Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has threatened to act "with firmness and determination" against anyone collaborating with a foreign military force that might intervene in north Mali.
All that international "outrage" over jihadis hacking and shooting up Moslem (!) tombs considered important historic sites isn't going to stop the jihadis. (Destroying Moslem tombs? Hey, who's "Islamophobic" now?)
No, if the jihadis are to be stopped any time in the near future, it won't be by the Mali government still wracked by coup fissures. And it won't be by the dribs and drabs that ECOWAS, the regional body, can scrape together even if they decide the secessionists and jihadis in the north are the enemy rather than the coup leaders in southern Mali.
No, as I've been arguing, only France can provide the conventional ground forces capable of driving north and scattering the Tuaregs and jihadis to allow ECOWAS and/or Mali ground forces to garrison the cities and bases and again patrol the roads. Now we wait for France.
But France, with their new socialist government, seems hesitant.
If it takes our AFRICOM organizing an airlift and a special forces assist with A Teams and drone assets to get France moving, I say send them in.
Of course, if the jihadis are so desperate for a sanctuary that northern Mali is appealing, I suppose it is good strategy to delay action to suck the jihadis into the middle of a desert so we can kill them more effectively.
