Israelis can sleep better tonight knowing their security is in the hands of more Fins than Frenchmen. Finland will send 250 troops to Lebanon. France has pledged 200 troops to defend its former colony.
Italy has offered 2,000 to 3,000 peacekeepers in Lebanon. The Italian troops have been armored to protect against head butting before the Frenchmen run away.

This punchline just in: My name is Edward Moss and I feel your pain."
French participation is contingent on acceptable testosterone levels in their fellow peacekeepers. Surely we don't need manly or aggressive troops in a war zone.
Ramrod is right. What we need is more high-testosterone American men like Ramrod to criticize the French until every Hezbollah terrorist falls to his knees and begs him to stop.
What we need is more limp-wristed whiners like mencken to criticize the Americans until every Hezbollah terrorist falls to his knees and begs him to stop.
"limp-wristed" my, my… Mick's a real badass hiding behind his
computer screen.
Trust me Mick, my forearms are like Popeye's.
By the way Chirac just pledged 1800 more troops.
No word yet as to when Mick leaves for Southern Lebanon.
Whoops, it was 1600 not 1800. I wouldn't want to give the French
more credit than was due.
"Trust me Mick, my forearms are like Popeye's."
Why is that, sailor?
Likes to dish it out but when I copy and paste his own (uncalled for) insults back at him, he starts getting all teary-eyed and eager to prove his own high testosterone levels by talking about his overly developed forearms. Talk about badass hiding behind a computer screen! What a tampon!
The French: butts of many wimp jokes.
The French: disqualify an athlete for having too much testosterone (but I'm not defending cheating!).
Webster's defn of satire: the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
Mencken: Lighten up. There's humor in most things.
Some one is going to have to explain the French wimp thing to me. In WWl and WWII France had over 1.5 million military casualties (total both wars). How does that translate into wimpdom? Seriously.
I think Landis was disqualified by the UCI, which is headquartered in Switzerland. I'm also pretty sure the French have nothing to do with Barry Bonds or Marion Jones' doping problems. Richard Virenque, that's another matter.
Mick if I'm teary eyed, it's from laughter. " a tampon" ? Did you just start the 7th grade today and sneak into the girls restroom on a dare ? That's probably a pretty big day for you.
Popeye's definition of tough: Lose huge numbers of soldiers in a futile attempt at self defense twice within 50 years. Yeah, Ill buy that.
My mistake. I thought the Allies won both World Wars.
And I mistakenly thought that dying in the defense your country
was heroic. How could I have been so stupid?
Yes they did. After France capitulated and subsequently collaborated with the Germans both times.
Unless you mean to suggest that France won both wars since they were (nominally at least) Allies. Under this logic we could also say that Italy won the war too.
Nice reach, but not quite there.
Italy wasn't part of the Axis? That's news.
France was overrun just as Norway, Poland,Yugoslavia, Greece,the Netherlands, and Belgium were. The British had the advantage of German tanks not being able to cross the channel and the Russians had the advantage of bad weather, and were just too large to occupy after the Nazis overextended themselves from a logistical standpoint.
There was an ugly side to France's occupation, namely the Vichy
governement. But the French Resistance offsets any claims of
blanket capitulation.
So really guys, is the Vichy government the real reason you hate the French or is there something else you'd like to get off your chests?
"Italy wasn't part of the Axis? That's news."
Oh it definitely was, but according to Popeye's New Method of Deductive Reasoning:
A.Italy became an Ally
B.Allies won the war
therefore
C.Italy won the war
We're studying this method in 7th grade now. Inner city schools, you know.
Soldier on Popeye! If you talk loud enough and long enough, someone just might be convinced that to be French is to be the epitome of manliness.
I ams what I ams.
Sorry Mick, you've lost me here on the Italy equation. It must be
the alternate reality thing Larry mentioned. You hate the French
but can't be bothered to explain why. It's just the method around here I guess. Anyone else want to explain the French bias? Larry ? Sam ? Chip ?
I don't know why people enjoy making fun of the French, but I'm not sure the French take much notice. Why are you so compelled to defend them?
Maybe I should have asked "Why are Chip and Mick braver than the French ? "
"Why are Chip and Mick braver than the French ? "
Because almost everyone else on the planet is too?
I'm not terribly surprised no one will answer the question.
C'mon, Mencken. I figured a pseudo-intellectual like yourself would be acutely aware of the Dreyfus Affair and the Crisis of French Manhood. Look it up. I guess all humor has some basis in reality.
Hey, I have a certificate of authenticity for my intellectual prowess and have a piece of paper that say's I'm an ordained
minister if we're more than 3 miles offshore. So there.
The Dreyfus Affair is what fuels the humor?
Nice try but I ain't buying that as the reason.
I'd like to see what percentage of the population left or right
that have even heard of it. "Paths of Glory" with Kirk Douglas
would get folks more stirred up against the French than Dreyfus.