FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Macron Warns, France Will Bomb Syria If Chemical Weapons Are Used
Feb. 14, 2018 (EIRNS)—French President Emmanuel Macron vowed yesterday that “France will strike” if chemical weapons are used against civilians in Syria in violation of international treaties. He had to admit, however, that there is no evidence of such use. “On chemical weapons, I set a red line and I reaffirm that red line,” Macron told reporters, according to Reuters.
“If we have proven evidence that chemical weapons proscribed in treaties are used, we will strike the place where they are made. Today, our agencies, our armed forces have not established that chemical weapons, as set out in treaties, have been used against the civilian population.”
The vice president of the so-called White Helmets civil defense organization, Abdulrahman Almawwas, said France should stop talking and take real action. The White Helmets are known assets of the British working hand-in-hand with the terrorist networks to falsely accuse the Syrian government of chemical weapons use and other atrocities.
Macron’s vow is described as an attempt to increase marginal French leverage in Syria, but it turns out that the White Helmets are having problems of their own, or at least, they say they are. Almawwas told reporters in Paris that the organization is facing a budget shortfall of about $6 million, from a previous level of $18 million down to $12 million. He named the United States and Britain as the two largest donors to the White Helmets, but refused to say who had reduced their contributions.
