I don't quite get the French, example #26754404056453. Via the Corner, this quote in a Wall Street Journal Europe article:
The charming French minister of defense, Michèle Alliot-Marie, says she is not sending troops unless and until the U.N. can guarantee their safety.
Guarantee their safety? They're TROOPS, dammit! THEY...ARE...SUPPOSED...TO...BE... IN...HARM'S...WAY!!! They get paid to be shot at so that nobody else does. That's what most people's armies are for, though I grant you in France's case it can't be assumed.
I'm willing to guess the troops themselves are fairly robust, brave types. The Resistance proved there are French people with cajones. But their minister gives me the impression they're a bunch of nancy-boy [not necessarily Nancy-boy] wusses who need coddling.
Oh, I know this is just political posturing by a slimy politician, but there's something surreal and postmodern about keeping your troops safe. Very French, either way.
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