PARIS — French airstrikes this month in support of Chad’s longtime autocratic ruler, Idriss Déby, have raised a familiar question: Has France really left behind decades of deep involvement in African politics?

France’s foreign minister this week defended the strikes against Chadian rebels before a handful of puzzled members of Parliament who wondered why the country was again propping up an ironhanded African dictator — albeit one whose relatively efficient military is considered vital in the fight against terrorists.

French officials have brushed aside these qualms, insisting that it was Mr. Déby himself who invited the French. The strikes took place between Feb. 3 and 6, destroying 20 rebel pickup trucks and stopping a rebel advance, the French military said in a statement.

French analysts have been sharply critical of the intervention in Chad.

“How can we convince the Europeans to have a decent policy in Africa, when we do this in Chad?” asked Roland Marchal, a leading expert on the country at Sciences Po university.