French Air Strikes Over Mali
 

Hi, I think there's no topic yet about this latest war.

Since friday the French decided they had to intervene to prevent Islamists overtaking Mali. Those already occupy half the country.

It seems french fighters stationed in Tsaad were there first. They apparently were already stationed there for some time (apparent having good low flying opportunities..
During the week-end Mirage2000 and Rafales were added. Unclear to me if the rebels were really stopped or are still advancing.

Airstrikes seem to concentrate in the narrow part of the country. Lots of countries around that seem moderately stable and have a history of violent civil wars, corruption, natural resources and tribal links.. I hope this won't spread..

http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpr...iattacksb.jpeg

Uh...Viva La France!


...but uh...why is this fighter pilot using a map like Granny Yokum? A little Nav system up-grade for our French Air Force friends please.


https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...f5FomsLeutzbRA Granny Yokum Low level Attack

Fairly normal to use road-maps for navigation in Africa. They cost just a few pennies at the local market.

Good overview of the situation in The Grauniad.

Oh yeah that's a good idea. Near mach, 80 feet off the ground and the wingman is reading an ONC map. I guess the lead is a woman.

Must be the the wherethefcukawee tribe.

France24 reporting that Britain has pledged "additional transport planes" - any confirmation?

Temp Spike, what do you mean by "near mach" in your criticism of the low level training route?

keesje: thanks for posting that video. That training route looks like a lot of fun.

probably worried about getting the wrong bushy-topped tree?

Pray tell how you use Tac Air to defeat an Insurgency without committing overwhelming numbers of ground forces?:ugh:

Are current day military leaders and politicians unable to grasp the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan.....after having been there for years?:=

- watch this (largish) space.:ugh:

Is there any reason to deny the Tuareg a homeland? Maybe the lines on the map are wrong, and there is a natural border/breaking spot somewhere in the northeast of Mali.

As to homelands:

Kurds don't get one
Pashtun don't get one

Muslims in Bosnia get one
Kosovars get one
Jews get one
Slovaks get one
Ethnic Kuwaitis get one. (Heh, I expect some laughs at that one :E)

Who gets to choose? :confused:

France was forced to leap in when it became apparent that Mopti (and its airport) were about to fall. I suspect that now that the airport is secured, French forces will secure the South Western half of Mali. Mauritania, Algeria and Niger have all "closed their borders" with Mali, so the North Eastern half of Mali is now more isolated than previously (though I suspect that there is still a fair bit of cross border movement to Algeria and Mauritania).

The French plan is for ECOWAS troops to attempt to recover control of the NE half. I can't see that happening though. The only African troops in ECOWAS with any desert experience are Burkina and Niger. They would have to rely on French armour and air support.

It'll be interesting to see the outcome of the cabinet meeting today. UK top brass are apparently opposed to intervention, but there will be a lot of political pressure on Cameron to lend more support. French are also piling on pressure to Germans and Italians. Wouldn't be surprised if we end up giving more air support.

SASless...I agree.

Mechanized Infantry will be required. Accompanied with airmobile light Infantry and lots of attack helicopters. BUT, contact with these antagonists must be made first because they are not all terrorists being merely paid by terrorists to cause trouble and if it’s a jobs program they want, well that is preferable to war and mass slaughter.

Nearly choked on my wheaties (before I saw the qualification) on that one. A not too long ago Brit ex-ambassador to KSA made a rather memorable (and refreshingly non-PC) comment about Saudis and their lovely country that anyone with any experience of the Kuwaitis would say also applies to them - times two.

I really can't see that the West can keep sending (always too small, and always too late) "fire brigades" to quell the ever-growing number of political spot fires (set, almost always by the same AQ mob, it would seem) ad infinitium.

For one, we (the West) are broke, (even if too many of our citizens, particularly those with their hands out for endless government-supplied 'free stuff', haven't accepted that yet), and secondly, (particularly, but not only, those very same people with their hands out for 'free stuff') are tiring of their governments spending borrowed money to fix these many spot fires.

Imagine if WW2 had been fought the way we're dealing with this serious threat (for threat it is) to our society and way of life? It would still be going on today. The people we're (only 'semi') fighting respect only one thing - overwhelming strength. Until that is shown to them - and more importantly, to the men who are bankrolling them**, and in no uncertain terms, the ratchet is just going to go on tightening more and more.

** I for one think that the people in power in the West know exactly who those men are, but are unwilling to confront them.

I find myself almost expecting to see Barak Obama stepping off Air Force One waving a piece of paper declaring "peace in our time".

Andu....*...
 

Or another Bush debacle declaring mission accomplished a decade before the fact. Try Muesli. Wheaties are for children with anabolic steroid dreams of mindless grandeur.

Wait a Mo'.....were we not told the Guvmint was taking down all the financial support for the AQ Team? I know a lot of folks breathed a lot easier....in DC/London and Saudi when Bin Liner got whacked as he could probably tell some tales and name some names that folks would really not wish to see in the Morning Newspapers.

Well it felt and sounded like one of them did just that, in the dark, over chez nous about an hour ago.....no complaints from me.......

FWIW we live near a town that "hosts" one of the "Regiment Chasseur Parachutistes" so many of my kids' school friends have just been deprived of mama or Papa TFN (and FWIW they've lost a few in Afganistan).....It's far to easy to resort to stereotypes and crack jokes about the French and white flags, personally I wish them the best of luck.

looks like there are about 2,500 troops going in now and more about to deploy. There is a build up going on it would appear.

French Military are preparing for a long term offensive:

Mali : "Cette guerre est un engagement de long terme"

In France, it is regarded as the "second half of the Libya campaign", since the instability in Mali was a direct consequence of the Libya campaign. I think it inevitable that UK will increase its contribution sooner or later.

Temp spike

The navy put that banner up, not Bush.

The press jumped on it. Kinda the same way people think Palin said she could see Russia. Nothing like wanting it to be true to mislead the liberal sheep.