French Retreat from Afghanistan?

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has come under fire for his commitment to the NATO-led coalition effort to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The French Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, wants the parliament to vote on the continued presence of French forces in the war-torn country in spite of Sarkozy's pledge to increase French participation.

Calls for a French withdrawal from Afghanistan began to grow last week after France lost 10 soldiers in a Taliban ambush that was one of the deadliest attacks since the war began in late 2001.

Since former French leader Jacques Chirac left office, France has sought to strengthen ties with the United States, led by a conservative majority in the parliament headed by Sarkozy. Under Sarkozy, France has increased its cooperation with NATO and has sent additional forces to Afghanistan in response to coalition commanders' calls for more troops.

Sarkozy has been an advocate of a continued French presence in Afghanistan, despite public pleas for a withdrawal that were amplified after last week's ambush near the Afghan capital of Kabul. France has slightly more than 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, including 700 additional soldiers sent in since Sarkozy entered office.

Members of the French government opposed to Sarkozy's stance toward the United States have been critical of the French president and have been reluctant to increase French involvement in the NATO-led fight in Afghanistan. The Boston Globe cited a Le Parisien poll last week in which 55 percent of those responding to the survey believed France should withdraw its forces from Afghanistan. The same poll said 36 percent of respondents believed France should remain part of the coalition fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda in the country.

NATO has come under intense pressure to contribute more forces to Afghanistan in recent years as the Taliban has made a resurgence and is increasingly making gains throughout the country. Canada at one point threatened to withdraw from Afghanistan if other nations, such as France, did not increase their contributions to the war effort.

Sarkozy's commitment to the NATO effort in Afghanistan is not likely to be threatened by the proposed vote in parliament, where Sarkozy's conservative allies hold a majority. Still, the proposal is meant to put the French president on notice and to force him to recognize that a large segment of the French population is opposed to the commitment of French troops to the war.