The French are pulling their weight in Lebanon

Re “A few good Frenchmen,” editorial, Aug. 25

France has been the first country to respond concretely and immediately. What you called the “initial” offer was an emergency measure to strengthen the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon without waiting for the discussions in New York to be completed.

French President Jacques Chirac wanted to act responsibly and set the stage for a safe and effective operation in a volatile environment. It will be a risky mission. In 1983, 58 French soldiers were killed in suicide attacks, which also targeted the U.S. Marines’ barracks and killed 241 people.

Like all the leaders of potential contributing countries, Chirac wanted an effective chain of command and robust rules of engagement for UNIFIL, as well as assurances from Lebanon and Israel that the force would be in a position to fulfill its mission on the ground. As soon as Chirac received those guarantees, he announced that two additional battalions -- up to 2,000 soldiers -- would bolster the French UNIFIL contingent on the ground.

With the 1,700 French marines off the coast of Lebanon, responsible for ensuring UNIFIL’s resupply and logistics operations, the French military presence in and around Lebanon will be up to 3,700 troops. It will be by far the strongest commitment made by any country and the first among the permanent members of the Security Council. It is far from a “stingy” commitment.

DENIS PIETTON

Charge d’Affaires

French Embassy in the U.S.

Los Angeles

*

France is vilified for thinking twice before sending troops to an environment in which there may be asymmetric warfare and for which rules of intervention were at best murky. Incidentally, the most vocal critics of France are in the U.S., which has proved in Iraq how badly an intervention with poor planning can turn.

A further irony is that France is accused of not putting its money where its mouth is, when the U.S. has turned from helping Lebanese shake off Syrian occupation a year ago to judging as legitimate the bombing of Lebanon’s infrastructure.

And the U.S. has not deployed a single soldier to ensure that the cessation of hostilities holds. Self-examination may be in order before insulting the honor of close U.S. allies such as France.

SERGE VERSILLE

London