French parliament defends potential military action in Syria
France's prime minister went before the parliament on Wednesday to express the necessity for military action in Syria. He said that August's chemical weapons attack marked the most terrifying such agression of the century.
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Ayrault said that the inability to act against the Syrian regime would put the region's peace and security in danger.
As part of a parliamentary debate over a possible military intervention in Syria, Ayrault said it was necessary for President Bashar al-Assad to relinquish power.
Ayrault said that Assad must learn that negociations were the only way to move forward, but that a military strike was imperative to end the use of unacceptable war tactics - such as chemical weapons use.
"Yes, the solution to the Syrian crisis will be political and not military, but let's face reality: if we don't put an immediate stop to the regime's agressions, there won't be a political solution," Ayrault said.
The United States has said that it has evidence that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons against its own people during an August attack, which left more than 1,400 people dead.
Wednesday's parliamentary debate did not end in a vote over whether to intervene militarily in Syria, but was only meant as a means of gauging political opinion on the matter.
France's President François Hollande has vowed to support a US-led intervention in Syria.
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