France Leads From the Front Against Terror - WSJ

All of this means that Mr. Hollande has been right to declare war on Islamic State and order French bombing raids on its capital in eastern Syria. France is still a militarily capable nation, as it proved when it turned back an al Qaeda offensive in Mali in 2013. It can do significant damage to ISIS if it increases the tempo of its current bombing or deploys its Foreign Legion to liberate the city of Raqqa.

But France can’t lead a decisive military campaign on its own, which is why Mr. Hollande is casting about for potential partners. He won’t find them in Europe, despite his decision to invoke an obscure and toothless European collective defense clause.

Ben Rhodes, the U.S. deputy national security adviser, was oddly noncommittal on Sunday when he was asked if France should trigger the Article 5 mutual-defense clause of the NATO charter. “That’s a decision for the French to make,” he said. That seeming reluctance and Mr. Hollande’s decision not to invoke Article 5 makes us wonder if the Obama Administration quietly told Paris not to bother. Keep in mind that NATO did invoke Article 5 after 9/11, which led to Europe’s cooperation with the U.S. against al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

No wonder Paris is making overtures for a joint military option with Moscow, which must be delighted at this opening to renew an old European friendship while weakening NATO in the bargain. President Obama is missing an opportunity to help an ally in its hour of need and fortify the larger Atlantic alliance.

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