Ne...que

[Robert]

I understand the structure 'Ne ... que' is for 'nothing but (this)' or 'only (this)'
But in this statement by François Hollande (Le Monde), he apparently meant that France will not intervene in Irak:

« Nous n'irons pas au-delà, il n'y aura pas de troupes au sol et nous n'interviendrons qu'en Irak », a assuré le président lors de sa conférence.

Should it have been 'nous n'interviendrons pas en Irak'? Was it an error?

[Neil Coffey]

The basic meaning is "only" (or in some cases, related notions such as "unless", "not until").

For the purpose of understanding, imagine that it is "not... except...". So they're saying "we will not intervene, except in Iraq"... in other words, "we will intervene only in Iraq".

(The "not.. except..." is just to help understanding. It's not really true because, for example, there are occasions when the "ne" is omitted and "que" still means "only". But to get you started, it might help you to understand.)

[Robert]

Neil, thanks. I got the impression of 'no intervention in Iraq' from how Mr. Hollande was so emphatic about no troops on the ground in Iraq and no going in further than air power to aid the Iraqis. But then obviously air power is a form of intervention.
So the safest interpretation is by semantic, 'intervene only in Iraq,' like you said.
I suspect this is an instance of fumbling or equivocation, to which French politicos should be just as prone as our American ones.

[George Hunt]

He is saying that he won't intervene in Syria. I think his meaning is clear.

[Neil Coffey]

I wouldn't necessarily say that it's fumbling: "ne ... que ..." is a fairly common construction.

[Jacques Fabre]

Your interpretation is right, Robert. And there is definitely no fumbling in this construction. Hollande meant to say France will ONLY intervene in Irak, and not elsewhere (i.e. in Syria)

Jacques

[[e-mail]]

No , he meant, " we will interfere only in Irak.

"Ne .... que "
limits the action of the verb ," intervenir" to what follows after ," que"

Here , " en Irak"

That means only in Irak they would intervene.

[Robert]

Je vous suis reconnaissante. J'offre des excuses à M. Hollande. Il a été que 'qu'en Irak.'