The French Way Of Fighting Wars

War, à la Française -- Anne Jolis' Wall Street Journal

'Yeah, you Americans, you have all the fancy equipment. But we French, we figure it out every time—we know how to get by.'

Somewhere between Douentza and Gao, Mali

The French say we're stopping for lunch. But after 90 minutes on the side of the road in North Mali's badlands, it's clear that even the French army doesn't need this long to eat, smoke and digest.

Turns out one of their Nexter/Renault infantry-fighting vehicles has broken down. The 70-odd trucks and IFVs in our convoy now line the savanna while a mechanic tends to the breakdown. The soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Regiment munch on canned goat's cheese, rabbit terrine, nougat and black chocolate. French logistical gear may not be ideal, but their rations are second to none. Welcome to war, à la Française.

The soldiers joke privately about run-down equipment and not enough of it. Even the car trouble, though, prompts a sideways pride. "Yeah, you Americans, you have all the fancy equipment," one young corporal says, leaning against his Renault six-wheeler with a cigarette and a smirk. "But we French, we figure it out every time—we know how to get by."

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My Comment: If fighting war was so easy.