Sunday, January 13, 2013

France Expands Military Operations in Mali, Obama Uses War Powers Act to Give Limited Help

French troops headed for Mali (source)
On Friday, the French military began military operations in Mali with the goal of stopping advances made by militant Islamist groups in the country. As a former colony of France, the French government is also aiming to protect the thousands of French expatriates living in the country. The French military's involvement in Mali increased Sunday with air strikes deep in military territory. France's Defense minister has said that the French military is determined to, "eradicate this terrorism."


Although a UN force made up of soldiers from African countries is set to arrive later in the year, the French military decided to go into the country themselves after rebels took a key town in the country. Since Friday, military strikes against militant bases in cities have displaced hundreds.

(source)
On Sunday, President Obama sent a letter to Congress indicating that he had deployed troops to help French forces save a hostage in Somalia.  Although the US soldiers did not give direct support in the attempt to save the hostage, they did give some technical support.

On Monday a UN security council meeting will be held with the purpose of discussing events in Mali.

France has received praise for its actions from western countries and the the UK will also be giving indirect support to the country by providing the French military with two cargo planes.

What do you think about the French intervention in Mali? What do you think about Obama's use of the War Powers Act to provide indirect assistance?
Posted by at

2 comments:

Paniz Amirnasiri said...

Because the term "colony" has gained a negative connotation in my mind, I would never have thought that being a former colony of a power country would prove beneficial. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised to learn of France's actions. I do not know much about Mali's military power, but I am almost certain that immediate aid from France provided it with a great advantage, favorable to delayed help from the UN. I also believe that President Obama's indirect help was completely justified. For the most part, technical support to a country in danger of attack by terrorists is not ripe with controversy. However, should the attacks worsen and actual troops be sent to Mali, that might change.

January 13, 2013 at 7:21 PM
Anonymous said...

Just as Paniz stated, France's intervention and assistance was a bit of a nice surprise to me as well. Mali has been an independent country for about 50 years or so, making it a relatively young country, and it's refreshing to see the former colonial power stepping in and helping in a way that doesn't benefit themselves in strangely perverted and power-hungry way.

As for the president's usage of the War Powers Act... We still have yet to see if the U.S. will play a huge role in this dispute or not, so I would probably refrain from making any judgments yet.

January 14, 2013 at 12:46 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)