Salute to the troops for Le Drian in Mali… Another battle awaits the MinDef
(BRUSSELS2) Jean-Yves le Drian, the French Defense Minister, arrived in northern Mali this morning for a surprise visit. Goal : " meet the French soldiers engaged in Operation Serval and send them a message of pride and encouragement on the mission they are carrying out against terrorist groups "who had made the Ifoghas massif" their sanctuary ».
Surprise visit
The Minister thus went to the Amettetaï valley, in the heart of the Ifoghas massif where battles have just been fought to free this valley from the most seasoned, most established and most organized terrorist groups. " The operations conducted by our forces in the Amettetai have made it possible to neutralize a large part of their means of terrorist action and to put an end to the impunity enjoyed by these groups. said JY Le Drian.
A Beachhead in the War on Terror
« By dislodging the jihadists from their last strongholds, you are the bridgeheads of this relentless war that France has decided to wage against the terrorist groups still raging in Mali. On you, as well as on our Chadian brothers in arms, whose sufferings I know and whose great courage I salute, now rests a large part of the success of Operation Serval.”, he said Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tessalit airport.
The Minister of Defense also wanted to pay tribute to the four soldiers who "died for France" in Mali. Let's remember their names: Major Damien Boiteux, Warrant Officer Harold Vormezeele, Corporal Cédric Charenton and Chief Sergeant Wilfried Pingaud.
[comment] Another Battle: The White Paper
This surprise visit is of course intended to greet the troops and pay homage to the dead. But it is not lacking in political sense either. It is for the Minister who returns from Warsaw - for a European discussion - to arrive in Paris in a position of strength at the negotiating table, in a long budgetary and strategic discussion, within the framework of the White Paper. Arbitrations must be made. The battle in the Adrar des Ifoghas was not staged to serve a budgetary discussion. But not using it, when certain cuts could be decided, would be a mistake. Between the positions of the Ministry of Defense and Bercy (which plays its role of classic 'red light'), there is a revealed gap of several billion euros. In this field, Defense will not spare itself a certain retreat. This is necessary in view of the consolidation of public finances, desired by the government. It's about ordering it and limiting breakage. In the end, the gap might not be as big as expected, but hover around a decrease of one or two billion.
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