Eight years ago the French were called the “cheese-eating surrender monkeys” who opposed the Iraq war. ...
But something has happened on the bombing runs over Libya. France played a major role in this war, winning grudging respect from a Pentagon that has long looked down on many European militaries. Although Americans led the way in knocking out Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s air defenses with volley after volley of Tomahawk missiles, French warplanes flew the first raid into Libya and, along with the British, have flown the bulk of the airstrike missions.
Let's not get carried away here. A little nuance is in order, no?
Look, I do respect the French military. They are a full spectrum force--although with some funding problems that create serious gaps in capabilities and limit how much force they can deploy along that spectrum.
But since World War II French civilian leadership has spent more time trying to stick it to us than in being our ally. The snooty civilian leaders are the ones who have earned the title "cheese-eating surrender monkeys."
Should the Libya War earn France some credit? Yes, I credit their new leadership for taking the lead, working with others, and remaining engaged until victory (as much as I doubted they could outlast Khaddafi). Let's see how long this crowd remains in power.
But on the military side the picture is mixed. The French navy and air force committed only a narrow slice of their assets--which did a good job. But it was a medium role in a small war. Lord knows how much they had to strip from their non-deployed forces to keep their small force in battle these last five months. And America still had to fill capability and logistics gaps. Heck, the war in many ways was a 5-month live-fire exercise with Libya as the bombing range--we didn't even consider it a "war-war" since the loyalists basically didn't shoot back! Seriously, that's what the administration argued.
So give the French military some credit for fighting and defeating a small opponent as part of an alliance effort. They have some good people and some good equipment. But let's not get carried away.
Oh, and I never heard the joke about the French army knife (answer: it has 49 corkscrews and a white flag). Heh. Good one. Unfair. But still funny. Sorry guys, Paris has tainted your reputation and you've got a long way to go in the popular image of your profession.
UPDATE: Thanks to Legal Insurrection for the honor of blog post of the day (for August 30th). Even in a post mostly defending the honor of the French military, the jokes about the French military always draw attention. Like I said, you guys in the French military have a long way to go.
