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International News Title: France Deplores 'Assassination' Of Troops As It Threatens To Pull Out Of Afghanistan Alain Juppé, France's foreign minister, said the unarmed soldiers had been victims of an "assassination," and President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered an immediate review of security for troops training Afghan soldiers. The killings during a training exercise at the Gwan military base in Kapisa province followed a similar attack last month when an Afghan soldier shot and killed two members of the French Foreign Legion. Friday's attack wounded a further 15 and brought the total French death toll in the Afghan campaign to 82. The Afghan attacker was captured alive. Scores of Nato troops have been shot dead in recent years by their Afghan partners raising fears of widespread Taliban infiltration and underlining the tense relations on the ground between the allies. Gérard Longuet, defence minister, and the army's chief of staff are due in Afghanistan to investigate recruitment policy in the Afghan army, Mr Sarkozy said. "If we are not satisfied with the level of security, we will draw the consequences," he said. "I will go so far as to order an early withdrawal of our troops. We are there as friends of the Afghan people. We cannot accept that an Afghan soldier fires on French troops." France currently has 3,600 troops in Afghanistan, many of them involved in training Afghan recruits. France has the fifth biggest contingent of troops in the international coalition, behind America, Britain, Germany and Italy. Around 1,000 are due to leave by the end of the year as part of a phased withdrawal due for completion by the end of 2013. Britain currently has 9,500 troops in Afghanistan. Mr Sarkozy is under domestic pressure to bring national troops home as he faces a tough re-election battle in April and May. "Today there is clearly a new truth. It is not the first time that an Afghan soldier ... has assassinated French soldiers," Mr Juppé said. He called it a question of "responsibility to adapt our timetable for withdrawal by taking into account these new circumstances." François Heisbourg, senior defence adviser at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris, said the Afghan government was unable to guarantees safety for the French and an early withdrawal was now likely. He said: "Fundamentally what Sarkozy pointed out is that the business model is not working. "Are we are going to dutifully wait until 2014 getting our guys shot up in the sports fields of the Afghan national barracks or are we going to get out earlier?" A classified study for the United States military completed last year said the spate of attacks by Afghan soldiers was a "rapidly growing systemic threat" which could undermine the war effort. Building and training the Afghan forces so they can take the lead in securing the country is the core of Nato strategy and the forces train and patrol side-by-side. However the report, called A Crisis of Trust and Cultural Incompatibility, found each side deeply distrusted the other. American soldiers characterised their Afghan comrades as drug addicted, lazy, thieving and incompetent, while Afghans saw the Americans as arrogant, bullying and violent. A report released this week into the killing of nine Americans at Kabul airbase last year heard the Afghan Colonel who opened fire resented the presence of foreign troops and told others he "wanted to kill Americans" even though he had no apparent links with the Taliban. Mr Sarkozy's chief Socialist rival and current front-runner, François Hollande, said in a statement that he would aim to pull out French forces by the end of this year if he becomes president. Mr Juppé dismissed suggestions Mr Sarkozy's threat of an early withdrawal was tinged with electoralism. Given the current tragedy, he said, "considerations about whether it counts in an electoral campaign have not even crossed our mind".
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
What a mess!
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