France and Syria have had a storied past beginning with France being the colonial ruler over Syria to today when the two countries are not even trying to forge some sort of relationship. In fact, France has always backed Syria’s opposition as a means to oust President Bashar al-Assaad. France has a long standing tradition of honor and will not allow someone with Assaad’s moral compass of butchering his countrymen and utilizing chemical weapons to remain in powere, and France will do everything within its global reach to remove Assaad from power.
In 2012, France was in the midst of a rocky relationship with Syria after that country’s president, Bashar al-Assaad, appointed a new prime minister in what France called a government “masquerade” (The Associated Press, 2012). France would like nothing more than for Assaad to resign as president of Syria, but instead he appointed his ally, Riad Farid Hijab, as the new prime minister responsible for creating a new government (The Associated Press, 2012). France has urged the international community to step in and prevent this new government which will basically still be run by Assaad despite his slaughtering of thousands of Syrian citizens for daring to support a democratic government.
Theresa May, who was the Prime Minister of Great Britain, was in talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as to how to respond to Syria’s use of chemical weapons on their own citizens (Nicholas, 2018). Fast forward to April 14, 2018, when France, along with the combined forces of Great Britain and the United States attacked Syria (The Syrian War Theatre, 2018). Syria’s chemical attack in Douma killed “75 people including children and women” (The Syrian War Theatre, 2018). This attack showed the inhumane nature of Assaad and his cohorts.
In fact, Assaad was instrumental in establishing the Russian Federation, and since Russia is now a powerhouse in the Middle East, Assaad is dangerously close to establishing even more power. In fact, Russia maintains three bases in Syria, and Syria is home to Iranian military and intelligence who use the country for their training purposes (The Syrian War Theatre, 2018). Syria is in the midst of much terroroist training activity and France, along with the rests of the world, wants to stop it.
Despite all of its issues with Syria, France still managed to do the humanitarian deed by taking in Syrian refugees. In 2015, then president of France, Francois Hollande, promised to take in 30,000 Syrian refugees over the course of the following two years (Editorial, 2015). He said that those refugees would be “screened and heavily vetted” (Editorial, 2015). Syria is the primary suspect in a suspected terrorist attack in Paris that killed 129 people (Editorial, 2015). Hollande said that even though France is at odds with Syria, that France is still responsible for doing the humanitarian right thing (Editorial, 2015).
France, Britain, and the United States have provided troops on the ground in Syria to help the Syrian Democratic Forces fight against Assaad’s military forces (Young & Ryan, 2019). Heavy artillery and air strikes were provided by France and the other Allied forces to assist with SDF efforts to bring a democratic government to Syria (Young & Ryan, 2019).
- Editorial: Holland’s Message in Paris. (2015, November 19). Anniston Star, The (AL) Standard
- Nicholas, C. (2018, April 13). May Consults Macron as She Prepares for Strike on Syria. Evening Standard, p.1.
- The Associated Press (2012). France Calls New Syrian Government a Masquerade. AP English Worldstream-English. The Associated Press.
- The Syrian War Theatre. (2018, May 25). Daily Times (Pakistan).
- Young, K., & Ryan, M. 2019 (2019, February 20). Allies Decline Request to Stay in Syria After U.S. Troops Withdraw. The Washington Post, p.1.
