Afstan: Even the French are willing to drop bombs

The Germans:

Berlin Agrees to Send Tornado Jets to Afghanistan

The German cabinet decided on Wednesday to send six Tornado reconnaissance jets to Afghanistan to help locate Taliban bases in response to a request from NATO.

The German pilots will be accompanied by around 500 support staff. The mission has to be approved by parliament in March and the Tornados could be deployed in April for a six-month tour.

The jets are equipped with powerful cameras. The government has ruled out the planes being used to attack ground positions in so-called Close Air Support -- a strategy NATO forces have been using in Afghanistan whereby ground troops draw fire from insurgents so that they can locate them and direct air attacks on them...

Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said the Tornados would offer added protection for the ISAF troops and Afghan population. "Reconnaissance isn't combat," he told a news conference after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

He said the jets could help prevent civilian casualties and that the mission was necessary given that the Taliban had announced it would launch 2,000 suicide attacks.

Meanwhile an opinion poll showed a big majority of Germans are opposed to sending Tornado jets to the south of Afghanistan. Only 21 percent were in favor, with 77 percent opposed [emphasis added], said the survey by the Forsa institute conducted on February 1 and 2...

The French:

1) Afstan: Cheese-eating bomb droppers?

2) French Navy Hopes To Fly New Rafales Over Afghanistan

The French Navy plans to fly two Rafales, capable of delivering bombs, to join the Charles de Gaulle when the aircraft carrier deploys in March to the Indian Ocean, a Navy spokesman said.

The carrier will provide air support to the NATO-led stabilization force in Afghanistan, Commander Jerome Erulin told journalists Jan. 25...

If the two Rafales undergoing evaluation for the F2 strike standard qualify in time, they will join the nine Rafale F1 aircraft on the carrier, which will take up station for a month in mid-March.

Up to now, the Navy has only flown the F1 air superiority version of the Rafale. The Rafale F2 will be armed with Paveway 250 bombs.