Did France participate in the war in Afghanistan?

The French war in Afghanistan sent troops.

However, on October 28th, 65438/KLOC-0, representatives from many countries will hold an international conference on Afghanistan in London, England. Both British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US President Barack Obama strongly appealed to their allies to send more reinforcements to Afghanistan. However, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has refused to send more French soldiers to Afghanistan, which embarrassed Obama and Brown, and Sarkozy was criticized as "shameful".

As the host, Brown hopes to find a strategy to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan at this meeting, including persuading NATO countries to send more reinforcements to defeat the Taliban. But French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that he would not send more soldiers, but only more consultants and aid workers. Sarkozy said in an interview: "If more people are needed to train Afghans, help the local police to take responsibility, or help the Afghan people, why don't I do that?" But if it is to send combat troops, there is no way out. "

At present, there are 3,750 French troops stationed in Afghanistan, which is one of the countries with the largest number of Coalition forces stationed in Afghanistan. The United States has 65438+ ten thousand soldiers, Britain has 1 ten thousand, and Germany has 4300.

Willie Rainey, spokesman of the British Ministry of Defence, said: "We welcome the French troops already stationed in Afghanistan, but it is unacceptable if France refuses to perform its duties and refuses to send more troops." Patrick Mercer, a Conservative MP who served in the army, said: "Sarkozy's behavior is shameful. He is avoiding the essence of the problem. How many obligations has France undertaken in Afghanistan? " Many people say that Sarkozy's refusal to send more reinforcements may be a political trick he played before the London meeting.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in an interview with British media before his visit to Britain that France would send more troops to Afghanistan under suitable conditions. Sarkozy's visit on 26th is his first visit to Britain since he took office, and it is also the first visit to Britain by a French president since 12. The media commented that Sarkozy's two-day state visit aims to create a new era of mutual trust with neighboring countries.

In an interview with British media in Paris on 25th, Sarkozy said that France must win the war in Afghanistan. If other French allies are prepared to hold their ground, he is willing to send more troops to Afghanistan to strengthen assistance to the Afghan people and provide better military cooperation.

Sarkozy said: "Can we tolerate failure in Afghanistan? Of course not ... Does France want to quit Afghanistan? Obviously not. "

Sarkozy also said: "If all the reasons and conditions are established, why not send more troops?"

Canada has previously said that if other allied forces do not provide more assistance, it will withdraw more than 2,500 soldiers on the battlefield in Afghanistan. Canada expressed the hope that 65,438+0,000 troops would strengthen their anti-Taliban activities.

Sarkozy stressed that France and Britain should cooperate on national defense, immigration and economic issues. He also expressed appreciation for Britain's vibrant national strength and called for the establishment of a "new Franco-British brotherly friendship".

According to the arrangement, during the 36-hour visit, Sarkozy will visit Windsor Castle as a guest of Queen Elizabeth II, hold talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and deliver a speech in the British Parliament.

Sarkozy's talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the 27th included many heavyweight issues, such as expanding France's military role in NATO and Afghanistan wars, developing joint French-British nuclear energy projects, immigration and the credit crisis spreading from the United States to Europe.

France will further intervene in the war in Afghanistan. This is the policy adjustment made by the French government to Afghanistan after President Sarkozy took office.

This adjustment made by France has a strong political symbolic significance, indicating that France's attitude towards Afghanistan has not changed, and it can even be said that it is more positive and firm, which is in sharp contrast with the position of former French President Jacques Chirac when he was in power.

Some analysts pointed out that after Sarkozy became president, he began to adjust his diplomatic strategy, including France's more distinct intervention position on the Afghan issue. Sarkozy delivered an important foreign policy speech at the annual meeting of French diplomatic envoys abroad held in Paris not long ago. When talking about Afghanistan, he announced that France decided to strengthen its presence in Afghanistan, especially the training of local troops. At the same time, France will also increase its reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan. Defense Minister Moran's visit to this region and the dispatch of mirage jets Group and 150 French soldiers to Kandahar can be said to be the concrete embodiment of this strategic adjustment.

It is worth noting that just as the United States asked its western allies to send more troops to Afghanistan and the EU countries generally adopted a cautious stance, France changed its original attitude and adopted a position of active intervention. This is actually a positive response to American demands, so it is bound to be welcomed by the United States. Since taking office, President Sarkozy has tried to improve relations with the United States in foreign policy and open up a broader diplomatic space for France. He took a different position from his predecessor on hot issues such as the war situation in Iraq and the Iranian nuclear issue. Now, Sarkozy has decided to increase his involvement in the war in Afghanistan, which will inevitably have a positive impact on the long-neglected French-American relationship. An intriguing phenomenon is that while France announced that the Phantom Fighter was stationed in Kandahar, the new British Prime Minister Brown criticized the United States, saying that the United States "won the battle but lost the war" in Afghanistan. He accused the Bush administration of attaching importance to Iraq, but neglecting Afghanistan, the real front line of counter-terrorism.

France's active participation in the war in Afghanistan also shows the positive changes in the relationship between France and NATO. France is a member of NATO. However, in the 1960s, President Charles de Gaulle decided to quit NATO's military integration organization. Today, although France participates in NATO activities, it has always been outside the military integration organization of this organization. At present, the military peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan is authorized by NATO, which is an important action of NATO outside the traditional European defense zone. France directly threw its ace fighter, mirage jets Group, into Kandahar, an important town in southern Afghanistan, which actually expanded the scale and degree of France's participation in NATO military operations. President Sarkozy recently made it clear that he hoped that the defense construction in Europe and NATO reform could be strengthened. Therefore, the decision of Paris is regarded as a new sign that France wants to return to NATO in an all-round way, which is also an appropriate way for France and the United States to try to improve relations.

There is naturally opposition in France, and the leader of this force is olivier Besancourt. Due to the impact of the economic crisis, the ultra-left forces in France have revived, and many people have begun to believe in anti-capitalist ideas. Besan Si Nuo seized this opportunity, took advantage of people's anger, set off a "new May storm" and held a large-scale protest. At this time, France has become a period of slight turmoil. As for the reason, it is not only to maintain the so-called justice and peace, but also to confuse people in the internal power struggle.

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