CFR Daily News Brief 8/30 France Backs Punitieve Action Against Syria

Daily News Brief August 30, 2013

Top of the Agenda: France Backs Punitive Action Against Syria

Note: There will be no Daily Brief on Monday, September 2 due to the Labor Day holiday.

President François Hollande said the alleged chemical weapons attack on a Damascus suburb last week "must not remain unpunished," (France24) and that Paris was working with its allies on an appropriate response. The French leader's support for possible punitive strikes on Syria follows a defeat of Prime Minister David Cameron in a parliamentary vote (Guardian) on the principle of military action, a rare rebuke of a British leader's intentions to wage war. In Washington, the Obama administration briefed members of Congress on its intelligence, saying that there was "no doubt" that chemical weapons were used in Syria (Reuters).

Analysis

"The change reflects the reality that Britain and the rest of Europe are neither able nor willing to play a substantial role in [Asia and the Middle East] that will define the 21st century. Instead, European politics are likely to become more parochial, focused mostly on matters of governance and economic policy on the continent," CFR President Richard Haass writes in the Financial Times.

"In recent days, a notable number of members of the online jihadist community—some involved directly and others indirectly in the conflict in Syria—have been somewhat fixated on a widespread fear that their leaders, personnel, and bases will also be the target of Tomahawk cruise missiles," writes Charles Lister in Foreign Policy.

"A pinprick attack portends more months or years of civil war, leading to an eventual Assad-Iran victory or perhaps a divided country. The jihadist groups, now a minority in the opposition, will grow as the war drags on … We'd support a larger military intervention aimed at regime change," says a Wall Street Journal editorial.