France joins the war against ISIS. Yahoo/Reuters.

French President Francois Hollande. Yahoo/Reuters

French Rafale jets struck an ISIS logistical depot in Iraq, marking France joining the war against ISIS. Yahoo/Reuters.  Four airstrikes, including two Rafale fighters, a recon plane and a refueling plane, struck the storage facility located near Mosul. France is the first European country to join the U.S. in the air campaign to fight ISIS. Secular and religious leaders in Iraq, including Shiite leader Ayatollah Sistani, praised both the French strikes and U.S. strikes, but hoped that foreign ground troops would be unnecessary. Neither the United States or France have struck ISIS fighters in Syria, where the group has had several victories over local Kurdish forces.

My Comment:

Always good to see the French exercise their considerable military muscle. People tend to give France a hard time due to World War II, but that is stupid. They have been a military powerhouse from the beginning and a strong military tradition. In short, the French are "bad-ass". The French have an excellent military and are not to be underestimated. They have almost defeated Al-Qaeda affiliated groups in Mali with every little outside help. They have a strong air force and any help they can provide will be appreciated. Unfortunately their government is very weak right now, and they have other military commitments in Mali and other parts of Africa. Still, symbolic gesture or not, it is appreciated. 

As for why they are doing it, I am guessing they would rather fight ISIS in Iraq then fight them at home in a couple of years. France has a huge problem with Muslims not integrating and generally not getting along with anyone, so the existence of a radical state in the Middle East that would exacerbate these problems isn't something they can tolerate. I don't see this being all that unpopular for the French either. President Hollande is very, VERY unpopular and the only thing the French people give him high marks on is foreign policy. They like what he is doing in Mali, so I think they will like what he is doing here.