French President Still Pushing ‘Military Option’ Against Syria

Threats Continue Despite Promise Not to Attack Without US

A week and a half ago, the French government reassured parliament that it had no intention of attacking Syria without the United States. With the US backing off war, both because of massive public opposition and a deal with Russia, it would seem like the French war is off too.

That’s not the way France tells it, however, as President Francois Hollande continued to push the “military option” against Syria, saying they would never rule out attacking the nation, a former colonial possession.

And while hawks in the US are still pushing the idea of somehow snatching war from the brink of peace, French leaders seem to be much more eager to push it as a preferred option, even if it is clear that the government simply isn’t going to be able to follow through on it.

Sources say that the French leadership, which has offered some nominal acceptance of the deal, isn’t too happy with it, because they think it hurts the rebels’ position in the ongoing Syrian Civil War. Either way, Syria is a much bigger, tougher mess than Mali, and it’s unthinkable that the French military would try to blunder into Syria alone.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.