[Airbornelawyer]

Originally posted by NousDefionsDoc
Why do you say France is more of an ally than Russia in this context?

"More of an ally" implies Russia is an ally. Russia is not an ally of the United States, as Minister of Defense Sergei Ivanov noted in October 2003.

But "in this context"? Russia has provided some intelligence cooperation and allowed overflight rights to coalition aircraft travelling to bases in Central Asia. Russia provided some humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. Russia has taken no part in military operations in the GWOT. To the extent Russia shows any interest in terrorism, it is to denounce Western countries for not branding the entire Chechen opposition as Islamist terrorists. See, for instance, Defense Minister Ivanov's remarks at the International Institute for Strategic Studies on July 13, 2004.

As for France, French opposition to the war in Iraq went well beyond a difference of strategic approach. But in the GWOT, France has made the third largest contribution after the US and the UK.

• As of July 2004, 33,000 French troops are deployed overseas. Many of these are stationed in French overseas territories, but approximately 15,000 are on combat or peacekeeping missions. These numbers pale in comparison to the US, as allied participation has in pretty much every conflict since 1945, but France is far from alone in this category. For comparison, as of July 28 2004, the Netherlands had 2,063 troops deployed overseas. As of June 28, 8,730 Italians were deployed abroad. As of July 30, Germany had 7,150 troops abroad. As of June 8, approximately 2,000 Australian Defence Force personnel were deployed abroad.
• On June 1, 2004, Rear Adm. Jean-Pierre Teule took over command of Task Force 150 from Royal Navy Rear Adm. Tony Rix. Task Force 150 was previously responsible for maritime interdiction operations in the Red Sea and Horn of Africa region, but now with its merger with TF 151, it is responsible for maritime interdiction operations throughout the Indian Ocean crisis region - the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Horn of Africa, Somalia Basin, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman and Straits of Hormuz. As of June 2004, TF-150 had 10 frigates - 2 French, 2 US and 1 each from the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, New Zealand and Pakistan.
• The first part of OEF was the overthrow of the Taliban regime and the targeting of al-Qaida. Again, the US took the lead. Canada and the UK each provided a combat battalion. There were some French ground forces, but not on combat operations. France deployed a carrier battle group and land-based aviation. Super Etendards, Mirage IVs and Mirage 2000s flew hundreds of combat missions, including flying CAS during Operation Anaconda.
• Since then, France has participated in ISAF in Kabul primarily with a battalion-sized battle group, and on August 11, 2004, Lt. Gen. Jean-Louis Py will take command of ISAF.
• Separately, France and the US are running the training program for the Afghan National Army.
• CJTF-HOA, responsible for counterterrorist and antiterrorist activities in the Horn of Africa region, is headquartered at a French base in Djibouti. French Foreign Legionnaires from the Djibouti-based 13e DBLE are working with US Marines and US Army personnel, as well as other coalition forces.
• And, while official French armed forces policy is, like in the UK, "ne répondre jamais Ã_ des questions sur les forces spéciales" ("to never answer questions on special forces."), I will note for their benefit that 200-300 French special operations forces are currently deployed in Afghanistan under the command of the US-led CJSOTF.

There is more to say on the question of France's level of cooperation but I don't have time to get into it now. Suffice to say, there is no comparison between France and Russia.