Paris, Jan 07: Alluding to a possible war with Iraq, French President Jacques Chirac today called on French troops to be ready for deployment. "To be prepared is at the heart of the soldier's job," Chirac said during annual New Year's wishes to the armed forces. Chirac said there was reason to believe that French forces will continue to be needed in certain "operational theaters," a reference to Ivory Coast, where more than 2,000 French troops are currently engaged. However, he added that, "alas, other (theatres) could pen up," a clear reference to Iraq.
It was the clearest suggestion so far that France would participate in a military operation in Iraq.
Paris has been opposed from the beginning to unilateral American action in Iraq and has demanded that Washington get UN Security Council approval before sending in the troops. Chirac has won points at home and abroad with his tough stand against a unilateral us strike that could come if Iraq does not prove it has given up all its weapons of mass destruction.
French defence minister Michele Alliot-Marie told French radio station RTL earlier today that the French Army was not making specific preparations for an eventual war in Iraq but that "the French army is ready to fulfill its obligations when necessary. Bureau Report