Afstan snippets: French fighting, US building

Two stories:

1) French military effort in Afghanistan earning respect of U.S. troops [nice to see wider reporting, note source]

TAGAB VALLEY, Afghanistan – After several years of enduring Americans’ scorn for sitting out the Iraq campaign, the French military is going toe-to-toe with the Taliban, shedding blood and proving a worthy partner in Afghanistan, U.S. officers say.

While some knock the French for not empowering junior officers more or being aggressive enough in some instances, U.S. servicemembers serving with them northeast of Kabul generally spoke well of their ally.

“When they do get into battles, they fight it out,” observed U.S. Army Capt. Dave Disi, who has been on more than 35 missions with the French military.

Kevin Dougherty / S&S

French Marine engineers sweep Tagab Valley Road northeast of Kabul. The soldiers were traveling the strategic road recently to test insurgent strength and assess possible sites for police outposts. The French, augmented by about 30 U.S. serviceemembers, battled insurgents off and on for nearly 10 hours. Engineers destroyed a bomb that several military vehicles had driven over without incident...

In Kapisa [earlier BBC story here], the French task force is headed by France’s 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment [more here], commanded by Col. Francis Chanson...

Via CougarDaddy.

2) Already the main Afghan war hub, Bagram is growing

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan -- Seen from a tiny village on a recent moonless night, the sprawling U.S. base three miles to the north looks more like a medium-size city than a military facility in a war zone.

Bagram Air Field, as the base is formally known, is the largest U.S. military hub of the war in Afghanistan and is home to some 24,000 military personnel and civilian contractors. Yet it is continuing to grow to keep up with the requirements of an escalating war and troop increases.

With tens of millions of dollars pouring into expanding and upgrading facilities, Bagram is turning into something of a military "boom town." Large swathes of the 2,000-hectare (5,000-acre) base look like a construction site, with the rumble of building machinery and the scream of fighter-jets overhead providing the soundtrack.

The rapid growth here is taking place at a time when the Obama administration is debating the future direction of the increasingly unpopular war, now in its ninth year...