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Sarkozy flies to Kabul after 10 French soldiers die
Albuquerque News.Net
Wednesday 20th August, 2008 (Barry Newhouse)
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy visited French troops in Kabul Wednesday to pay respects to ten French soldiers who were killed in a fierce battle just 50 kilometers outside Kabul.
The battle was the deadliest combat encounter since the start of the Afghan war in 2001.
Nicolas Sarkozy rushed to Afghanistan hours after reports that the soldiers had been killed in fierce clashes with some 100 Taliban militants in the mountains east of Kabul.
Speaking before French troops at a NATO base in the Afghan capital, the president said France pays tribute to the memory of the soldiers.
He said they fulfilled their duties to the fullest and it cost them their lives, which reminds us that being a soldier is a job like no other.
Mr. Sarkozy also visited the 21 troops wounded in this encounter, which NATO officials described as an ambush of a French-led reconnaissance mission in mountainous terrain.
There are more than 2,500 French troops in Afghanistan and Humayun Hamidzada, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said this attack would not affect France's commitment to the country.
He said the French president stressed that the incident would not affect relations between Afghanistan and France and he reassured Mr. Karzai of France's commitment to the struggle against terrorism.
Violence across Afghanistan has sharply risen this year, along with record opium harvests. Afghanistan's president has blamed his own government and international allies for failing to pay enough attention to the militant problem. Afghan officials have also said militant sanctuaries across the border in Pakistan have allowed the groups to grow stronger.
Pakistani officials counter that Afghanistan's booming opium trade and Afghan government corruption have worsened the militancy problem, which they say is causing instability in their own country.
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Citizen, Southeast, USA
08-20-08, 10:57 PM |
Sarkozy flies to Kabul after 10 French soldiers die
I’ve heard from the U.S. news organization, “National Public Radio” that there is a lot of criticism of President Sarkozy regarding the presence of French troops in Afghanistan. As a natural born U.S. citizen I cannot understand why ANY French citizen would criticize the BRAVE and honorable service of the French military serving in Afghanistan! I CAN understand French criticism of the U.S. war in Iraq. However, to the French who oppose France’s involvement in the fight for Afghan freedom I can only say why?
We, in the U.S. greatly appreciate the support of France in the fight against Islamic extremists in Afghanistan. We are not bigots! We are not anti-Islam!
We are in Afghanistan to help that war ravaged country recover from decades of violence, oppression and Islamic extremism. We are not there to cause harm we are there to help.
To hear that some citizens of France oppose the brave efforts of the French military to help the U.S. military fight the Taliban and Al-Qaeda makes me extremely ANGRY!
Do these French citizens who oppose France’s involvement in Afghanistan really think that Al-Qaeda has NO DESIRE to attack Paris? If so they are horribly mistaken.
Al-Qaeda has said that their goal is to spread Sharia Law around the globe. This is far more dangerous than Communism. Al-Qaeda is a barbaric, terrorist movement that will attack ANY WESTERN country that does not capitulate to their radical vision of a world ruled by Sharia law.
I guess when Al-Qaeda kills hundreds or even thousands of Parisians on French soil, then, and only then, will the French nation realize the true gravity, and the true threat that Al-Qaeda and like minded Islamic extremists pose to ALL free societies!
I am SHOCKED that the French public has NOT fully supported the U.S. in the fight of our lives to thwart the spread of Islamic extremism and oppressive Sharia law!
Why hate the U.S.? Why? We support France, we are allies of France and we will always support France if she should ever come under threat or attack. Why then, do YOU, the French have such a low opinion of the U.S.!!!!!!????
I personally think that too many French citizens misinterpret American confidence as arrogance. We are not arrogant! We KNOW that we NEED the support of our friends in Europe. Please do not let us down. Sixty plus years ago many young Americans gave their lives to free France from the grip of the Nazis. Would France do the same for us? I wonder...
Sincerely,
John Ingram, Alabama, United States of America.
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