topics
tools
Expatica countries
Index Last Var.(%)
BEL 20 2117.66 -0.08
DAX 6323.19 -0.26
IBEX 30 6401.2 -2.17
CAC 40 3042.97 -0.16
FTSE 100 5356.34 0.09
AEX 292.76 0.00
DJIA 12454.83 -0.60
Nasdaq 2837.53 -0.07
FTSE MIB 13057.26 -0.74
TSX Composite 11532.48 -0.38
ASX 4120.2 0.96
Hang seng 18800.99 0.47
Straits Times 2787.22 0.52
ISEQ 20 501.76 0.16
You are here: Home News News Focus France upends NATO's exit strategy in Afghanistan

News Focus

archive
Enlarge font Decrease font Text size


06/02/2012France upends NATO's exit strategy in Afghanistan

France upends NATO's exit strategy in Afghanistan France's decision to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan a year earlier than planned deals a blow to the US-led war effort and threatens to trigger a "rush to the exits" by other NATO members.

Washington, D.C. -- President Nicolas Sarkozy's surprise announcement to pull out his country's forces in 2013 "upends a well-planned, well laid-out NATO strategy of transition in Afghanistan going through 2014," said Damon Wilson, executive vice president of the Atlantic Council and former White House official.

At a meeting of defense ministers last week in Brussels, an anxious United States will be engaging in a round of "damage control" to shore up the alliance's agreed upon timeline, Wilson told reporters.

"You're going to look for the US trying to have as many defense ministers to their press conferences, restating their commitment to the NATO strategy" for a 2014 withdrawal, he told an event organized by the Atlantic Council think tank.

Days after the killing of four French troops by a renegade Afghan soldier, Sarkozy said France's combat forces would leave in 2013 and called on other NATO states to shift to an earlier timetable.

Sarkozy's abrupt change in course represents a "stunning" unilateral move that poses "a real challenge to NATO leadership and (President Barack) Obama's leadership," said Ian Brzezinski, a former Pentagon official under George W. Bush's presidency.

Sarkozy had done much to repair France's ties with Washington and NATO in the wake of a bitter falling out over the Iraq war, winning praise for his stance on Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear program and his leading role in the NATO-led air war in Libya.

But the decision to speed up the French military withdrawal from Afghanistan despite a NATO consensus is seen as a betrayal in Washington and London and will damage Paris's credibility in the alliance, analysts and former officials said.

"One of Sarkozy's most prominent achievements has been to rehabilitate France's reputation in London and in Washington, that France can be a trusted ally, that it's taking its place within NATO," said Jeffrey Lightfoot, deputy director of Atlantic Council's International Security Program.

For the Taliban insurgency, France's early exit is "a smashing propaganda victory" that encourages targeting European troops to damage a "fragile political consensus" within the coalition, Lightfoot said.

The right-leaning Wall Street Journal portrayed Sarkozy as bowing to domestic political expediency, but argued the Obama administration had opened the door for a mass exodus by setting a withdrawal deadline in the first place.

"Still, it would be unfair to lay too much blame on Mr. Sarkozy, who is only trying to get ahead of the coming stampede for the exits," the Journal wrote in an editorial.

"That was bound to happen the moment President Obama announced a timetable for the surge and a date-certain for withdrawal, thereby giving the Taliban hope that they could bide their time while giving America's coalition partners no good reason to stay."

The pace of the French troop drawdown will play a crucial role in how other coalition partners react, Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, told AFP.

"The key thing for me is how fast France downsizes in 2013, which is shaping up as a crucial year. If most of the current forces stay through 2013, I think it's not a huge problem," he said.

But if the bulk of 3,600-strong French contingent withdraws next year, NATO's scheduled 2014 drawdown could unravel, he said.

Dan De Luce / AFP / Expatica


0 reactions to this article

Be the first person to add a comment

General rating: Not rated yet

Rate article:    Add my rating



0 reactions to this article

Be the first person to add a comment
Discussion Forums

Television in France

Buy fake passports, driver's licenses, identity cards

Eating & Drinking in France

Buy fake passports, driver's licenses, identity cards

Humour in France

Buy fake passports, driver's licenses, identity cards

Shopping in France

Buy fake passports, driver's licenses, identity cards

Films, Shows & Events in France

Buy fake passports, driver's licenses, identity cards

participate in the forums

Inside Expatica
Management culture in France

Management culture in France

This handy guide from Expertise in Labour Mobility includes information on business hierarchy, negotiations, and etiquette.

American associations and clubs in Paris

American associations and clubs in Paris

A listing of organizations in the Paris area that cater primarily to Americans living in France. Updated April 2011.

British associations and clubs in Paris

British associations and clubs in Paris

Our handy guide to the British community in Paris, from cricket clubs to Scottish country dancing lessons to where to find a jar of Marmite.

Anglophone services in France

Anglophone services in France

Here's a short introduction to our Banking section for those living in France, from how to open a bank account to Islamic banking and investments.