Bernard Planche - Rest of the story

Often we hear a short blurb about a news event without getting the full story. Such is the case with Bernard Planche. Planche's name probably doesn't ring a bell, but his story should. He was the French contractor who was kidnapped in December while working in Iraq. Last week I saw on television that he managed to escape and run to American forces. Now, as Paul Harvey would say, for the rest of the story:

The former hostage then insisted on staying with US troops for six hours to help them hunt for his former captors.

In the past, I, like many, have made silly jokes about French cowardice. While we have had strong disagreement with the French government over their conduct prior to the invasion of Iraq, the reality is there have been French citizens supportive of a free Iraq who have worked with the reconstruction effort. Part of the strategy of Al Qaeda in Iraq is to disrupt the efforts to restore the infrastructure. They know they can not defeat us militarily and their only hope is to instill fear in both the Iraqi people and the people from around the world who are working to rebuild that country. We need more people like Bernard Planche, regardless of nationality.