(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The majority of people in France want their government to pull its troops out of Afghanistan, according to a poll by BVA published in L’Express. 62 per cent of respondents oppose keeping French soldiers in the area.

Afghanistan has been the main battleground in the war on terrorism. The conflict began in October 2001, after the Taliban regime refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.

France committed troops to the war on terrorism in Afghanistan. At least 971 soldiers—including 22 French—have died in the conflict, either in support of the United States-led Operation Enduring Freedom or as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In May 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy, candidate for the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and former interior minister, won the presidential run-off with 53.06 per cent of the vote. Sarkozy appointed François Fillon—who had been his adviser and presidential campaign leader—as prime minister.

On Aug. 18, 10 French soldiers serving in Afghanistan were killed in an ambush by Taliban fighters.

On Sept. 22, French lawmakers voted in favour of increasing the number of troops stationed in Afghanistan by 100 for a total of 2,600. Just before the vote, Fillon had also announced that there would be helicopters and artillery added to the mission. Fillon defended the country’s commitment, saying, "Not acting would leave the Afghans at the mercy of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, would re-expose us to the risk of terrorism, and would leave our allies to fight alone for us."

Polling Data

Do you personally support or oppose keeping French troops in Afghanistan?

Source: BVA / L’Express
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 955 French adults, conducted on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

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