Bombs and bombast; Hollande the Conqueror does Mali

Here's a few excerpts from French coverage of "Operation Spurs for Hollande."

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French-led forces in Mali retake Gao

By News Wires the 25/01/2013 - 13:30

French-led forces retook Mali’s northern city of Gao from Islamist rebel control, France’s defence ministry said on Saturday, in the greatest military success yet of a campaign to recapture the country’s north.

"Greatest military success yet"... what, we're up against Hitler's hordes here? A few dozen towellers and four Toyota trucks and we speak of great military success?

French-led troops Saturday recaptured the Islamist stronghold of Gao in a spectacular boost to a 16-day-old offensive against Al Qaeda-linked rebels holding Mali's vast desert north.

Spectacular? Really?

Paris said troops from Niger and Chad "will pick up the baton" and that the town's mayor Sadou Diallo would arrive in Gao from the capital Bamako later Saturday.

They may "pick up the baton" if they ever arrive... and what a foolish choice of phrase. This is not a track event.

In a parallel pincer-like movement, troops from Chad and Niger moved towards the Malian border from the Niger town of Ouallam, which lies about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Gao.

"Pincer-like movement"?... ah yes, that classic military tactic... except the troops of Chad and Niger doing this pinching aren't even in the country yet.

French defence ministry sources said a report in French newspaper Le Monde that hundreds of Islamists had died since the French military intervention in Mali was "plausible."

We're merely being coy here, nudge wink... of course we've killed hundreds of towellers.

The Islamists... interpretation of Islamic sharia law has seen transgressors flogged, stoned and executed, and they have forbidden music and television and forced women to wear veils.

Those are very evil evildoers and it's a good thing we're here to kill them.
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Although the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc has pledged more than 4,500 soldiers, their deployment has been delayed by financing and logistical problems.

And by the fact that it's way more fun to have endless meetings about this in five-star hotels at Hollande's expense than it is to send our people to die in his idiotic adventure.

While a fraction of the African forces has arrived in Bamako and is slowly deploying elsewhere, the French and Malian forces have done all the fighting so far.

Well, the French certainly; the Malian forces not so much. Seems they are in need of quite a lot of training before they're combat ready.