Posted on 01/16/2013 7:45:28 AM PST by Freeport
French soldiers began direct combat with Mali-based Islamists in the central town of Diabaly on Wednesday, according to security sources, while President François Hollande said the war effort was “necessary and legitimate” in a speech in Paris.
French special forces began fighting on the ground with Islamist rebels in central Mali on Wednesday, according to regional security sources, six days after the European power launched an air offensive in the country.
“The special forces are currently in Diabaly, engaged in fighting with the Islamists. The Malian army is also on site,” the AFP news agency quoted a Malian security source as saying.
French troops closed in on Islamist-controlled areas earlier on Wednesday, in the first stage of a ground offensive that President François Hollande called “both necessary and legitimate” and Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned would be “long”.
(Excerpt) Read more at france24.com ...
Has France surrendered to the rebels yet....
Unlike the French Army, The French Foreign Legion are ruthless bad-ass MoFo’s... No, they will kill everything and anything that moves that is designated as a target.
The last numbers I saw was a 10:1 kill ratio... I’ll pass on messing with the FFL.
If they want to win this war they will need to kill each and every one of the islamist terrorists.
And if they have no intention of winning they have no business going in there.
Unless troops from Algeria, Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso form an anvil; the work being done by the French will be in vain. They’ll fade and resurface in a year.
Mais oui. Zee white flags. Zay shall be issued before too long. Inspector Closeau is expected to speak shortly. Kato? Kato? Is zat you?
My guess would be that the French took their artillery with them, and ROE (if any) allows the troops to use it.
I have read no report that suggests the FFL has been deployed here.
We're talking about the Foreign Legion here... a whole different ballgame.
Just more Islamist Freedom Fighters.
Look, the French government can be annoying, but the “surrender” jokes are both ill-informed, and old and tiresome after a while.
I suggest you read “The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916” by Sir Alistair Howe and then see if you feel like mocking French troops. They spent 10 months successfully defending one city in the most horrific conditions imaginable, suffering over 500,000 casualties.
Also the last Pew Poll found that France was very high on the list of countries that most liked the United States and Americans, which confirms what I’ve heard from a lot of people, that the US is very popular with average Frenchmen once you get outside of Paris.
the rumor is France sent the moslem men, who were in France, ages 18 - 28 and dressed ‘em up like the FFL
Those guys must be the baddest asses on the Planet if they are responsible for every French military success since WWI!
no-to-illegals ~:” Since panetta said we would only be supporting intelligence gathering, the FFL should be on full alert. panetta works for the other side. “
panetta is on the other side ~ sure enough !
We arm the Mexican Cartels
We arm and fund the Islamacist armies
We disarm our own citizens
Go figure !!
You won’t see that happen.
The French are actually good at this game. They are a tad on the ruthless side.
It was discussed in the WSJ this morning, and at least some of them are FFL.
yep, France is not playing stupid on this one.
Go France! Make the one, zer0, obozo (whatever)
upset and angry. Go Get 'em, France.
My compliments to France, doing the job America
did not do. Beating back the zer0
one nation at a time.
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