They are a "tiny number" ten, at most. But these "liaison officers" sent by Paris in Benghazi were the first French soldiers to set foot on Libyan soil since the beginning of the insurgency against Colonel Gaddafi. Their arrival date is fuzzy: the government has not communicated about it, but Bernard-Henri Levy explained in an article in the World, dated April 19 that French officers would be "these days (...) admitted in the Control Room of the Staff of free Libya.
For its part, Le Canard Enchaine said in late March that since the offensive began in the coalition, "a few instructors' French were at work in Benghazi. What is a liaison officer? Italy spoke of sending "military trainers" in London, "advisers", and France, "liaison officers", different terms for similar activity.
"Strictly speaking, a liaison officer is officially an army from a foreign army legally recognized," said Jean-Charles Jauffret, Director of Master of Military History at the Institute of Comparative Political Studies in Aix-en-Provence . 'It may simply be responsible for forging bonds of friendship, or to verify the proper functioning of equipment sold to the army.
(...) It is both representative and technician. "Spokesperson of the French General Staff, Colonel Burkhard, explained on the website of the Nouvel Observateur that these officers were responsible" exchange information, assess needs and make an assessment on what exactly happens, (...) to have contacts with military authorities of the CNT, but above all be military advisers to the Special Envoy French ".
There are nearly a month, France has indeed sent a representative, Antoine Sivan, to the Libyan opposition in Benghazi. Beside the diplomat, liaison officers will therefore play the role of military experts and representatives from the Ministry of Defence. Send advisers without deploying ground troops is not new.
"In autumn 2001, American spooks were sent to Afghanistan. There was also liaison officers to set targets that aviation was to destroy, "recalls Yves Boyer, deputy director of the Foundation for Strategic Research think tank specializing in defense issues and security. What is their mission to the insurgents? While in Paris Wednesday, April 20, Ali Al-Issawi, International Affairs within the CNT, acknowledged a certain amateurism among rebel forces.
"The disruption of our men is logical: they are neither combatants nor professional soldiers. They are civilians. The battle has been imposed. (...) We need advice from friendly countries, but all choices are possible, "he said. In this context, can we expect that these military experiences may form the rebels? "It is not impossible that liaison officers, their role becomes that of instructors, as is the case also with the Afghan National Army, said Jean-Charles Jauffret.
The French army can bring its expertise in urban warfare, gained in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Libyans had hitherto played a very different kind of war. " Will they be in association with NATO? If the staff indicates that the officers have no connection with the fighting, Yves Boyer, their relationship with NATO strikes on the ground will be critical.
"The targets fixed and tanks Gaddafi were easily located by the coalition in early intervention, he says. But now, as rebel troops Gaddafi use pickups, which are highly mobile. There therefore need people on hand to send the contact information as accurate as possible to Combined Air Operations Center of NATO.
" If this policy continues, they will primarily be to ensure that objectives belong to the loyalist army. The Atlantic Alliance had indeed suffered a number of criticisms after several blunders that had cost the lives of civilians and insurgents. This intervention does she framework of resolution 1973? Resolution 1973, adopted on 17 March by the Security Council of the UN, excludes "the deployment of a foreign occupying force in any form whatsoever and on any part of Libyan territory." The question is whether the quarantine officers sent by France, the United Kingdom and Italy is an "occupying force" alone.
Paul Rogers, professor at the University of Bradford city by the, the distinction is not clear. "This comes barely under the UN mandate. It really is the limit," said he. Naturally, none of these three countries have qualified as his "special envoys". "The position of France is very simple: we do not combat troops on the ground in any way and in any form whatsoever," he repeated Wednesday Baroin, who stressed the very limited number of Officers sent to Libya.
"The French position is stable and unchanged on this issue of implementation of resolution 1973", acted as spokesman. But Russia, which abstained from voting on the resolution, was more critical about this, fearing that sending these officers would open the way for a ground invasion. "We are unhappy with recent events in Libya, which lead the international community in a conflict on the ground.
This could have unpredictable consequences," he said Thursday the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov. "Let us remember how the instructors were first sent in some other countries, and then soldiers. Hundreds of people died on both sides." A likely reference to the Vietnam War, which began with the sending of U.S.
military instructors. Vincent Matalon 
For its part, Le Canard Enchaine said in late March that since the offensive began in the coalition, "a few instructors' French were at work in Benghazi. What is a liaison officer? Italy spoke of sending "military trainers" in London, "advisers", and France, "liaison officers", different terms for similar activity.
"Strictly speaking, a liaison officer is officially an army from a foreign army legally recognized," said Jean-Charles Jauffret, Director of Master of Military History at the Institute of Comparative Political Studies in Aix-en-Provence . 'It may simply be responsible for forging bonds of friendship, or to verify the proper functioning of equipment sold to the army.
(...) It is both representative and technician. "Spokesperson of the French General Staff, Colonel Burkhard, explained on the website of the Nouvel Observateur that these officers were responsible" exchange information, assess needs and make an assessment on what exactly happens, (...) to have contacts with military authorities of the CNT, but above all be military advisers to the Special Envoy French ".
There are nearly a month, France has indeed sent a representative, Antoine Sivan, to the Libyan opposition in Benghazi. Beside the diplomat, liaison officers will therefore play the role of military experts and representatives from the Ministry of Defence. Send advisers without deploying ground troops is not new.
"In autumn 2001, American spooks were sent to Afghanistan. There was also liaison officers to set targets that aviation was to destroy, "recalls Yves Boyer, deputy director of the Foundation for Strategic Research think tank specializing in defense issues and security. What is their mission to the insurgents? While in Paris Wednesday, April 20, Ali Al-Issawi, International Affairs within the CNT, acknowledged a certain amateurism among rebel forces.
"The disruption of our men is logical: they are neither combatants nor professional soldiers. They are civilians. The battle has been imposed. (...) We need advice from friendly countries, but all choices are possible, "he said. In this context, can we expect that these military experiences may form the rebels? "It is not impossible that liaison officers, their role becomes that of instructors, as is the case also with the Afghan National Army, said Jean-Charles Jauffret.
The French army can bring its expertise in urban warfare, gained in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Libyans had hitherto played a very different kind of war. " Will they be in association with NATO? If the staff indicates that the officers have no connection with the fighting, Yves Boyer, their relationship with NATO strikes on the ground will be critical.
"The targets fixed and tanks Gaddafi were easily located by the coalition in early intervention, he says. But now, as rebel troops Gaddafi use pickups, which are highly mobile. There therefore need people on hand to send the contact information as accurate as possible to Combined Air Operations Center of NATO.
" If this policy continues, they will primarily be to ensure that objectives belong to the loyalist army. The Atlantic Alliance had indeed suffered a number of criticisms after several blunders that had cost the lives of civilians and insurgents. This intervention does she framework of resolution 1973? Resolution 1973, adopted on 17 March by the Security Council of the UN, excludes "the deployment of a foreign occupying force in any form whatsoever and on any part of Libyan territory." The question is whether the quarantine officers sent by France, the United Kingdom and Italy is an "occupying force" alone.
Paul Rogers, professor at the University of Bradford city by the, the distinction is not clear. "This comes barely under the UN mandate. It really is the limit," said he. Naturally, none of these three countries have qualified as his "special envoys". "The position of France is very simple: we do not combat troops on the ground in any way and in any form whatsoever," he repeated Wednesday Baroin, who stressed the very limited number of Officers sent to Libya.
"The French position is stable and unchanged on this issue of implementation of resolution 1973", acted as spokesman. But Russia, which abstained from voting on the resolution, was more critical about this, fearing that sending these officers would open the way for a ground invasion. "We are unhappy with recent events in Libya, which lead the international community in a conflict on the ground.
This could have unpredictable consequences," he said Thursday the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov. "Let us remember how the instructors were first sent in some other countries, and then soldiers. Hundreds of people died on both sides." A likely reference to the Vietnam War, which began with the sending of U.S.
military instructors. Vincent Matalon
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