For years the French contingent was mainly deployed in the relatively safe environs of

For years the French contingent was mainly deployed in the relatively safe environs of Kabul. But since mid-2008, President Nicolas Sarkozy has made his troops available to fight the Taliban in strongholds beyond the capital American commanders say they are thrilled to have them. "They have brought significant capabilities to our campaign plan," said Colonel Scott Spellman, the U.S. Unlike some other NATO allies, such as Germany, Italy and Spain, the French have lifted so-called "caveats" that kept their contingent in Afghanistan from being deployed in combat areas. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissed his NATO allies as part of "Old Europe" and American restaurants back in the states started serving "freedom fries". Today a small but highly effective French task force is fighting seamlessly under U.S command in Afghanistan.

Forget the days a few years back when France opposed the U.S invasion of Iraq, U.S. Bagram airbase, which now lights up a distant plain in the darkness The Alah Say valley below was a stubborn Taliban bastion Now it is in NATO's hands Credit "Old Europe". By Laurent Hamida OVERLOOKING THE ALAH SAY VALLEY, Afghanistan, April 26 (Reuters) - The American gunner gives a hand signal and French commandos from the 27th Alpine Battalion leap out of the back of the Chinook onto a moonlit Afghan mountaintop U.S. Apache gunships provide cover as the French troops spread out, taking up positions in the eerie dawn light.

The dizzyingly high sheer rock outcrop, nicknamed "the castle" by NATO, was in Taliban hands days ago, giving the militants a stronghold that overlooked the massive U.S. Ironically, Zito still, at that time, had a mathematical shot at approaching 18 to 20 wins (because he still had a dozen starts left), whereas Cain was trying to avoid 20 losses.While this season Cain may get the same amount of run support thanks to the Giants' anemic offense, at least Zito's record now truly reflects his pitching.Will Cain win more than seven games this year? Will Zito rebound from his struggles? We'll have to find out.. Bochy was born in France.Meanwhile, the other piece of news was Zito's banishment to the bullpen following his latest stinker on Sunday, when he gave up six runs in the first inning of an eventual 10-1 loss to Cincinnati. Zito, who signed a $126-million deal before last season, is 0-6 in six starts in 2008.It was fitting that Zito's demotion came the same day that Cain finally picked up a win.Early last August, I had commented that Zito was getting all the breaks while Cain wasn't.At the time, Zito was 8-10 with a 5.12 ERA while Cain was only 3-12 despite his fine 3.93 average. The NU staff reportedly did not want this year's spring game to be televised to prevent opposing teams from getting game film of the new program.

Once that decision was made, the push was on to sell out the game. Husker fans were happy to oblige given the renewed optimism surrounding the return of Tom Osborne and Bo Pelini.RelatedHere are the attendance numbers from the 2007 Spring Games and 2006 Spring Games.If I missed anything, feel free to send me your additions or corrections to or leave a comment below.. Many schools organize fan festivals around the spring scrimmage that include concerts and family-friendly entertainment in an effort to boost interest.Illinois, West Virginia, Arkansas, Virginia, Colorado, and Missouri all saw crowds that were at least twice the size as last year. It was the most well attended spring scrimmage in the nation. Alabama, Ohio State, Penn State and Florida each had over 60,000 fans in attendance and many schools saw their attendance climb from last year's spring game. Attendance Up Nation-WideMany programs saw increased spring game attendance compared to last year.