While the French army has yet to spill a drop of blood in the cause of liberating Iraq, three Frenchmen have been killed in recent months while fighting side-by-side with terrorists against the U.S.

Officials told the BBC that the men probably traveled to Iraq via Syria. but that there is no proof of an organized recruitment network. A recent report in the French newspaper Le Figaro, however, claims otherwise, suggesting that the pro-terrorist French fighters were helped to cross into Iraq by contacts in Syria.

In a related development, French President Jacques Chirac said last week that the U.S.'s decision to topple Saddam has made the world more dangerous.

"Is the world any safer [after Saddam's removal]? I'm not so sure," Chirac told the BBC. "To a certain extent Saddam Hussein's departure was a positive thing, but it also provoked reactions, such as the mobilization in a number of countries of men and women of Islam, which has made the world more dangerous."

Editor's note: