France’s President Macron raised the stakes for war in Syria by claiming to have proof chemical weapons were used by the “regime” last weekend. Macron is thus making a joint military strike on Syria with the US more likely.
From the outset of the dubious chemical weapons incident on April 7 in the city of Douma, near the Syrian capital Damascus, US President Donald Trump has relied heavily on his French counterpart for guidance on what military action to take.
Bloomberg has described Emmanuel Macron as Trump’s “go-to guy in Europe.”
The American president is said to trust Macron more than any other European leader. When the news of the alleged chemical weapons incident broke, it was Macron whom Trump phoned first – much to the chagrin of the British and their presumed “special relationship” with Washington.
In a series of follow-up calls, the French reportedly exchanged intelligence with the White House to show that chemical munitions had been used against civilians by the Syrian government forces of President Bashar Assad. It seems it was due to the French lead that Trump adopted such a bellicose position, blaming “animal Assad” and Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the “atrocity.”
Trump went on to warn Russia to get ready for “new, smart missiles coming.” However, the president then appeared to quickly back down, later intimating that a decision on whether or not to launch military strikes had not yet been taken.
Significantly, France’s Macron then weighed in with his categorical claim to “have proof that chemical weapons were used by the Syrian regime.” This was while US Defense Secretary James Mattis said that they are still making an assessment about the purported incident.
Macron has previously said that not implementing “red lines on chemical weapons” is a sign of “weakness” which he will certainly not balk at. Given his categorical claim about chemical weapons being used by the Assad forces, that can only mean one outcome – military action.
So, it seems the French leader is indeed Trump’s “go-to guy” in Europe – for war on Syria. What the precise French intelligence on the Douma incident is based on, and from where it was sourced, is not publicly substantiated. It is unverified – as with so much else Western governments claim these days. We are expected to simply take the word of the French president. Though, that’s entirely questionable.
For its part, the Syrian government has unequivocally rejected accusations its forces used chemical munitions in recapturing Douma and its Eastern Ghouta environs. Syria and Russia say the alleged incident was a staged provocation carried out by the Western-backed insurgents.
The strategic victory has routed the last-remaining stronghold of the anti-government militants near the capital. As President Assad remarked, the staged provocation was aimed at distracting from the military breakthrough against the Western-backed regime-change proxies.
Russian chemical warfare analysts, as well as locally-based Red Crescent medics at Douma City hospital, have also found no traces of chemical weapons, or people showing symptoms of poisoning.
A World Health Organization claim that “500 people were injured with chemicals” is not based on its own on-the-ground information-gathering, but rather on the claims of “activists in the area” – which probably means the notorious White Helmets, the so-called rescue group which is embedded with terrorist outfits like Al-Nusra Front and Jaysh al-Islam.
Therefore, how can President Macron be so confident to have proof under the circumstances? He cannot possibly have the evidence he claims to have. He is either lying or willfully peddling allegations communicated by the White Helmets and other proxies which have been exposed as on the payroll of the French government, as well as the CIA and Britain’s MI6.
In this way, Macron is reprising the role played by former British leader Tony Blair when the latter served as the public relations manager to the George W Bush administration over the Iraq War. Like Blair, Macron lends Trump a certain gravitas upon which to launch a war.
If there is one outstanding trait in the 40-year-old French leader, it is his ruthless ambition. The former investment banker has a knack for climbing up greasy poles. He has endeavored to position himself as the pre-eminent European leader, eclipsing Germany’s Angela Merkel or Britain’s Theresa May, as the point man for Washington.
Later this month, he will be the first European leader to be given an official state reception in Washington – a gesture from Trump in response to Macron’s guest-of-honor invitation at the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris last year.
Macron has deftly set himself up as a “strong man” to Trump over the issue of climate change. Recall his knuckle-crunching handshake with the American during the G20 summit in Berlin last July. Macron has slyly played on anti-Trump sentiments in Europe, re-coining the “Make America Great Again” slogan to “Make the Planet Great Again.”
But all the while, Macron has been careful never to rebuke Trump personally. The French leader’s desired portfolio is to promote himself as the interlocutor between Europe and America.
His calculations seem to be paying off, too, as can be gleaned from the way Trump is liaising most closely with Macron over what military steps to take on Syria.
Macron has other ambitions for revamping the former colonial power as a key player in the Middle East. This week, he wined and dined the young Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The pair shared a two-hour meal at the Louvre Museum and reportedly discussed strengthening the “strategic partnership” between France and Saudi Arabia.
Evidently, the president was lavishing the Saudi heir with French culture and arts and playing to the latter’s pretensions for development in these domains. Macron said France would help the Saudi rulers create a national orchestra, theaters and film-making.
Macron’s charm offensive earned prospective deals signed this week with Saudi Arabia worth $18 billion. The French are lined up for developing Saudi public infrastructure and utilities, water treatment, solar energy, petrochemicals, agriculture and tourism.
To smooth the signing of those deals, Macron provided important public relations for the Saudis this week. In a joint press conference in Paris, the French president defended the multibillion-dollar sales of warplanes to Saudi Arabia as being in the interests of “regional security.”
With a straight face, Macron distorted Saudi Arabia’s genocidal war on Yemen as a necessary “defense” against ballistic missiles being fired by Houthi rebels.
Macron also indulged the Saudi obsession that the Middle East’s security is threatened by “Iranian expansionism.”
Ingratiating himself with the head-chopping, terrorist-sponsoring Saudi regime was top priority for the ambitious Macron – to the point where he glibly spouted outrageous lies about the abominable war in Yemen.
That also explains why Macron is keenly pushing the militarist agenda on Syria. The Saudis have long been soliciting the US and its European allies to launch a full-scale intervention in Syria to get rid of Assad and the Iranian-Hezbollah axis.
Macron knows he is banging war drums over Syria to entertain the Saudi despots and loosen their oil coffers for French benefits.
Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Master’s graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent.
This article was originally published by “RT”
The 21st Century