France aids US

Any righties out there? Hello? Bonjour? In the Baltimore Sun:

As the going gets tougher for the U.S. military in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the region, one ally has stepped up despite a recent straining of ties: France.

Paris has significantly boosted its military presence in Central Asia and Afghanistan, as it and Washington nurture their budding rapprochement after a bitter falling-out over the Iraq war.

French fighters have been flying sorties under U.S. command in Afghanistan since Aug. 16, and France also took command this month of an international naval task force on terrorism-related patrols in the seas between the Horn of Africa and Pakistan.

France has kept about 900 troops in Afghanistan since 2003, including 200 Special Forces soldiers fighting alongside the Americans. Its air force has periodically joined the U.S.-led coalition since taking its biggest role in the war's opening weeks in 2001, when France had 5,500 troops in the region....

"We had a very clear position when it comes to Iraq," the Paris-based official said. "That has nothing to do with our fight against terrorism, with France working with our American colleagues" on the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.