French on sidelines of war against bin Laden

By CATHERINE FIELD

PARIS - France is experiencing nagging frustration and a troubling loss of prestige as it watches the offensive unfold against Afghanistan.

France prides itself that it can punch above its weight in world affairs, thanks to its clout in the European Union and its territorial presence in the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and Caribbean, and also because of its independent military.

But that self-image has taken a knock. France finds itself standing on the sidelines of an international conflict for lack of military means, just as New Zealand has done.

President Jacques Chirac, with wide public support, pledged France's support for the United States after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

On Monday, as US and British planes, warships and submarines started pounding the Taleban, he declared: "Our forces will be taking part."

But mighty words have not been matched by derring-do. For France has woken up to the sad truth that its armed forces, pared in numbers and under budget stress, do not have the ability to launch an offensive operation so far from home.

Disastrous technical failures have left France's sole aircraft carrier, the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle, stuck in dry dock.

Fifteen years in construction at a cost of two billion francs ($675.7 million), the 40,000-tonne flagship of the French Navy set sail in 1999.

Within a few months it had to return home twice for modifications to its steering system and to extend its flight deck to accommodate surveillance planes bought from the US.

Last year, a steam condenser leaked and then a heating unit was damaged by fire. Sailing in the Bermuda Triangle, the port propeller shattered.

Police are investigating claims of cost-cutting and poor quality controls at the company which made the carrier's two propellers.

The carrier is now laid up in Toulon while a temporary replacement propeller is fitted.

In August, radioactivity from the Charles de Gaulle's nuclear reactor rose sharply, but officials said the level was not dangerous and had since fallen.

This long list of mishaps has made the Government the butt of sarcasm. A cartoon in Le Parisien had Chirac telling Prime Minister Lionel Jospin: "The bad news is that the Afghan conflict could last for years. The good news is that the Charles de Gaulle might be ready for action by then."

General Michel Roquejeoffre, who commanded French forces in the 1991 Gulf War, said: "France can't do much" in the Afghan offensive.

"From the naval point of view, our biggest gap is not having an operational aircraft carrier. We still don't have cruise missiles on our submarines.

"On air power, we don't have a heavy bomber. Only our Mirage 2000s in Djibouti [in the Horn of Africa] could intervene, but they would have to be refuelled in flight."

France has sent a frigate and a refuelling ship to the Indian Ocean.

But this is more symbolic than practical, as the warship, the Courbet, is specialised to defend against wave-hopping anti-ship missiles - not a known threat from landlocked Afghanistan.

Map: Opposing forces in the war against terror

Afghanistan facts and links