British troops will go to Mali – confirmed

HAVE YOUR SAY

29 January 2013

It's enough to make you weep.Our troops are still fighting in Afghanistan,whilst their numbers are being slashed. The defence budget we are told must be kept in check while at the same time we give millions more to the so called 'opposition' in Syria.

In Libya which we 'Liberated' from Ghadafi,our citizens have been told to leave due to terrorist threats against them.This is probably more than we can expect from Syria when it is turned into an Islamist Republic.

France meanwhile has pulled all its combat troops out of Afghanistan,so has troops available. I fail to see why the UK is beholden to support France in what is one of its former colonies after they have renaged on us in another combat zone.

The countries of Africa boast of ridding themselves of the 'Colonial Masters' and still blame most of their ills on us. Strange isn't it that as soon as help is needed they are more than happy to see us back. I'm surprised they need any training as for the last few decades,most of them have been at war with each other.so should have plenty of experience. Leave them to it,and keep us out of it.

The old chestnut of protecting us from terrorism from afar,has had its day.
O'h sorry I forgot,apparently there are huge natural gas reources in the area,surely that has nothing to do with it.
michael - notts

29 January 2013

MALI. I must have missed this concern in SDSR 2010.
andy - solihull

29 January 2013

Well put Michael.
Sadly I fear it will fall on deaf ears once more.
Even more remarkable how the forces race to prove value. Rather than sticking neck out and saying, No we can not do this...
Perhaps that would embarrass the Politicians into doing something, (Seeing that winning wars and saving there skins does not stand for anything). SAD
Degradable - UK

29 January 2013

michael - notts

In Libya it is due to a specific terrorist threat in Benghazi not because of a the government of Libya. We always knew that there would be extremists present after Libya was liberated. However had we failed to act we would have been in a similar situation to Syria now where the extremists take control of the revolution and a real possibility of an extremist state emerging after the regime collapses. Acting as we did in Libya in 2011 helped to prevent that happening by supporting moderates who have gone on to win a free and fair election and are now in government.

With regard to France and Mali these troops are in a training role only and 200 of them will be based in a neighbouring country as such this falls like the C-17 deployment into the Franco British defence treaty of mutual support, to do otherwise would make the treaty worthless.

The French are after all fighting Al-Qaeda inspired Toureg militia's which if they had taken southern Mali could have teamed up with Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria and cause much more serious regional instability. That would have caused a situation that would have meant a much larger deployment of western troops probably including British to aid Nigeria. In that case the French action should be supported and our defence pact with them honoured.
Also the French are planning to leave a multi national African force behind and several hundred African troops have already arrived so I think the French already have an exit strategy.

I agree however it makes the cutbacks absurd but on that score this government has no sense at all.
Graham - High Wycombe

29 January 2013

Graham,
Libya has a government which hangs on by the skin of its teeth.
The country is awash with armaments which are largely in the hands of independent militias,who are still controlling large parts of the country.The so called government has proved almost powerless to either disarm or disband them.

In fact it is approx 300 troops that we are sending,some of which will be based in neighbouring countries,others in Mali itself.If you think that will be the extent of our involvement I think you are going to be sadly mistaken. Senior officers are already saying this could go on for years.

A multi national African force,are you having a laugh. Most of these African countries are at each others throats and you think they will be able to work together.

One thing I would agree with you on is the the French already have an exit strategy,they normaly do have !!

michael - notts

30 January 2013

michael - notts

Actually although there are militia's in Libya to say the government hangs on by the skin of it's teeth is an exaggeration to say the least. Progress is being made and it will take time but remember the group that was responsible for the death of the US ambassador last year was driven out of Benghazi after the incident by government forces who had overwhelming support of the cities residents. What we are talking about here are not militias but terrorists. The militias are largely due to tribal loyalties and are not opposing the government in armed confrontation rather they refuse to give up their weapons whereas the terrorists are motivated by religion.

As for Mali doing nothing was not a good option either if it fell to the Islamic extremists it would allow Mali to become the new Afghanistan and any tie up with Boko Harem in Nigeria would spell regional chaos, I repeat that ultimately this would have required a much larger and costlier response in the future.

I agree it will take a commitment for some time but I would rather we take a training role in a neighbouring country now than a combat role in the future in Mali or Nigeria.

Simply saying we can ignore what was happening and hoping for the best is not necessarily the best option. Nor would undermining a defence treaty before the ink was dry.

But as Andy points out it only further ridicules the hopeless 2010 SDSR that was obsolete as soon as the Arab spring began within a couple of months. Cameron even admits it will be a generational struggle while reducing our options to do anything about it.
Graham - High Wycombe

30 January 2013

Graham,
We will just have to see what ensues in the coming weeks and months.
For my part I am more than concerned that this already has the potential to become another bloodbath.
Do you remember another country sending military advisers to help a government fight an insurgency.It soon snowballed to the extent that the US lost 50,000 dead and an untold number wounded.
I am not suggesting anything on that scale is going to happen here,but it has all the propensity to go the same way.
michael - notts

30 January 2013

michael - notts

I sincerely hope you are right I don't want British troops in combat again. I think its right the French take this role in Mali which is a former colony and francophone. Especially as with the UK having 9500 troops in Afghanistan and the French almost out of that country we are engaged elsewhere. So its right France shoulders the main burden in Mali however the support we have given is also correct both from a treaty and national security point of view.

The Islamic extremist movement across North Africa from Al Shabab in in the east to Al Qaeda in the Maghreb and Boko Harem in the west is a very serious security issue for Europe and the UK and one we cannot ignore if we wish to mitigate the consequences.
Graham - High Wycombe

30 January 2013

Does seem strange our interest in Africa. For years this would have not caused any concern. Yet here we see a PM courting nations (Algeria) which we have not visited since 1962 I believe, we have commitment to help in a situation that appears to have been bubbling for years...
Could this be the new Berlin Wall starting to be erected.
Could this actually be concerns over Chinese involvement in Africa and thus we need to create pacts, and move our armour to Africa.
Of course I could be far from teh mark, but it does have me pondering the sudden critical nature of this adventure.
Degradable - UK

31 January 2013

Egypt stands to become an Islamist republic, other countries like Libya already are to such an extent that UK and European citizens are being warned to leave. The new Cold War will be a facing-off across the Mediterranean between the Islamic North Africa and Europe, whilst SDSR and "Future Force 2020" leave us unable to do anything worthwhile except watch energy costs soar and innocent lives be lost. How are the mighty fallen!
AlMiles - Bristol, UK

31 January 2013

AlMiles - Bristol, UK

I am not as concerned by Libya or Egypt as yet although time will tell. However you can add Syria to that list as the rebels are being led by salafists and are likely to topple Assad in time.

Still we better get behind the move to self sufficiency then and push forward with fracking for shale gas and off shore wind turbines!

The US has gone from net oil importer to net exporter and meeting domestic demand thanks to fracking for shale oil in N. America.

Less reliance means less involvement!
Graham - High Wycombe