France's Hollande Rules Out Military Strikes in Syria

[Purveyor]

By Dow Jones Business News, September 18, 2014

PARIS--French President François Hollande on Thursday ruled out the possibility of conducting airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria, saying any military action would be confined to Iraq.

In a news conference, Mr. Hollande said he had convened his top military advisers earlier in the day to discuss the strikes, adding that he also excluded the possibility of deploying ground troops in Iraq.

"I said clearly that I affirm the necessity of this aerial support. We won't go further. There won't be troops in the ground, and we will intervene only in Iraq," Mr. Hollande said.

Airstrikes in Iraq, he said, would begin as soon as France had identified targets. France is already operating reconnaissance flights over Iraq.

Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/frances-hollande-rules-out-military-strikes-in-syria-20140918-00799#ixzz3Dgnehxso

[KoKo]

1. Interesting...thought he okayed Syria strikes days ago....

but, maybe that was just my misread.

[KoKo]

2. Check this latest out from Robert Parry....

Maybe why Holland and Cameron backed off...? Also, Germany

Reported US-Syrian Accord on Air Strikes
September 17, 2014

Exclusive: A problem with President Obama’s plan to expand the war against ISIS into Syria was always the risk that Syrian air defenses might fire on U.S. warplanes, but now a source says Syria’s President Assad has quietly agreed to permit strikes in some parts of Syria, reports Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry

http://consortiumnews.com/2014/09/17/reported-us-syrian-accord-on-air-strikes/

[Blue_Tires]

5. Did Parry ever write a retraction for that bullshit MH-17 piece?

Just wondering...

[KoKo]

6. He hasn't been proven wrong yet....

You might need to wait a bit, though. The final report won't be released for almost a year.

[Blue_Tires]

7. But the prelim report showed (as I said it would)

that the evidence is moving farther away from his nutbar assertions rather than closer to them...

If nothing else, he *has* been disproven about the U.S. supposedly "withholding evidence" that would clear Russia from any wrongdoing...The Dutch would have mentioned in their report if the U.S. was not cooperating fully in the investigation...

[Aerows]

3. Any intelligent leadership

isn't going to want to wade into a civil war in a nation far away from their own.

Why those nations around Syria can't deal with it is what eludes me.

[Blue_Tires]

4. Wow...

Surprising to see, given how deep France has been in Syria all this time...

Or is he just sitting back now that the U.S. has announced we'll be doing the dirty work??