Reply #13: They lost a bunch of planes early on in the bombing campaign.

[yellowcanine]

The French pilots were flying in low to "crater" air strips to keep the Iraqi airforce on the ground - made them very vulnerable. A number were shot down and pilots were killed or captured. The slander that the French are "surrender monkeys" is a bunch of crap and based on the WWII debacle - which was the result of poor military leadership and strategy plus brilliant leadership and strategy on the German side. Even so, the French Resistance throughout the war during the occupation gave the lie to the slander. In WWI the French showed their courage and many paid with their lives at Verdun and the Somme, as well as in the trenches and in the air throughout the war.