French Airstrike on Mali

[Longdan]

Looks like somebody ordered some fruit baskets and band aids.
Things must be safe if the Canadians have shown up.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/canadian-special-forces-mali-not-combat-role-sources-000641926.html

[Centurion40]

Gotta practice somewhere, eh.

[Barthheart]

Looks like somebody ordered some fruit baskets and band aids.
Things must be safe if the Canadians have shown up.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/canadian-special-forces-mali-not-combat-role-sources-000641926.html

Nice.... coming from a Canadian.....  :P

[Centurion40]

Self deprecating humour is a common trait, eh.

[LongBlade]

Long, detailed article on the situation in Mali. I've just made it through the first page (there are four). Well worth the time to read: http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/29/the-next-al-qaida-safe-haven-understanding-the-jihadist-threat-in-mali/

[bayonetbrant]

French paratroopers over Timbuktu on Monday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5W9PKR6FdU

h/t Rex from PaxSims

[Centurion40]

Jumping Legionnaires!

[Martok]

Jumping Legionnaires!

As bizarre-looking as this is, I also find it strangely badass. 

[bob48]

Damn - now I'll have to watch the Dien Bien Phu movie again.

[Longdan]

Play it backwards and it has a happy ending.

[bob48]

Its actually a good film, although the copy I have is an original french one, and my French is, erm, non existant.

To go with it though, is Bernard Fall's 'Hell in a Very Small Place' and 'Dien Bien Phu: The Epic Battle America Forgot' by Howard Simpson. Both good reads if you're interested in the subject.

[Longdan]

Street Without Joy is another.  I read them in grade school.

[bob48]

Aye, I have Street Without Joy, and you're right, it is another good read. I might try and get my hands on a copy of the Jules Roy book on Dien Bien Phu as well, provided its an English translation that is. ;)

[bayonetbrant]

if you want a good ground-level account of what happened, track down Steiner's autobiography The Last Adventurer.  He was in the paras back then and does a good job of telling you what it was like on the ground.

The rest of the book is a pretty good yarn, too - he was part of the revolt in Algeria, and fought in Biafra and the Sudan, too.

[Longdan]

He is rather full of himself as well but he tells a good story.