Hubb owners may also have noted that this thread is one of the most read on the entire forum.
So it should hopefully have some merit.

The French are now bombing the Ifoghas mountains heavily, using thirty aircraft targeting "logistics bases" (fuel and arms) and "training camps". Hostages are said to be alive (but in a terrible situation).
French planes pound Islamist camps in north Mali desert | Reuters

"Never has a foreign intervention in Africa been as popular as the French one in Mali" said Niger president Issofou.
Those Frenchies if they do it right this time could really boost their international image.
If they manage to broker a working and lasting agreement between touaregs and Bamako, with autonomy for the north. They are in a unique position to twist arms right now.
If they help rebuild the tombs of islamic saints the beards wilfully destroyed in Timbuktu - after the Arab League and in particular Egypt would not lend Mali a helping hand or give their support for intervention. What a setback for islamism that would be.

Issofou: "The object of this war should be not just to liberate Mali but to free the whole Sahel from this menace, which threatens not just us but also Europe, France and the world."
That would be the best news for WA travellers for years.

When did the French EVER successfully intervene in a conflict on foreign territory before? Kolwezi?