Mali islamists have tied into something they will regret.
It would be instructive to witness the Legion in a two to three month operation supported by the French Air Force against Islamists in Mali. The results will probably be similar to the initial American success against the Taliban when The US initially intervened. The Taliban suffered heavy causalities and their government fell. But to what end? There has been a prolonged inconclusive war ever since. The same thing will happen in Mali. Unless the native non Islamists in Africa, arm, organize and effectively resist, Africa will eventually be predominantly Islamic. Also if the West were serious about stopping this fundamentalist wave, then it will have to deal with the Saudis in a definitive manner.
Who'd have thought we'd be standing in awe of the French... what an upside-down world in which we live...