Mali: How do you say "African Afghanistan" in French?

We have now been in Afghanistan for ever and ever, it seems like.  If it feels that way, there is at least one good reason: it has been the longest war. Ever. (ht)

Don't hold your breath for hope and change, and for all our troops to return soon.  You can count on warmongers to offer arguments that will be variations of this:

If the United States and NATO don't finish the job now, they will leave it to another generation. Many of those fighting in Afghanistan now were 5 and 6 years old at the start of the war; we do not want the same future for the current generation of 5- and 6-year-olds. Leaving an adequate assistance and support force in Afghanistan through 2013 and beyond is in the U.S. and NATO's security interest. Certainly, the U.S. and NATO cannot afford to conduct operations as they have for the past decade. But equally certain, the U.S. and NATO cannot allow war weariness and economic conditions to obscure the realities and requirements they face.

As if to prove that we never learn from history, France goes on the offensive in Mali.  But, did the Mali situation develop on its own, or was it triggered by other events?

Former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan has said that Mali is “collateral damage” of the conflict in Libya:

Mali became, if I may put it this way, collateral damage of Libya. Quite a lot of the soldiers, Malian soldiers working and fighting for Gaddafi went back home with their heavy weapons and their training. There was already a revolution and rebellion in the north by the Tuareg group and of course Ansar Dine, the Islamist group, also joined in. When these people returned with their heavy weapons some of the Malian troops of the same tribe also teamed up with them.

The situation in Mali is only the latest lesson in unintended consequences of military interventions. NATO intervened in Libya to unseat Gaddafi, which contributed to Mali’s instability. The worsening situation in the northern Mali prompted France (with support from other nations) to intervene, which in turn has motivated terrorists to take hostages at an Algerian gas field.

Oh!  What a tangled web!

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