PARIS – France may not formally be in a state of war but its services are at war in the Middle East and Africa, with troops also deployed for domestic security against the Islamic State threat, Army Gen. Pierre de Villiers, chief of the Defence Staff, told journalists on Friday.
"Are we at war?" he said. "Officially, no." That could be seen as though the French were sitting in cafés, he said, adding, "but for us in the forces, without any doubt, yes."
Deployment of the Air Force transport and fighter aircraft, Army troops and Navy first rank frigates clearly exceeded the "operational contract," he told the defense journalists association at the new defense headquarters at Balard on the edge of the capital.
Asked about a possible French intervention against IS forces in Libya, de Villiers said the options included disengaging from another theater to redeploy in such a campaign or boosting the budget to gain further capability, which also took time. "There is a deficit of capability," he said.
A global strategic review is needed if France were to intervene in Libya, and the services would be just one factor in that study, he said. The crises in Iraq and Libya reflected a previous lack of such a strategic approach.
French defense spending is some 1.7 to 1.75 percent of gross domestic product and needs to be boosted to the 2 percent goal set by NATO, and earlier than the 2025 target, he said.
