Kandahar: Formez votre bataillon

The French may be coming to our help (Google translation amended by me, via Norman's Spectator):

Even if France has not yet given a specific answer to the American demand, it is likely that it will be positive. The trick is to choose the time and conditions. The timing could be just before or at the next summit of Heads of State and Government of the countries of the Alliance, in Bucharest in early April. The conditions are political: Paris places the subject in broader negotiations with the Americans on the primary question of the possible return of France to the integrated military structure of NATO, also that of the entry of Georgia and Ukraine into NATO , and even the siting of American missile defences in Poland and the Czech Republic...

Once a decision is taken, France may call upon battalion (about 700 men) of the 11th DP (paratroop division) [actually now a brigade - MC], available in the "strategic theatre reserve" of NATO. The french reinforcements could be sent to the Canadian sector in the south. Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, confirmed Wednesday to President George Bush that Canada would withdraw its 2500 troops from Afghanistan in 2009, it they do not receive around a thousand reinforcements...

Those French soldiers would be combat troops, M. Dion. And there's some other help:

Belgium has responded positively to Washington's request, agreeing to send 4 F-16 fighter aircraft, as well as about 150 personnel. These aircraft will be based in Kandahar, where three french Rafale aircraft will also be dispatched next week, replacing 3 Mirage F1s [there are also three Mirage 2000s at Kandahar, detailed info and photos of the French fighters there at immediately preceding link, more here on Mirage 2000].

Marchons!

Update: More on Belgian and Dutch F-16s at Kandahar (Danish ones may be coming too):

Belgium is deploying four Lockheed Martin F-16AM fighters with 100 personnel to Kandahar, Afghanistan, starting in October.

The Belgian detachment also is expected to be joined by a similarly sized unit from Denmark, and will join six F-16AMs from the Netherlands already in theater...

Belgian officials denied that the decision to deploy fighter aircraft to Kandahar was directly linked to U.S. pressure, saying that discussions about cooperation with the Netherlands air force in Kandahar had been ongoing for some time.

Meanwhile, the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) is in the process of swapping its six F-16AMs at Kandahar for aircraft that have received the latest M4 modification standard. In January, the first two M4 aircraft were ferried to Kandahar, while the remainder will have arrived by the end of February.

The M4-modified jets are bringing with them the latest Northrop Grumman Litening AT Block II advanced targeting pods and L-3 Communications-supplied Rover III two-way datalink systems to exchange target imagery between the pilot and Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) on the ground.

The M4 aircraft also will introduce a capability for the Dutch to use Boeing-supplied Joint Direct Attach Munition (JDAM) precision-guided bombs. Combined with the ROVER datalink, this will allow Dutch pilots in Afghanistan to attack JTAC-identified ground targets through the weather, even when the target is obscured by clouds...

Videos of Dutch F-16s in action and AH-64 Apaches.