A French soldier was killed on Thursday evening in the Erbil region of Iraq. In announcing the death of chief warrant officer Arnaud Frion, President Emmanuel Macron said he ‘died for France…engaged in the fight against Daesh [Islamic State]’.

France has deployed hundreds of soldiers to Erbil – the Kurdistan region of Iraq – as part of an international coalition to fight Islamist terror groups. It is believed a French base was struck by a drone, killing Frion and wounding several other soldiers. ‘France stands with them and their loved ones,’ declared Macron in a social media post.

In the fortnight since America and Israel launched their attack on Iran, much has been said and written about the respective merits of France’s and Britain’s military. A headline in this week’s Daily Telegraph – regarded as the newspaper of the officer class – asked: ‘Britain spends billions more than France on defence, so why is the French military superior?’

For a military to be effective, it requires money, and it also requires morale

For a military to be effective, it requires money, and it also requires morale

French military procurement – while not perfect – is more efficient than its neighbour’s and France still has a strong defence industry. When Macron was elected president in 2017 he soon fell........

© The Spectator