AS AN expression of solidarity with America’s oldest, currently bruised, ally, Barack Obama’s words of welcome to his French counterpart on November 24th might sound a bit cloying. “We love France for your spirit and your culture, your joie de vivre,” he told François Hollande. “Since the attacks, Americans have recalled their own visits to Paris, visiting the Eiffel Tower or walking along the Seine.” “Oh là là!” Mr Hollande might have been forgiven for muttering. He had come to Washington to persuade Mr Obama to lead a more aggressive campaign against his country’s scourge, Islamic State (IS), not to be garlanded with onions.
The many, including in Washington, who hoped the massacre in Paris would induce Mr Obama to launch a bolder attack on the jihadists have been disappointed. Mr Hollande wants more American military support for the “merciless” campaign he has promised against IS. Mr Obama seconded that ambition, reiterating his vow that the terrorists “must be destroyed”. Yet he promised no new American means to that end, apart from more US-French intelligence-sharing and, in...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/1NR16UG
EmoticonEmoticon