Some Call Them "Weasels" .....

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - Taliban insurgents killed 10 French soldiers and wounded 21 in a major battle east of the Afghan capital, the French president's office said on Tuesday, the biggest single combat loss for international forces in Afghanistan in more than three years. Read the rest of this story on msnbc.com

I've never been comfortable with American neo-cons' criticism of France's refusal to join the "Coalition of the Willing" in the Iraq War ... downright nasty, I've thought, and downright wrong.

Part of it comes from looking back ... regardless of France's motive, we owe a great debt to their intervention and assistance in the American Revolution. And while we have repaid that debt on more than one occasion, it still provides the basis for an alliance that has endured more than 200 years.

But, part of it also comes from looking around in the here and now. French President Nicolas Sarkozy - who recently answered a NATO/U.S. call by sending 700 more troops - is traveling to Afghanistan in response to the deaths of the French soldiers. "My determination is intact. France is determined to continue the struggle against terrorism for democracy and freedom. The cause is just," Sarkozy said in a statement ... not quite what I'd expect from a member of the "Axis of Weasels"

Liberté, égalité, fraternité