce and naval capability including cruise missiles I think they are quite capable of defending their troops.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. Cheese-eating surrender monkeys.

Did I win?

:shrug:

[Supersedeas]

24. a serving of Peacekeeping Fries for you...

[Centered]

17. WooHoo StarTrek Resolution!!!

Sorry, but I've been waiting for Resolution 1701.... n/t

P.S. I'm proud of you George Takei (but I still wish you would have made some Captain Sulu movies)

[featherman]

23. France has a long affinity with Lebanon dating back to

colonial days. Beirut was once termed the "Paris of the Middle East". All of us who remember it in its glory days are greatly saddened by its brutal destruction since the civil war.

As far as military prowess, the French are an elite and modern military force. Not quite sure why DUers would glorify the ignorant right wing slurs of fools like Dennis "cheese eating" Miller and his ilk that stemmed from France's quite reasonable opinion that it was a catastrophic mistake for the US to invade Iraq. Freedom Fries indeed!

France's military history dating back centuries speaks for itself and needs no defense from me. War is hell and something we all need to continue to struggle against. But all major powers have won some, lost some over the course of their history.

Guess I'm just over-reacting to the disgusting anti-French propaganda that spewed out over all the media when they "failed to support" our insane adventure into Iraq.