IN THE aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13th, the French framed their response with unambiguous martial resolve. President François Hollande declared that “France is at war”, and that Islamic State (IS) would be “destroyed” without mercy. Images of French fighter planes taking off to bomb IS targets in Syria from the aircraft-carrier Charles de Gaulle have been beamed out nightly on television news. After extra deployments, 5,000 soldiers now patrol the streets of the French capital.
This week Mr Hollande went on a whirlwind tour in search of allies for a “grand coalition” to fight the good fight. He has scheduled talks over seven days with the leaders of seven countries, including Barack Obama in Washington, DC and Vladimir Putin in Moscow. For the French, the murder of 130 people in their capital city constitutes an “act of war”, which requires a military response far beyond the American-led air strikes on Syria and Iraq during the past year.
Some support for Mr Hollande, who has tripled France’s air-strike capacity in the region, is already on its way. Britain’s David Cameron says he will…
