The French have the reputation for being cowards; and mostly this reputation is wrong. France, let it be recalled, had Napoleon who conquered the bulk of continental Europe including Germany. They put in a respectable showing in the First World War as well. Granted that their dismal performance during the Second World War was a major national embarrassment; but then again the Nazis were an unusually powerful enemy who were able to seriously challenge England, America and the Soviet Union at the same time.
The French were disliked again by Americans for their opposition to the Iraq War; but that opposition was based on principle and not on fear. The Americans did not need the French to run over Iraq any more than would Mike Tyson need the help of Evander Hollyfield to beat up Steven Urkle; and the French had nothing to fear from the pathetic Iraqis even if they had gotten involved in the war. Of far greater interest is the current military actions by the French; and in this action we see no cowardice at all.
When an Islamofascist group started an insurrection in France's former colony Mali, the French did not hesitate. They sent in troops. America and England have not done the same in Nigeria, which has an Islamofascist militant group operating in the north of the country. Cowards would not do what the French have done; principled people would. And the French deserve respect for this military intervention.
The definition of strength must be evolved beyond Michael Jackson's "Strong is just fight, it doesn't matter who's wrong or right." Instead strength must always be something in service of what's right. The gangster, the despot and the cowboy all claim strength; but the first winds up behind bars, the second oppresses the population, and the third is so rash and injudicious that he keeps making an ass of himself and getting into all sorts of unneeded trouble.
It's not enough to simply be strong. Strength, unless properly managed, becomes a destructive and stupid force that leaves ruined families and communities and ravaged countries. Strength must be combined with self-control, judgment and principle.
Self-control, so that one only uses one's strength deliberately and does not hurt the people who love him.
Judgment, so that one only uses one's strength intelligently and does not do stupid things with it such as beating up one's boss or assaulting a friend.
And principle, so that one wields one's strength righteously and does not use it for wrongful ends such as raping a girl or robbing an old woman.
And on matters of international affairs, the same standards need to be kept.
America's intervention in Iraq has shown the shortcomings of the cowboy approach to strength. A huge number of civilians were killed in that conflict, when there was absolutely no need for it. Americans made asses of themselves in Iraq, as cowboys tend to do, for reasons stated above.
Let's hope that the intervention of the French in Mali be managed more intelligently and be an example of a better understanding of what strength is.