French President Francois Hollande will arrive in Washington Tuesday to deliver a message to President Obama about the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS): This is an emergency. But Hollande is likely to leave Washington without firm backing for his call to bring Russian Federation into a new coalition to fight the extremists.
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Less than two weeks after the attacks in Paris triggered terrorism warnings across the globe, Hollande’s White House visit is part of his effort to stitch together an global coalition to fight the insurgent group that claimed responsibility for that assault that claimed at least 130 lives.
European Union officials are increasingly concerned and telling US officials that the Syrian crisis – with its refugee flows and spawning of terror groups – is destabilizing Europe..
Hollande has said he was also seeking a “union of all who can fight this terrorist army in a single coalition”.
Hollande met with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday and will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday. But his office acknowledges that “co-ordination” sounds like a far more realistic goal. The diplomat wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss the subject and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The top U.S. diplomat ruled out the notion of a no-fly zone in Syria, recently reiterated by his predecessor Hillary Rodham Clinton, saying it was “not a new idea”.
“There’s a difference between smart applications of law enforcement and military and intelligence, and succumbing to the kind of fear that leads us to abandon our values, to abandon how we live, to abandon – or change how we treat each other”, he said in Malaysia.
Earnest said the USA would “continue the conversation” with Putin but suggested Obama would make no promises to Hollande during Tuesday’s visit. The Russian Ministry of Defence said the plane was over Syrian territory “throughout the flight”.
Almost five years of clashes between Assad’s government and rebel forces have created a vacuum that allowed the Islamic State to thrive. Hollande heads to Moscow on Thursday, just after his White House meeting, to better coordinate military action with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Beyond their discussions on military cooperation, Obama and Hollande were expected to discuss diplomatic efforts to achieve a political transition in Syria.
In a show of force, France has stepped up its attacks against ISIS targets in Syria, using the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the eastern Mediterranean to launch strikes.
Criticism of the US strategy to this point has begun to grow louder.
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Given the rash of attacks, Obama is now facing increased pressure at home and overseas to ramp up US efforts to destroy the militants.
