Tuesday, May 08, 2012

From Each According to Their Ability

The new French socialist government is likely to face pressure to act in Mali--France's traditional sphere of influence:

"We are very worried by what is happening in Mali and its impact on the region," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told journalists.

"We need to create the right conditions to avoid this crisis becoming a threat to global security," he added, appealing to the international community to get involved.

"If not, there's a risk of having to manage a regional crisis and a risk to peace and security all over the world."

I'm not sure why the refugee guy is talking about Mali. The threat is that jihadis will set up shop and export jihad to the region and even all over the world if nobody does anything to shut down the potential safe haven in northern Mali.

Rump Mali isn't unified enough to even start the task. ECOWAS seems more interested in knocking down the coup plotters in rump Mali than in regaining northern Mali for whoever is in charge right now. Obviously, we aren't going to do anything.

So France is the only country with the capability and interest to move any time soon.

I wonder if anyone breaks this news to President-elect Francois Hollande before he assumes office in a week?