French officials held a “handover” ceremony today in the Kapisa Province of Afghanistan, marking the withdrawal of the last 500 French combat troops from the nation, and ending their role in direct combat, a bit ahead of schedule.
France decided to speed the pullout after several soldiers were slain earlier this year in a “green-on-blue” attack, and after the election President Hollande decided to speed it even further, promising to have all combat troops out by the end of the year.
Combat troops, but not all troops. Some 1,500 French soldiers remain in Afghanistan in “non-combat roles,” and are expected to stay for the foreseeable future. Most are focused on shipping equipment back to France, while a smaller number are involved in training.
The French are the latest of several NATO nations looking to withdraw from Afghanistan, with most hoping to have at least the combat part of their mission over by the end of 2014. The US has a deal in place to keep troops in Afghanistan through at least 2024.
Damn, just when I was getting used to calling them french fries again, now we gotta go back to calling them freedom fries.
These French believed that this Afghan thing would be a piece of cake like Lybia where they, in a cowardly and French-like way, bombed the hell out of Lybians. If they are so macho and want to help the terrorists in Syria, why don't they send their soldiers there?
Don't they know this means it-will-all-have-been-in-vain? Like when you wake up with a huge headache and you're laying in vomit, how could you miss that other half-gallon of hundred proof? Wussies.
2024, eh? The only reason they want that is because by that time they'll have been there so long, a-la Korea, Japan, Germany, etc. That it'll become yet another defacto American post and as routine as apple pie. This is what they want and they mustn't be allowed to get away with it. Do I think they'll try? Hell yes! Look at Kosovo and the "forgotten" bases still there after all these years. Why in the hell are we still there? National security? No. Just the furtherance of empire on your grandkids overextended credit cards.