French Rafale over Baghdad
Posted on 10/03/2014 5:01:43 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Given the country's clear eagerness to deploy its jets over the skies of Syria last year it is a little bit peculiar that France to date has not flown any missions over Syria as part of the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition.
It was only about a year that at the very last minute France was the one who called off air strikes in Syria. It was the last one in fact to do so, and unlike its allies in London and Washington its air forces' Dassault Rafale fighter jets, armed with Scalp cruise missiles, were just off the coast, poised to strike at predetermined targets that were related to Syria's chemical weapons program after the vicious gas attack in Damascus on August 21.
It seems like a long time ago but it was just over a year ago that Mr. Obama was ready to follow up on his "red-line" pledge to reprimand Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if he was to use chemical weapons during the course of the conflict in his country. After the August 21 attack in Damascus Mr. Obama and his British counterpart Prime Minister David Cameron declared that they were preparing to take action. But of course backed off and instead agreed to a Russian-brokered United Nations Security Council resolution which called on Syria to dismantle its chemical weapons arsenal in compliance with that resolution. French President Francois Hollande was "stunned" by that hastily made last-minute decision.
Today western jets are indeed in Syria. This time however they are targeting the Islamist group Islamic State and have intentionally stayed out of the way of the Syrian regime and the military who are still fighting other opposition fighters elsewhere in the country. That U.S.-led coalition consists entirely of air power comprised of aircraft from Arab and European air forces amongst others. No Arab jets have targeted Islamic State forces operating in Iraq but are focused on Syria. France however has not sent any of its jets into Syrian air space to target IS instead concentrating its air power on targeting IS forces on Iraqi territory.
This is interesting in light of the events I have alluded to last year. France was eager Assad in retaliation for that gas attack as well as for the general atrocities he had levelled against the Syrian people. In general France under Hollande has taken a more assertive and interventionist role against Islamist forces. It has been engaged since early 2013 for example against an al-Qaeda group in Mali, a former French colony. A group that which unlike Islamic State capitalized on instability and tribal tensions in Mali to seize territory.
Syria as a political entity is essentially a French colonial creation in ways not unlike how Iraq was essentially created by lines drawn on the map in London (if you would like to read an informative book about the Sykes-Picot Agreement I would highly recommend A Line in the Sand by James Barr). Syria's independence day is also known as Evacuation Day and marks the departure of the last French soldiers from Syria in April 17 1946. The day when the French mandate of Syria was finally brought to an end.
One doubts that France has yet to deploy air power over Syria because it is wary of being accused of wanting to control or police Syria as a colonial power once again but it will nevertheless be interesting to see if France will seek to participate in the Syrian theater of the anti-IS campaign in the Middle East given its prior willingness, not to mention urgency, to intervene in the ongoing war raging in Syria.
French Rafale over Baghdad
Probably being refueled by a USAF Tanker.
Wrong question. Should be why are we not concentrating ISIS attack in IRAQ? They are 1 mile from Baghdad!
Obama wants to pound Syria in off chance he will topple al-Assad. A$$hole!
Lots of muzzies in France. Maybe they don’t want to lose their heads.
Why isn’t France engaged in Syria?
Because they are “Cheese eating surrender-monkeys” according to Grounds Keeper Willie (must be Simpson’s fan to relate to this)
The French have been fighting Muslim Terrorists down in Mali.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/03/us-mali-un-peacekeepers-idUSKCN0HS0ZH20141003
This article talks a little of it, we may not have even heard this story, 9 UN Peacekeepers killed there.
I guess some of those countries were colonized by them.
France is probably active in Iraq, I know I saw a before and after picture of a target. France use to have those Exocets, I don’t know what they have now.
Why buy the cow when the milk is free?
But perhaps I am on zee wrong thread.
Exactly, France is close enough to Libya to see how badly Obama’s last war for democracy turned out.
Convoys of ISIS fighters showing up in Libya now.
Why are they not involved? They are too busy in North Africa.
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