Amidst the vast, arid expanse of the Sahel, where conflicts often unfold beyond international scrutiny, Mali is confronting a harsh reality. The nation is now experiencing the severe repercussions of disengaging from key partners who previously stood on the front lines against escalating instability.
The recent surge in violence and attacks across the country is neither accidental nor an act of fate. Instead, these incidents represent the foreseeable consequences of a significant political shift, one championed as an assertion of national sovereignty. This proclaimed independence, frequently bolstered by strong anti-French sentiment, has served as a tool for internal legitimization.
Bamako sought the departure of French forces, and Bamako achieved it.
The final French military convoys departed from Gao, Tessalit, and Ménaka, often met with derision from segments of the public, inflamed by years of critical rhetoric. At the time, the critical operational realities seemed secondary. Little consideration was given to the fact that in 2013, when jihadist columns threatened to advance southward, it was French forces that decisively halted the imminent collapse of the Malian state.
French President Emmanuel Macron articulated this with stark clarity: “Mali did not make the best decision by expelling the French army.” A straightforward, almost clinical statement, it resonates today with profound strategic implications.
President Macron has consistently acknowledged past French missteps, recognizing that Paris sometimes overemphasized military solutions without adequately addressing essential local political reforms. However, his core message remains unwavering: without French intervention, Mali could have descended into chaos. He previously asserted unequivocally: “Without France, Mali would no longer be a united state.”
This crucial truth appears to be reasserting itself with brutal force.
The ground reality, unswayed by slogans or political posturing, has dramatically shifted. With French bases vacated, a stark security vacuum has emerged. Groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State swiftly moved to exploit these new vulnerabilities. Where Operation Barkhane once contained, monitored, engaged, and provided intelligence, Malian authorities now struggle to maintain lasting control over their own territory.
Behind these developments lies a history that demands remembrance.
Fifty-eight French soldiers perished in the Sahel.
Fifty-eight individuals fell in a conflict that was neither abstract nor theoretical. They lost their lives in Kidal, in the Adrar des Ifoghas, in In Delimane, on mined roads, during nocturnal operations, under extreme temperatures, facing a dispersed, agile, and elusive enemy.
These soldiers were not occupiers; they were not colonial predators disguised in militant narratives. They were instruments of a military commitment undertaken by the Republic to prevent the establishment of a terrorist sanctuary at the heart of the Sahel.
They paid the ultimate price.
Their sacrifice demands at least one thing: that their memory not be diluted by ideological oversimplification.
Undeniably, France made errors. Yet, for years, it also bore the brunt of a colossal military effort, almost single-handedly, to preserve an already fragile regional equilibrium.
Mali made the sovereign choice to dismantle this security framework. It must now contend with the profound consequences.
Emmanuel Macron’s declaration that Bamako had not made “the best decision” was not an expression of post-colonial resentment or sentimental regret. It was a simple observation of what reality confirms with relentless cruelty: in certain parts of the world, declared sovereignty alone is insufficient to halt advancing jihadist columns.
For France, the Sahel became a theater of diplomatic attrition.
However, for the French soldiers, it remains something more: a field of honor.
And that honor is not subject to the shifting winds of public opinion.
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