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French soldiers in Afghanistan.

Eddie Mair | 11:01 UK time, Monday, 16 March 2009

Emma Jane Kirby will report for us tonight.

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For the blog, she writes:

"I just came back from an embed with the French army - the Chasseurs Alpins or mountain infantry - in NE Afghanistan in an area called Kapisa.

The report will be about France's role in Afghanistan. They have around 3000 troops and have been there since 2001. The myth is that the French are just a peace keeping force - but there was a lot of NATO praise for them when they left the relative safety of the capital and sent 700 extra troops to Kapisa last year. In August last year they lost 10 men and 21 others were seriously wounded in a Taliban attack - that's when France really woke up to the fact that it was engaged in war - it was their worst military loss in 25 years..... It's true however that they do not witness what the Brits and Americans do in the South - there are still moans that they don't shoulder their fair share of the war's risk. The report will also look at Sarkozy's decision to rejoin NATO's military command - many French people fear this will mean they will be stuck in Afghanistan forever and will be under huge pressure to send extra troops. It's a diffcult dilemma for the President - if he sends more soldiers he will certainly please NATO but he will also certainly face a backlash at home - more than half of French people do not understand why France is involved in a war 5000kms from their border and want the soldiers to come home."

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