French President François Hollande told a joint session of parliament on Nov. 16 that he will meet soon with President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin “in order to unite our forces” against ISIS. Hollande, whose address follows the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 129 and the country’s retaliatory airstrikes in Syria, did not say all three presidents would meet at once. Obama and Putin are attending the G20 Summit in Turkey, where the two leaders had a brief, unofficial meeting in a lobby on Nov. 16. Hollande, in his speech, said the US-led coalition, of which France has been an active part, needs to destroy ISIS to save the populations of Iraq and Syria, along with other countries in the region that have seen the growth of the group. He specifically singled out Syria for being the “largest factory of terrorism that the world has known,” according to a Congressional Quarterly transcript of the speech. France will provide more strikes and support for the coalition, “but the needs are coming together of all those who can really combat this terrorist army in the shape of a large, unique coalition. That is what we are working for.”
The U.S. thwarted a drone attack on U.S. forces at Al Asad air base in western Iraq on April 22, marking the first time that American troops have been targeted since February, U.S. officials said. “We can confirm it was an attack on Al Asad,” a defense official told Air & Space…