A French general drew fire from the country’s top officer on Friday for criticising the US strategy in Afghanistan, after the American commander there was sacked for a similar reason. General Vincent Desportes was quoted by Le Monde newspaper as saying that “the situation is worse than ever” in Afghanistan, where 100 international troops were killed in June battling the Taliban.
His comments were condemned by the French chief-of-staff Admiral Edouard Guillaud, who described them as “irresponsible” coming from a French general, while French troops were serving in the Afghanistan mission. Gen. Desportes, who heads the elite French officers’ training college CID, criticised as a half-measure US President Barack Obama’s decision to send 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan and said the US strategy was not working.
His comments came a week after Mr Obama fired the US’ Afghan war commander General Stanley McChrystal for blunt talk of a lack of progress in the war and criticism of US security officials. Gen. Desportes was quoted as saying: “The traditional counter-insurgency doctrine, as employed by McChrystal for a year, with restrained use of firepower, air and artillery attacks to reduce collateral damage, does not seem to be working.”
Adm. Guillaud said on Europe 1 radio: “It is an ill-timed comment and I would call it irresponsible because it comes from someone who is on active service and who therefore has credibility.” He insisted that international forces in Afghanistan were pursuing a “good strategy,” endorsed by all Nato leaders. —AFP