Merci, Vincent. C'est gentile.

With opposition to the nine-year old war in Afghanistan at its record high in France, Paris says it will discipline an army general who spoke out against the US-led war in the country.

General Vincent Desportes, the head of elite Interforces Defense College, told Le Monde newspaper last week that the counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan had failed to produce any significant results.

As a top military man, who is responsible for training French staff officers, Desportes also went so far as to criticize the strategy undertaken by former top US commander General Stanley McChrystal, saying it had made the situation in Afghanistan "worse than ever."

Meanwhile, French Defense Minister Herve Morin hit back at the controversial comments made by Desportes, saying, "He will be punished" because he showed "lack of judgment", AFP reported.

Speaking to BFM television on Wednesday, Morin said he had tasked Chief of Staff of the French Army General Elrick Irastorza to take administrative action against Desportes.

The French defense minister went on to warn of punitive measure against erring men and women in uniform, saying that "until we hear otherwise, soldiers are under the authority of politicians, just like any other public employee."

The latest falling-out comes as opinion polls show a soaring level of public opposition to the war in France, which currently has about 3,500 troops in Afghanistan.

Reports indicate the number of casualties among the US-led troops in Afghanistan has significantly increased over the past months, as June has become the deadliest month for foreign soldiers in the war-hit country.

Desportes had also criticized US President Barack Obama's plan to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.

Concerns over the war strategy in Afghanistan have been echoed by some senior French politicians, one of whom denounced the strategy as "unmanageable shitstorm", according to the weekly Canard Enchaine.

The report comes days after top US commander McChrystal was forced to resign over his scathing criticism of certain administration officials and their handling of the war in Afghanistan in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

HA/CS/MMN