impressive picture blog about the French intervention in Lebanon

[tocqueville]

http://ancienscolbleus.forumactif.com/ftopic2064-0-asc-0.htm

this site is a navy veteran site, all in French but with plenty of pictures. I follows the timeline of the evacuation to the arrival of the French UN troops and is under constant update. A lot of pictures that are probably totally unknown to the American public, like the evacuation of French citizens by special forces in South Lebanon during the first part of the war. The codename is "Operation Balliste".

scroll down, there are 5 pages, pictures hi res.

contact me if you need a translation about some pictures that interest you.

[partylessinOhio]

1. Merci beaucoup! It makes me sad to see a cultured humanitarian people in

comparison to our nation that kills and tramples on nations.

I love everything French and enjoyed seeing the site. I loved the youthful and current photos of the Navy veterans.

Wish I were young again - those sexy French troops! Ooh La La

[Igel]

2. Why are some of the French soldiers' faces

blurred, and some aren't?

Sorry for the off-the-wall question. I can read French passably well.

Nice pictures of the ships. Most of the pictures were unknown. I think I heard of the evacuation in the south, mostly because of the difficulties it encountered.

[tocqueville]

3. GIGN and Commando Hubert Forces (Navy Seals)

those are special forces and supposed to be anonymous.

The GIGN (Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale) is the French Gendarmerie's elite counter-terrorism and hostage rescue unit. It is composed of 110 men, including 11 officers.

Its missions include the arrest of gunmen, in particular those taking hostages, counter-terrorism, including airplane hijacking, or prevention of mutiny in prisons.

Since its creation, the group has taken part in over 1000 operations, liberated over 500 hostages, arrested over 1000 suspects, and killed a dozen terrorists. The unit has seen 1 member killed in action, and 6 in training, since its foundation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIGN

The Naval Commandos (Commandos Marines) are the special forces of the French Navy. They are made up approx. 500 members, mostly based in western France (Brittany), with several bases across the country for specific training needs.

Their personnel is distributed between 5 commandos, named after former naval fusilier officers killed in action:

Jaubert: Assault at sea, exfiltration, fight in enclosed spaces at sea.
Trepel: Assault at sea, exfiltration.
de Penfentenyo: Reconnaissance, intelligence operations.
de Montfort: Distance neutralisation, special back-ups.
Hubert: Submarine action, combat divers (also see French commando frogmen).
GCMC: Groupe de Combat en Milieu Clos ("Enclosed environment combat group"), maritime anti-terrorism.
The Naval Commandos are sometimes nicknamed as Bérets Verts (Green Berets) even though their job is similar to the US Navy SEALs. They operate under the Special Operations Command.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commando_Hubert
http://commandohubert.free.fr/