What is happening in Syria, in response to the Paris attacks, is only the first phase of the French strategy of retaliation against the Islamic State. The first phase is already in progress. The second will officially begin as soon as the Charles De Gaulle it will be in an optimal launch position, while the third involves the presence of a commando on the ground to stabilize the tactical situation.
The news was taken up by the newspaper Le Monde citing the French secret services. Second Le Monde "All options are possible, the Paris attacks have changed everything".
Although the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has stated that a military presence in Syria was counterproductive, from the Elysée they would favor a limited but highly specialized combat presence.
We know that since the 2013, the French have started the operation Barkhane against al-Qaeda militants in the Region. What is considered contingent on paper is actually a frontline fighting force with a single purpose: to eliminate the jihadists that rage from eastern Chad to Mauritania. The one deployed in Africa by the French (among the enemies too Boko Haram) is not a force of peacekeeping, but a real army completely self-sufficient and specifically trained in the guerrilla. Supported by two companies of the Foreign Legion, the contingent is formed by 6500 soldiers (the initial number was doubled by Hollande last May).
THEopération Barkhane is conducted by ten different bases scattered throughout the Region. The main base of the French is that of N'Djaména, in Chad, which hosts 800 soldiers. Other 600 soldiers were stationed at the Niamey base in Nigeria, while at the Gao base in Mali, another thousand soldiers were deployed. The command of the French special forces is redeployed in the base of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso. 500 the elements of the Commandement des opérations spéciales deployed for operations hunter killer. The French also have three small bases advanced in Tessalit, Mali, for the projection of special departments in operations man hunting, Fort de Madama in Nigeria and Faya-Largeau in Chad. Finally, three other bases in Senegal, Ivory Coast and Gabon are managed with local governments. The French force has at its disposal 200 tanks, six drones, eight fighter planes, a dozen transport aircraft and twenty assault helicopters.
France, therefore, could follow the example of the United States that the 30 last October, have sent 50 green caps in Turkey on missions to northern Syria. Considering the current deployment of French troops, both in some African countries and at home as well as in overseas France, the General Staff could, as a first option available, employ a small group of the Foreign Legion.
(photo: Ministère de la Défense)
