Taliban dress in French uniforms

CNN:

A magazine photo spread of Taliban fighters posing in the uniforms of 10 French soldiers killed last month has sparked an angry response.

The latest edition of Paris Match includes photos of the Taliban fighters and their commander, "Farouki," wearing French uniforms, helmets and using French assault rifles and walkie-talkies.

Farouki, aged 30-35, claims in the accompanying story to have led his group in the August 18 ambush which killed 10 French troops and injured a further 21 in the Sarobi District, 40 miles east of Kabul. It was the French army's single highest death toll in 25 years.

He said the area was "our territory" and the attack was a "legitimate" part of its defense.

Farouki said it did not need a lot of planning, with the French soldiers only spotted a short time before the assault.

He said the soldiers had died for "[George W.] Bush's" cause and that if France did not return the rest of its troops home they would all be killed.

Farouki said they would continue fighting till the last man. See more on Paris Match's Web site

French Defense Minister Herve Morin accused the magazine of helping the Taliban.

"Should we be doing the Taliban's promotion for them?" he asked in the French daily newspaper Liberation.

...

This is just another violation of the Geneva Conventions by the Taliban which does not come up in the story. I can understand the anger of the French at this action. I can also understand the French governments anger at the media for publishing Taliban propaganda. The media in the West has been unusually easy for the Taliban to manipulate with their information operations. If their government were treating them this cynically the media would be enraged, but if the enemy is doing it they seem to find it interesting.