Mali

Editor’s Note: As well all know, the French wasted absolutely no time getting into the fight with Daesh after recent attacks on their soil. The Armée de l’air’s goal has been quite simple: to bring the rain and bring the pain to the so-called Islamic State. What many have forgotten is the French have been taking […]

The French are embracing a different style of warfare than that of the U.S.—one that embraces limited, yet practical, objectives.

Since French combat forces gave way to the current 9000-strong United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, war has continued raging in the desert north of the country with no signs of peace on the horizon.

Despite being crushingly defeated by the joint efforts of a French/Malian/West African military effort last year, Northern Mali Jihadists may be slowly crawling out of their hideouts, like desert ghosts, as France prepares to launch a new mission to fight those groups. Earlier this month, Ansar Dine’s leader, Iyad Ag Aly, resufaced in a rare, […]

Last Tuesday on the 19th of February, a French family vacationing in Northern Cameroon was kidnapped at gunpoint by the Nigerian-based Islamist group, Boko Haram. The family was spending time at the Waza National Park, a popular tourist destination, when five armed men armed with AK-47s kidnapped the victims from the town of Dadanga and […]

The populations of Afghanistan and Iraq made counter-insurgency difficult. In Mali, there just isn’t the same ability for Islamists to blend in with local populations.

In early December I wrote an article that gave a basic overview on what the situation in Mali looked like (Battle for Mali: Coming Soon, 2013) and what needed to be done in order for the Malian government to retake control of the North. The timeframe I estimated was “2-3 months” until some kind of […]