'Badly Shaken' Fwench Commandoes Ordered to Run Like Schoolgirls

Proving once again (for anyone who needs further proof) that the French are second to none when it comes to the art of the ignominious retreat, French president Jacques Chirac has ordered the withdrawal of 200 "elite" French commandoes from Afghanistan.

From the Ottawa Citizen:

French special forces tracking Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan have been ordered home by President Jacques Chirac because of the "worsening security situation," Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper reported yesterday. The group of 200 elite soldiers have been in the war-torn country since 2003, where they have been assisting their U.S. counterparts in hunting the al-Qaeda leader and Taliban fighters around Spin Boldak, near the south-eastern border with Pakistan, and an area around Jalalabad, in the north-east. Mr. Chirac's decision to send them was intended to reassure the U.S. that France was still a willing ally in fighting terrorism despite its stance against the U.S.-led offensive in Iraq. But, according to unnamed military sources cited in Le Journal du Dimanche, Mr. Chirac gave the go-ahead during a defence counsel meeting to pull the men out of the country by early 2007. According to the report, the troops were badly shaken by the recent death of nine members during a mission.

I question use of the word "elite" to describe troops who are utterly unmanned by the loss of nine men.

Via Dr. Rusty Shackleford of The Jawa Report.