French Up Front

I was a little worried about the French being so gung-ho about UN enforcement of the Hezbo treaty. They're French, right? Who was going to make sure they didn't surrender to the street vendors? And ok, really, my fear would be that they take sides. Better news though:

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi has said his country is willing to lead the force and offered some 3,000 troops, but he insisted a new UN Security Council resolution was needed to clearly define the role of the peacekeepers.

Reasonable, and even better, not French. Meanwhile:

France, Lebanon's former colonial power, had been expected to lead the force but has so far offered only 200 additional troops to beef up the existing 2,000-strong UN Interim Force in Lebanon.

D'Alema said he hoped France might reconsider its offer of only 400 troops. It had originally been expected to contribute at least 2,000.

Lay your weapons on the pile. Can I
interest you in a nice pita?