French President Emmanuel Macron has been watching his poll numbers drop since his election nine months ago, as Macron chalks up one reform after another. Today, the unpopular President of France, Emmanuel Macron threatened to bomb Syria if it’s proven they used chemical weapons against citizens.
Will Macron’s new threat to “strike” if it’s proven that chemical bombs were used in Syria, cause his popularity with the French to drop even further?
Macron said last May that the use of chemical weapons would represent a “red line”. In a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday expressed concern over signs that chlorine bombs had been used against civilians in Syria.
“On chemical weapons, I set a red line and I reaffirm that red line,” Macron told reporters. “If we have proven evidence that chemical weapons proscribed in treaties are used, we will strike the place where they are made.”
“Today, our agencies, our armed forces have not established that chemical weapons, as set out in treaties, have been used against the civilian population.”
The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons and said it targets only armed rebels and militants.
Last week was one of the bloodiest in the Syrian conflict as Syrian government forces, who are backed by Russia and Iran, bombarded two of the last major rebel areas of Syria – Eastern Ghouta near Damascus and the northwestern province of Idlib.
Syria signed the international treaty banning chemical weapons and allowed monitors to destroy its poison gas arsenal after an agreement reached in 2013 to avert U.S. retaliation for what Washington said was a nerve gas attack near Damascus that killed more than 1000 people. Washington again accused Syria of using nerve gas last year and struck Syrian targets.
In recent weeks, rescue workers, aid groups and the United States have accused Syria of repeatedly using chlorine gas, which it possesses legally for uses such as water purification, as a chemical weapon against civilians in Ghouta and Idlib.