The statements that were made on Thursday by the French commander of UNIFIL troops, Major General Alain Pellegrini, that he was awaiting orders on the use of UNIFIL troops, including instructions to intercept Israeli Air Force jets flying in Lebanese skies, are an outrage.

It is not clear just how well this ebullient and garrulous French general is performing the other duties that were given him in the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, for example, preventing arms from being smuggled from Iran and Syria to Hizbullah, or enforcing the prohibition of terrorists from that terror organization from moving in the direction of the border with Israel.

Towards Israel that impudent French general can flex his muscles. We ought to remind him that the only operations his army can chalk up to its credit in the past hundred years are the panicked flight from and the disgraceful surrender to the Wehrmacht troops in World War II, and the flight from Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam in the 1950s.

Ever since, the French tanks have not fired a single shell in battle, and French planes have not carried out a single offensive sortie.

Even when they joined the war in Iraq in 1991 they went on “clean” photographic sorties and did not soil their hands with bombings or air battles.

It would be highly recommended to the French commander who is so “eager to pull the trigger,” that he make sure to keep the French tanks that were pulled out of the storehouses painted white and clean, and not to dirty them with the dust of war.

The French army still needs them for their heroic July 14th parades down the Champs Elysee.

It would have been best had official Israel put that fellow, who donned a UN-blue Napoleon’s hat, in his rightful place.

This was published on October 22nd, 2006 in Hatzofeh

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