Former French Prime Minister Alain Juppe, appointed to the position of Defense Minister this weekend, announced today that the French government will use the upcoming Lisbon Summit to discuss its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“Afghanistan is, I would say, a trap for all the parties involved there,” Juppe insisted, adding that France was determined to hand over control of French dominated regions to the Afghan government as soon as they could.
The comments seemed to support previous claims by Juppe’s predecessor Herve Morin that France would hand over one of its two zones at some point next year, and fuels speculation that the Sarkozy government wants out of the nation entirely before the 2012 election, to avoid it being a political issue.
Though the war is unpopular across virtually every NATO member nation, it is particularly so in France where some 70% of voters oppose the conflict. Sarkozy’s support for the war has kept France involved, but with even a strong majority of his own party now squarely against it, keeping the war going is a politically losing proposition.
keeping the war going is a politically losing proposition.
what a shame, no care for human loss or suffering every thing is politically motivated.
go to church on sunday and you're saved, do your killing through out the week and
back to church on sunday, is that what christianaty is?
Sad…Everywhere else, support of the war is a political liability. Here, it is a political enabler. Really sad.
How about pulling out all the French troops and sending Sarkozy and his ilk to Kandahar to deal with the Taliban. Now that would boost popularity in the upcoming elections!
Mainly it is a financial trap! America has created several military Disneyland which is also mainly for the profit of the so called "defense" industry. Imagine with the help of the UN, UNSC thugs – there is also impunity.
Of all people, the French should be able to recognize a military and political trap- they got their clocks cleaned in the 50's in Indochina and Algeria and haven't been the same since. And guess what? We went into Vietnam a scant few years later and even after watching what the French experience was and made the SAME mistakes and…… got our clocks cleaned, and haven't been the same since. People make fun of the French military, but the sad thing is we've followed their footsteps around the world and we've utterly failed to learn from whatever successes or mistakes they have made. I daresay that future generations of world citizens will look at the US in the same patronizing way- and do so at their peril.