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Politics : Bush Administration's Media Manipulation--MediaGate? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Skywatcher who wrote (8213)	8/18/2006 1:39:40 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 9838

France defends sending 200 troops Friday, August 18, 2006; Posted: 4:15 a.m. EDT (08:15 GMT) PARIS, France (AP) -- French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie on Friday defended France's decision to send just 200 additional troops to reinforce the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon and reiterated that the force needs a clear mandate to operate effectively. "I can't let it be said or implied that France is not doing its duty in the Lebanese crisis," the minister told French radio RTL in an interview. "Since the start of the crisis, France is on the frontline and it is the top contributor." France announced on Thursday it was doubling its contingent to 400 troops. It currently leads the UNIFIL force in southern Lebanon, and its decision-making on its role in a strengthened force has been closely watched. The announcement from Paris was a disappointment to some at the U.N. who expected more, though it did not dissuade countries from pledging a total of 3,500 troops for the expanded force in a meeting in New York on Thursday. Alliot-Marie pointed out that France was willing to continue leading the force as it expands from the current 2,000 troops to as many as 15,000. The strengthened force is expected to work with about 15,000 Lebanese troops to restore peace to southern Lebanon after more than a month of violence between Israeli troops and the Lebanese-based Hezbollah militia. Alliot-Marie also said she would keep in place 1,700 troops mobilized in the region who in recent weeks evacuated French and other foreign nationals from Lebanon and sent in humanitarian aid from aircraft based on French warships off the Lebanese coast. France and Italy -- another potential European contributor -- have said the peacekeeping mandate is not explicit enough, and demanded the U.N. set clear rules of engagement for troops bolstering the force. "You have to tell the troops why they are there. To support the Lebanese army, certainly, but to what extent? In what fields? Secondly, we also need to know what are the material and judicial means at our disposal," said Alliot-Marie. "You can't send in men and tell them: 'Look at what is going on, (but) you don't have the right to defend yourself or to shoot'," she said. French officials are particularly concerned about how the expanded force is expected to interact with Hezbollah, the militant group whose fighters who shot nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel during more than a month of fighting with Israeli troops. Alliot-Marie said troop contributions to the expanded UNIFIL force should come from a great number of countries, both in Europe and the Muslim world. "What we must absolutely avoid is giving the image of a Western world imposing peace on the Muslim world," she said.