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NEWS > EVERYONE ELSE > FRANCE READY TO WITHDRAW SOLDIERS AFTER A LITTLE SHOOTING IN AFGHANISTAN
FRANCE READY TO WITHDRAW SOLDIERS AFTER A LITTLE SHOOTING IN AFGHANISTAN
January 21 2012
Paris, France – Even the most rabid of peaceniks would have a hard time arguing, and few have, that the current war in Afghanistan was unnecessary. When it first started there was a real and potent threat in the country, cradled by a corrupt government that, by all rights, had only done ill by its people and deserved to be removed anyways. The war was valid and just and because of that, it drew global support.
Now, more than a decade after the war began, it still lingers on. Osama bin Laden is dead, Al Qaeda is pretty much wiped out, and the Taliban has had its tail clipped. There is a government, not perfect, but far less corrupt in charge of the country and it even has its own police and military force now. Kabul is very far from New York, no doubt, but the country is much better off than it was a decade ago and that is prompting many people to call for foreign troops to leave.
Afghanistan is, though, still a dangerous place as evidenced by the killing of four French soldiers in the country as they trained Afghan forces, which has prompted the government of that country to consider pulling out their forces early because, well, because they are French.
“If security conditions are not established clearly, then the question of an early return of the French Army will arise. It will be a difficult decision that we will have to take in 
the coming days, but I have to do it while being able to face the French public and our soldiers,” said President Nicolas Sarkozy after the ambush attack. “France and its army is at the side of its allies, but we cannot accept that a single one of our soldiers be killed or wounded by our allies. It is unacceptable; I will not accept it.”
France has accepted such death in the past, but those were before he was embroiled in a tough election battle.
The four troops were shot dead by an insurgent dressed as a member of the Afghan Security forces, a technique which has taken off in recent months because it works really, really well.
NATO has set a target of 2014 for complete withdrawal of forces from the country, at which time it will likely descend into the chaos and anarchy for which Afghanistan is known.
“This would be a blow for the whole coalition, or at least the part of the coalition which depends on French troops, which makes sense I guess. Luckily that isn’t much anymore, the French influence in the country has been diminished over the last little while and they have been relegated to little more than custodial duties,” said Scrape TV International analyst Gustav Hander. “That happens when you threaten to leave every other week. It just gets so that people can’t really rely on you anymore and, because they are French, that dismissal causes them to make even more threats about leaving and it just goes on and on, endlessly really. This shooting incident is just a tipping point, they were already on the way out anyway and frankly, the country can do without them. I’m sure the Afghans will be fine without the French, as most people usually are.”
French military officials have been concerned about morale since the shooting, and since a shipment of stale croissants last month caused a near rebellion amongst the ranks.
Emil Uliya, International Correspondent
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