In a notable departure from prevailing practices, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called an immediate halt to French participation in training the Afghan Army after one of the trainees killed four French troops and wounded a further fifteen.
Normally these attacks, which are alarmingly frequent, are dismissed as the work of Taliban infiltrators and cited as evidence of desperation on the part of the enemy.
Since his ascent to the Presidency Sarkozy has tried to compensate for his diminutive stature by taking a Napoleonic strut across the world stage. He claims success for his interventions in Ivory Coast and Libya, although it will take many years for the nature of that "success" to be determined.
So why does this incident in Afghanistan have him threatening to pull out of the country altogether?
Because it's election time in France, that special time that comes around every few years in the western democracies when the leaders have to pretend that they bend to the will of the people!
And suddenly Sarkozy is a man of peace.
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