Military Intervention in Syria? Germany Pushes Back Hard on French Warning

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French President Hollande suggested yesterday that military intervention might be required in Syria. Why that idea resonated particularly negatively in Germany.

In his first TV interview after his inauguration on May 29, French President Francois Hollande surprised viewers at home and abroad with his remark that a military intervention in Syria should not be excluded. Mr. Hollande's words irritated policymakers in Washington, Moscow, and at the UN Headquarters in New York. But nowhere did they resonate more negatively than in Berlin.

The reaction underscored how seriously Germany - which is still smarting from criticism of its abstention from action on Libya …