no one has noticed a new war ?

[ProblemAgain]

france has committed troops and aircraft to support the malian government in resisting islamic rebels who have taken over the northern section of the country...and mali is right below algeria in western africa...thus essentially a continent closer to europe

French jets bomb major Malian city in north

By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI and BABA AHMED | Associated Press – 28 mins ago

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — French fighter jets bombed rebel targets in a major city in Mali's north Sunday, pounding the airport as well as training camps, warehouses and buildings used by the al-Qaida-linked Islamists controlling the area, officials and residents said.

The three-day-old French-led effort to take back Mali's north from the extremists began with airstrikes by combat helicopters in the small town of Konna. It has grown to a coordinated attack by state-of-the-art fighter jets which have bombarded at least five towns, of which Gao, which was attacked Sunday afternoon, is the largest.

More than 400 French troops have been deployed to the country in the all-out effort to win back the territory from the well-armed rebels, who seized control of an area larger than France nine months ago. What began as a French offensive has now grown to include seven other countries, including logistical support from the U.S. and Europe. The United States is providing communications and transport help, while Britain is sending C17 aircrafts to help Mali's allies transport troops to the frontlines.

http://news.yahoo.com/french-jets-bomb-major-malian-city-north-2135...

[DragaoDHJ]

I heard about it, but as long as we have no US boots on the ground in Mali, I'm not concerned about it. We have a enough problems already winding down one war, along with a really bad economy.

[LoveLife&Laughter]

Terrorists and religion again.  It never stops, does it...

[Ioruach]

Terrorism and religion.  Needed to have something to replace Communism, the boogieman of yesterday.

[exedir]

Complicated, and yes, it's the French, it is always the French.  And it is the French because this is their 'sphere' of influence', an area they are the most dominate in as to, who is helping the central Africa republics, because of the traditional bilateral trade and political relationships, and yes, the French Foreign Legion and yes, this is has been an ongoing concern for the French for sometime.  

Now as to the moment, radical Islamists have been a force in the south Sahara recently spreading from the turmoil in North Africa  as opportunist groups grounded in places like Libya have expanded their efforts.  They have gotten to the point of disrupting those governments in Mali, Chad, Niger and Mauritania, previous French colonials, that have retained French trade, cultural and immigration relations.  The most recent incident is the destruction of irreplaceable historical and cultural artifacts in Timbuktu by the Islamists as being pagan and inconsistent with Islam.  This is similar to what the Taliban did in Afghanistan to the Buddhas of Barmuan.

There are also acts of the United Nations and the Union of African States that have proposed military action on behalf of the threaten states, of which the French have taken as authorization for what they are doing to fight off the radicals and at, supposedly, at the behest of the current governments.  The French have being doing this previously in a number of ways including direct action and support of existing and prior governments, but, for the most part, not widely reported.  And yes, many of the central African states where and are dictatorships, tyrannies, fantasies and pseudo states at best.

We, United States, have been in support of the French also for a long time in that the French are the best available proxy for direct action in the area in lieu of the use of our troops, and yes, it has included the use of drones.  

[exedir]

So, the battle action has moved to another state, Algeria.  

And yes, it was too easy, just like Benghazi.  And again an organized, lead and planned action of a group that was able to move against targets that are deemed both worthy and vulnerable to create as much destruction and death, mostly to promote their cause as much as anything of a strategic value.  

And of course, it shifts attention from one point to another, to another tying down resources, limited resources to identify, control and prevent such attacks and make the protectors seem weak and ineffective against jihad.