Posted on 01/20/2013 2:37:26 PM PST by mdittmar
(Reuters) - French troops advanced cautiously toward northern Mali on Sunday amid fears of ambush by al Qaeda-linked fighters, while its fighter jets pounded the Islamists' strongholds in the desert near Timbuktu.
In the central Malian town of Diabaly, seized by Islamist fighters on Monday, the wreckage of the Islamists' charred pick-up trucks lay abandoned among the mud-brick buildings, television images showed.
Residents of the town, some 350 km (220 miles) from the capital Bamako, said Islamists had fled into the bush after French airstrikes.
The commanders of French and Malian forces, who set up their operations center in the nearby town of Niono, said their forces were moving slowly toward Diabaly after reports that Islamist fighters had abandoned their turbans and flowing robes to blend in with local residents.
"There are risks of mines and booby traps in houses, that is why we have to be careful," a French commander who would be identified only as Colonel Frederic told reporters sheltering from the sun in a grove of trees.
France has deployed 2,000 ground troops and its war planes have pounded rebel columns and bases for 10 days, turning back an Islamist advance towards the riverside capital which Paris said would have toppled Mali's government.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Think about that for a second.
This might be their first victory in over 100 years! Maybe the French have started to grow a pair. Does it really matter if they win while looking fabulous and eating gourmet MREs?
LOL!
Are they really retreating or blending in with the population?
I urge France not to adopt any United States Rules of Engagement, Kill them when you see them no matter where they are, or who they are hiding among.
This means very little. The Islamists are probably just following Mao's very successful strategy:
"The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue."
Exactly what I thought. Mali is larger than Afghanistan. If we couldn’t get rid of the Taliban there, these rebels won’t be leaving Mali any time soon. They’ll just wait it out until the French leave.
I hope that all these kids mocking these French troops while they are engaged in combat against our enemies, are at least veterans.
Why bother negotiating houses that might be booby trapped? Just blow them up and move on.
No doubt the French bloodied them, but unless the West deals with the Wahhabi in Saudi Arabia who fund and motivate them, the attacks will resume in Mali, Algeria and worldwide..
Exactly! What happened to the US in Afghanistan will happen to the French in Mali. Hasn’t anyone learned anything since Vietnam?
Islam does not ‘melt away’. You may kill them, and , in a very few instances, convert them, but only in the mind of a Public Relations Flack, will they ‘melt away’. Nice try, shallow phoney PR pump.
TWB
Islam does not ‘melt away’. You may kill them, and , in a very few instances, convert them, but only in the mind of a Public Relations Flack, will they ‘melt away’. Nice try, shallow phoney PR pump.
TWB
Although France and Algeria don’t get along, I hope the Algerians let the French move in from the north, cutting off any escape except through open desert.
The Islamic people do not have the loyalty of the people-—This is why the French will win.
As the British Expeditionary Force (and many others) was evacuating at Dunkirk the remains of the french army fought on to delay the Germans.
After a few days they simply went home on extended leave?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Lille_(1940)
Bring back Charles the Hammer!
True, but how long will the French stay? And there will still be terrorists sneaking back in to wage guerilla war.
I hope the French can accomplish what their goal and make it permanent, but I have my doubts.
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