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Obama Aborted Joint US-French Attack on Syria Hours before Scheduled Strike

A French newspaper is reporting that French President Francois Hollande was “stunned” when President Obama called to abort a joint US-France air strike at Syrian targets set for September 1. According to Nouvel Observateur, the call to stand-down came only hours before the agreed-upon “wheels-up” time. The paper says President Obama told his French counterpart that he was opting for Congressional approval and therefore the mission had to be delayed. Rather than go it alone, Hollande complied, albeit apparently reluctantly. The British daily The Independent in reporting the French story quoted a retired French military official as saying, “President Obama’s U-turn reflects a great contempt by the United States for France.” On Monday, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said that he would honor the United Nations Security Council resolution calling for the collection and destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons. Specialists from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are set to begin their work on Tuesday amid the continuing air assaults on the civilian population by regime jet fighters.