Paris: France planned to intervene in Syria on September 1, but had to cancel the operation when U.S. President Barack Obama, decided to refer the issue to the attention of Congress, media sources revealed here today.
The plan was to bomb starting at three in the morning, when people were sleeping, said a senior official who was quoted by French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur.
According to the publication, preparations began on the morning of August 31, after a call from the White House.
The operation would have seen the scrambling of French Rafale attack aircraft, armed with Scalp cruise missiles, deployed in international waters over the Mediterranean Sea, with the aim of destroying the air defense batteries around Damascus and other targets in the west of the Arab country.
The authorities had also prepared some measures to justify the attack with the French public, who overwhelmingly opposed military intervention.
However, the operation had to be canceled when Obama informed President François Hollande the he would submit the matter to a congress vote, explains Le Nouvel Observateur.
Via PL