I thought it was bug so I sent in a ticket. This was the response:
I am sorry to see that there has been some confusion regarding the Forged Alliances mission chain. As per the latest Patch Notes, this mission chain has now been reset. As a result of this you will find that the missions will need to be restarted as a regular Flashpoint, meaning that you will be unable to do this in Solo Mode. However you will still be able to progress this mission chain as part of a group.
Because I too was trying to run it in SOLO mode to get through the story line. Had to do it through a group, I guess that's why.
Hope this helps!
DH