French military targets Islamist rebels in Mali

[Mars_ax]

Apparently the Mali Government asked the French to come to their aide:

As a new round of French military strikes targeted Islamist rebels in Mali on Sunday, both sides of the fight said they were determined to win.

French fighter jets bombed rebel training camps and other targets in northern Mali, France's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"France's goal is to lead a relentless struggle against terrorist groups," the ministry said, "preventing any new offensive of these groups to the south of Mali."

Sunday's air raids were the latest in French efforts supporting Malian government forces battling militant Islamist forces. Additionally, France has several hundred ground troops in Mali, where they may soon be joined by hundreds of troops from nearby African nations.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90912Q20130113

Mali may end up being the new "Afghanistan" in Africa.

Thoughts?

[VictorCharlie]

Strange. They must be pretty damn sure they can win quickly b/c they just left Afghanistan with their tail tucked between their legs.

[CFH]

Oh, those wonderful altruistic French. Always doing things to help their fellow man with absolutely no ulterior motives.

Viva La Revolution!

[Mars_ax]

Oh, those wonderful altruistic French. Always doing things to help their fellow man with absolutely no ulterior motives.

Viva La Revolution!

I haven't read anything about the history of Mali but I take it that it was once a French Colony or some such shit, why else would France be trying to help them. I do know that Mali is a large country with plenty of places for Islamic rebels to operate or hide, so it may not be easy to eradicate or remove them, which the French say they are committed to doing.
I see where Britain & the U.S. are getting involved, so this could get interesting. I mean WTF, why miss out on all the fun.

[Spicoli]

First I heard about this was a local newscast tonight. Sounds like it was centered around a failed hostage rescue but they are pretty tight lipped so far. Figures with the number of citizens they have in the immediate region they feel the urge to actually do something but I'd be hesitant to stand to close with them mainly because you have to think they'll secure their own interest and hop on the next plane out, rebels taking dirt naps or not.

[Kirkland Laing]

This is one of half a dozen countries that are getting Islamist nutjob/Al Quaeda-like groups setting up shop in it. But really it's just a continuation of rebel groups taking over from tinpot dictatorships in African countries, it's been going on since the colonial era. A couple of decades ago these guys were all Communist or similar, now they're Islamist. Islamism is just the rallying call du jour.

What'll be interesting is to see how much coverage the Brit/US media gives to French industrial/commercial interests in the region and how much of a part they're playing in it. There was plenty Frecnh coverage of our situation when we invaded Iraq.

We've got regional interest too. We'll probably get involved in a limited way, nothing on an Afghanistan scale, more like Libya.

Also, we're allleaving Afghanistan with out tails between our legs. The French just did it first. Getting your people killed for no reason the longest is going to be a competition between Britain and America.

Also too, the Jewhadi attack on Chuck Hagel getting nominated for War Secretary brought this stuff to my attention about our, uh, regional interests. Firstly Chuck Hagel, top foreign policy guy and chairman of the Pentagon Defense Committee for over a decade :

"People say we're not fighting for oil. Of course we are," said the Republican Senator from Nebraska Chuck Hagel to law students of Catholic University last September. "They talk about America's national interest. What the hell do you think they're talking about? We're not there for figs."

Hagel: War for Oil | The Weekly Standard

and this guy, a General who was running the war in Iraq for a couple of years and was head of CENTCOM :

"Of course it’s about oil, it's very much about oil, and we can’t really deny that. From the standpoint of a solider who's now fought in the middle east for six years – my son-in-law's fought there for four years, my daughter's been over there, my son has served the nation – my family has been fighting for a long time." – Gen. John Abizaid, former commander of CENTCOM, October 13, 2007. (Watch Abizaid say this .)


and Chairman of the Fed/Wall Street chief spokesman Alan Greenspan :

"I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."

[Mars_ax]

First I heard about this was a local newscast tonight. Sounds like it was centered around a failed hostage rescue but they are pretty tight lipped so far. Figures with the number of citizens they have in the immediate region they feel the urge to actually do something but I'd be hesitant to stand to close with them mainly because you have to think they'll secure their own interest and hop on the next plane out, rebels taking dirt naps or not.

When was the last time the French won a war, when Napoleon was there? There's several thousand French citizens living in Southern Mali, other then that I can't see why France would give a fuck about being in that desert shithole.