The French press today writes that French President Francois Hollande is "caught in a trap" after the reversal of his American colleague Barack Obama, who announced the convening of Congress on the issue of military intervention in Syria, and that Hollande remains alone in his position on that conflict.
"Like Barack Obama, Francois Hollande is caught in a whirlwind of uncontrollable events," writes the editorial of the liberal daily Figaro, but also adds that Hollande is "trapped on the domestic front and very isolated on the foreign front."
The commentator of the newspaper Republiken lorrain (La Republicain lorrain) assesses that with the withdrawal of the British and the withdrawal of the USA, the French president is now in the "role of a magnificent cuckold".
Liberasion (Liberation) writes that "Olande has trouble justifying war" and wonders that, although the president has all the powers to wage war according to the constitution, is Hollande perhaps "the only head of state who can use force without the vote of national representatives, and even without a single speech?".
The Catholic newspaper La Croix writes that the trap has closed around "Western officials who stepped forward too quickly and announced their desire to punish Damascus for allegedly using poison gas."
And the newspaper "L'Humanite" wonders how the determination of war or peace can be the decision of only one man in the 21st century and assesses that the attitude of Hollande, who is "determined to make a decision against the will of the great majority of the French and to circumvent obtaining approval from national representatives".
The economic newspaper Eko states that the executive power wants to save its reputation and does not give up its intention and refuses to ask for a vote in the parliament as its allies did.
French President Francois Hollande supports military intervention against the Syrian regime in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in an August 21 army attack on a Damascus suburb that killed at least several hundred people.
According to the French Constitution, parliamentary approval is not required for military intervention, which can be decided by the president, if the military intervention by the French army does not last longer than four months.
The French parliament is due to consider the issue on Wednesday, but a vote on participation in the military operation is not scheduled for now.
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