tngirl
08-25-2006, 05:00 AM
Now this is really rich!! Chirac is saying these troops are not needed? Obviously the expanded presence there has not been enough to control the situation and Hezbollah was allowed to grow next door to the UN Peacekeepers.
LINK TO FULL STORY (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060825/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_peacekeepers)
PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac said Friday that he does not believe the expanded U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon needs 15,000 troops, and he called that figure "excessive."
A U.N. resolution calls for the force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, to expand from 2,000 troops to 15,000.
Chirac, who has pledged a total of 2,000 French troops, said the territory in question was too small to require that many peacekeepers.
"My feeling is that the figure that was put forward at the beginning of discussions — 15,000 for a reinforced UNIFIL — was a figure that was quite excessive," he said.
LINK TO FULL STORY (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060825/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_peacekeepers)
PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac said Friday that he does not believe the expanded U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon needs 15,000 troops, and he called that figure "excessive."
A U.N. resolution calls for the force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, to expand from 2,000 troops to 15,000.
Chirac, who has pledged a total of 2,000 French troops, said the territory in question was too small to require that many peacekeepers.
"My feeling is that the figure that was put forward at the beginning of discussions — 15,000 for a reinforced UNIFIL — was a figure that was quite excessive," he said.