Aren't you being a little unfair their ORAC?
Whilst the French have butted heads with the US and other NATO countries in the past over many issues perhaps now is the time to play the big man and let then back into the military wing of NATO unconditionally.
Yes of course the only reason they want to get back in is for purely nationalistic reasons, a want of a 'slice of the action' so to speak to counter the increasing marginalisation of France as it subsequently becomes an irrelevance on the world stage but they have a useful armed forces who would be an asset in a NATO force, after all what other country has a white flag waving and lackadaisical force projection capability like theirs (surely the cornerstone of modern NATO ops if the attitudes of many non-US/UK NATO military forces are taken into account)? Perhaps they could team up with the German military for a more effective 'stay somewhere safe and let the UK/US take casualties' approach to the war in Afghanistan?
