A French soldier stands near the coffins of his comrades who died in a helicopter crash. Reuters.
A top general for France says that "total victory" in their war against Islamic insurgents in Mali isn't possible. Reuters. General Francois Lecointre, the Chief of Staff for the Army made the comments after 13 soldiers died in a crash during a combat mission targeting ISIS insurgents. The soldiers died trying to provide air support for ground troops engaged with ISIS but both of their helicopters collided and crashed. It was the worst loss of life for France's military in 36 years. France launched Operation Barkhane to counter Islamic insurgents in Mali who were launching attacks across the former French Colony. However, ISIS and al-Qaeda have made a comeback despite the 4500 French troops deployed in Mali. France is complaining that other European countries are not helping them fight in Mali as the operation protects them as well. Lecointre's comments may cause pressure to France's president Emmanuel Marcron as the war is not popular with his opponents on the left.
My Comment:
France's efforts to combat ISIS and al-Qaeda in Mali have largely gone ignored by Western press. Even I sometimes forget that they have a major troop deployment there and that they are actively battling in one of the few remaining strongholds for ISIS and al-Qaeda. West Africa in general has been a hotbed of Islamist activity and the French are about the only people willing to do anything about it.
But this latest incident may shake that resolve. Losing 13 troops in a combat related accident is not going to play well. I do note that helicopters seem to crash all the time but this incident was obviously a major mistake. Either the pilots screwed up pretty badly or their air traffic controllers did. A utility helicopter should not be getting into the way of an attack helicopter and vise versa but it seems like this is what happened here.
I think General Lecointre's comments will likely get him in trouble with his bosses. It's generally not advised to tell the media that you don't think a war is going well. He did try to walk it back by saying that they were making progress but that's not going to make up for the mistake in the first place.
I think he is right though, total victory over Islamic insurgency isn't possible. Even if you bash it down and destroy terror groups it can always rise again. ISIS rose from the grave of al-Qaeda in Iraq, so it's not like there isn't precedence.
I also don't think that the West's strategy of using indigenous forces works all that well. It seems to have eventually worked in both Syria and Iraq but it took years of effort and billions of dollars and extreme levels of air support and special forces training to get to the point where ISIS is an underground organization with most of it's leadership dead. It totally failed in Afghanistan where the Taliban is ascendant and ISIS has a foothold. And I doubt the 4,500 French troops in Mali will be enough to turn the tide there.
If France were to get really serious about the insurgent threat in Mali they would use the full force of their military to fight the ISIS and al-Qaeda troops there. France, unfairly, gets a bad rep for their military strength but anyone who actually researches them know that their military is among the world's best. If they put their mind to it they could win the war in Mali.
But they do not have that force of will. Indeed, France has had some major problems lately. The Yellow Vest movement is still going on and Emmanuel Macron doesn't have the best approval rating. They have their own problems with terror attacks and they just don't support the war in Mali.
Still, the French government probably has to do something. If Mali were to fall to insurgents then they could be the next Libya. Libya, when it was controlled partially by ISIS, was a launchpad for some of the worst terror attacks Europe has ever seen. If Mali were to fall it would be used as a base to launch attacks across North Africa and Western Europe...
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