I'm not saying that the UK hasn't been brave and forthright allies.
No, not all.
What I am saying is that I haven't seen the UK act this decisively since the Falklands.
No talk, no debate, no public outcry just a get it done attitude.
They're talking airplanes. Yeah right and I'm a liberal from New York State. You can bet that the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) and Special Air Service (SAS) are already on the ground in Mali or on the way. They probably have other forces staging too. But I digress check this out from SkyNews.
The RAF C17 is stopping off in Paris first to load before a 10-hour flight to the West African country and will not arrive there before tomorrow, the sources added.It comes after Downing Street confirmed the Prime Minister had agreed to provide "logistical military assistance" to the French.David Cameron spoke to Francois Hollande on Saturday evening as France attempted to contain al Qaeda-linked rebels in the north of the West African country.French fighter jets and attack helicopters launched fresh strikes on Islamist strongholds in northern Mali on Sunday.Prominent Islamist leader Abdel Krim - nicknamed "Kojak" - is reported to have been killed in the strikes.Read the rest, including a video report at their site. I find this all so fucking ironic I can't see straight.
The UK and France have been chomping to get out of Afghanistan (can't blame them, they've done their bit) and before they can properly clear that AO, they jump in with both feet into Africa!
Even the US which has targeted Africa for future operations (so called partnerships) hasn't been as aggressive as these two nations.
Remember the amphibious mechanized raid that the Royal Marines carried out in the middle of 2012? Now this.
I'm surprised and amazed. Much more of this and China will be effectively stalemated on that continent.
We wont officially support France militarily.
ReplyDeleteThey are far to likely to level villages that annoy them.
The last thing the MoD wants is for a British Captain and his platoon to be stood there when a Foreign Legion Colonel orders a village burnt to the ground.
SAS and SBS bring experience and deniability that will allow them to participate in full outside the view of public or even enemy attention (at least up to the minute they're gunned or knifed to death) so that's why i recommended that they're part of the force mix. even that special recon unit you guys have might be involved to laze targets.
DeleteI can see why Mali is a priority for France and Britian. Unlike Somalia, which is pretty much isolated and contained by Ethiopia and Kenya to the west and water to the east, a failed/rogue state in Mali could throw NW Africa into chaos.
ReplyDeletei contend that's short sighted thinking. if the situation in Somalia had been properly contained..i mean boots on the ground hunting pirates that were funding radical islamist then i don't think Mali would have gotten into the trouble that it finds itself in.
Deletethe fact of the matter is this. the Western powers are playing whack a mole with terrorist. we stomp them out in somalia they go to mali, kill them there and they pop up in Yemen. its an endless war unless we figure a different way.
cough cough
ReplyDeleteSierra Leone sol
http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Sierraleone/index.html
Do a google on Op Barras as well
Damn cowboys! Oops, sorry, just channeling my inner Brit durring the Bush Administration.
ReplyDeletei like it! this is a bit of cowboy diplomacy aint' it!
DeleteI think we'll see more Anglo-French joint ventures in the next few years. The Brits really need access to the French carrier if they're going to go with the one carrier option and mothball/sell HMS Queen Elizabeth as soon as she's built. Doubtless they'll be happy to do a few favours in the meantime.
ReplyDeletethey're making a big show of NOT highlighting the big base in Djibouti...i can't get good images of it but i can bet there is more activity there than you can shake a stick at!
DeleteI'm not sure about the activities at Djibouti, but I'm in France and the media is reporting that Rafales are hitting the Islamists after overflying Algeria. Mali is not so far from France so the strikes could be coming in from the mainland. The historical ties mean that there are many French-Malians and a lot of movement between the countries. The French definitely don't want an outpost of AQIM there.
Deletethat's, looking less & less likely, with the the f35b, there is no benefit, with mothballing, as it costs less than £65 million per year to keep her in service.
DeleteFrance has enough bases to support it's choppers' forces and ground forces from nearby pre-deployed units rather than using metropolitan forces, except for the airforce where they had only a few Mirages in theater and are now using Rafales thanks to full, free access to Algerian airspace (which is quite something to get seing how France and Algery still have a few bones to chew on...). What I'm suprised by is the fact I've only heard of old Gazelle helicopters, in the gun version, and not a few Tigers. Because, really, a few modern hunter killer helicopters would be a great asset in the area and the french lieutenant pilot who got killed by a bullet in the femoral artery would not have died had he been onboard one of the more modern machine.
ReplyDeleteAlso, did you notice how the French conducted simultaneously two ops on the two sides of Africa, with the Mali big show on one side and the failed attempt to free one of the DGSE spy in Somaly, where they put 4 Caracal, 2 Tiger, an ATL2 recon place, the BPC Mistral and DDG Chevalier Paul ships to support the choppers, and an US radio relay plane, killing at least 17 terrorist but loosing the hostage and two special forces soldiers ?
ReplyDeleteAlso, note that the two Tigre were plane-transported from Pau (France) to an unknown base before flying to the BPC. Djibouti was more than probably the place where they landed, showing that the place is used by the US forces but also, and one should not forget it, by the Europeans too. I've recently read that various countries are now paying to get a local base there : Italy and Japan are amongst those who now have permanent bases there...
Delete