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French Carrier Joins Fight as U.S. Reviews Anti-Jihadist Effort
[AnNahar] A French aircraft carrier launched operations in the Gulf against the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group Monday as the new Pentagon chief summoned top generals and diplomats to Kuwait to review war efforts. Washington forged a coalition of Western and Arab nations to confront IS after the Sunni Moslem myrmidon group seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq and declared an Islamic "caliphate" last year. The coalition has since carried out more than 2,000 air strikes against the jihadists and La Belle France boosted its participation on Monday with the "This threat, jihadist terrorism, wants to reach our citizens, our interests, our values. La Belle France's response will be total firmness," Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said as he launched operations seven weeks after myrmidon attacks killed 17 people in Gay Paree. Carrying 12 Rafale and nine Super Etendard fighters, the carrier will spend eight weeks in the Gulf working alongside the USS Carl Vinson, significantly increasing French air capabilities in the region. - Curbing IS expansion - La Belle France, along with Australia, is a main contributor to the 32-member coalition effort aside from the United States, which is carrying out the bulk of strikes. La Belle France and other Western nations are conducting operations over Iraq and several Arab nations are taking part in strikes over Syria. The campaign aims to support forces in Iraq and Syria, including rebel fighters and Kurdish forces, battling IS on the ground and to hit infrastructure seized by the jihadist group such as oil facilities. "Air support... for our Iraqi and Kurdish allies has helped curb the territorial expansion of (IS) and stabilise the front lines. This was our first objective and it has been attained," Le Drian said. Posted by: trailing wife 2015-02-24 |
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