Op Serval: French forces took the airports at both Timbuktu and Gao: once on the ground the troops met very little resistance from rebels and quickly gained control of the airport at Timbuktu. It was found that the runway at Timbuktu was littered with obstacles so much so the French had to para drop the 17th Airborne Engineer Regiment and its equipment to clear the obstacles and return the runway to active use and the ability to receive air traffic.
Served to gain the initiative and leapfrog hundreds of miles of desert.
Don't think we really have the nerve or mind-space to do this sort of thing; too cautious and would no doubt still be in the 'consideration'/planning stage CAS was talking about. Sometimes there are real penalties to not being able to make a timely decision