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Position: France should commit more troops
This position addresses the topic 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.
For this position
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"The difficulties experienced by the UN in implementing Resolution 1701 and enlisting sufficient troops for an expanded international force in Lebanon raise serious doubts about the international community's determination to counter the threats posed by extremists elements in the Middle East."
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"Realistically speaking, the point of this multilateral exercise cannot be to stop Iran's nuclear program by diplomacy. That has always been a fantasy. It will take military means. There would be terrible consequences from an attack. These must be weighed against the terrible consequences of allowing an openly apocalyptic Iranian leadership to acquire weapons of genocide."
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"But significant participation by France, which has always claimed a special role with Lebanon and Syria as well as global political and military responsibilities, is vital to the U.N. force, as Secretary General Kofi Annan said to you [Chirac] this week."
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"With France in the lead, the great powers of Europe are confirming the US right's prejudices. During this summer's war between Israel and Hizbullah, they certainly talked the talk - pressing for a ceasefire, demanding an international force be placed between the combatants. But now it's time to walk the walk, and the Europeans are finding they'd rather stay on their chaise longues."
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"Over the past month, Mr Chirac has salvaged part of his tattered reputation by playing his hand skilfully at the UN. If he fails to increase France's commitment to Lebanon, his hopes of re-establishing himself on the world stage will turn out to be a charade. France and Europe have a chance to play a real role in the Middle East - and they should take it."
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"If only questions about the command structure vexed the French, there would be little cause for worry. But there are ample signs that more is at work here than a table of organization. Maybe the French and other Europeans have just plain lost the political will."
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"France got Israel, Lebanon, the United Nations and the U.S. to put their faith in its plan — which included a major presence for French troops as part of the planned 15,000-troop U.N. contingent. Now, with little sense of duty or obligation, it has basically reneged."
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"It would be tempting to laugh about France's paltry commitment of 200 additional peacekeepers for Lebanon, if it weren't so dangerous. After insisting for years that they be treated like a superpower, the French are behaving as if they have no responsibility for helping dig out of the Lebanon mess."
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"The shamelessness of France knows no bounds. They have a domestic Arabic population and business interests in the Mideast to satisfy. They desperately want to be taken seriously as a major power. So they sat down with the United States and hammered out a peace plan. Then, before the ink was dry, they shrugged a Gallic shrug."
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"Now France thinks it can't spare more than a few hundred soldiers. Reason, so stated: The UN ceasefire resolution does not sufficiently spell out the rules of engagement. France, you'll recall, was a co-author of the very resolution it is complaining about."
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"For France to have retreated from a key role to the realm of “symbolic” gestures “symbolises” only one thing: a French loss of nerve."
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Against this position
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Mixed on this position
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