The desecration of Timbuktu:

[Valin]

Daily Mail: Matt Blake

1/28/13

 

Islamist extremists have set fire to a library containing thousands of priceless historic manuscripts as they fled French and Malian forces closing in on Timbuktu.

 

Without firing a shot, 1,000 French soldiers backed by 200 Malian troops descended on the ancient desert trading post, as they tried to cut off the escape of al Qaeda-linked fighters.

 

But before they could be rounded up, the ragtag rebels scattered into the desert, torching homes, mosques and libraries, including the city's £16-million Ahmed Baba Institute, home to some 20,000 ancient documents on culture, science and geography, as they left.

 

(Snip)

 

Erasing history: Ancient manuscripts displayed at the library in the city of Timbuktu. Many such priceless manuscripts are feared burned by the fleeing Islamist fighters

 

H/T Gateway Pundit

 

Ahmed Baba Institute Library in Timbuktu before it was torched by Islamists.

[clearvision]

"Without firing a shot, 1,000 French soldiers backed by 200 Malian troops"

 

Slight problem here....

[Valin]

"Without firing a shot, 1,000 French soldiers backed by 200 Malian troops"

 

Slight problem here....

 

You have to remember they (the Islamists) are raiders. If it looks like you're going to lose or are facing a superior force...run away fight another day.

[Valin]

The Fun Part of the Malian War

 

Even as national treasures are being destroyed by retreating Islamist radicals, liberated Malians in Gao are dancing in the streets, celebrating newfound freedoms. The New York Times reports:

 

Residents of Gao, northern Mali’s largest city, poured out of their homes to celebrate the expulsion of Islamist fighters who had held their town for months, playing the music that had been forbidden under the militants’ harsh interpretation of Islamic rule and dancing in the streets. [ . . . ]

(Snip)

 

(Snip)

 

We’re not sure we agree with the implied NYT assertion that the absence of girlfriends is a small part of life; nevertheless, this joy sounds familiar. It reminds us of U.S. forces sweeping across Iraq, pulling down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square, and flashing victory signs with jubilant Iraqis. As before, expect the celebrations to fade when the realities of postwar governance sink in.

 

(Snip)

 

All of these points are true of many of Mali’s neighboring states as well. Knocking the radicals out of the civilized cities and towns of central Mali is important. Figuring out what to do about the ungoverned and possibly ungovernable north will be harder. Much harder.

[clearvision]

Some good news....

 

French tanks were closing in on this storied caravan city on the night of Jan. 23, when the al Qaeda-backed militants who had governed Timbuktu since April left a departing blow. They broke into one of the world's most valuable libraries, ripping centuries-old manuscripts from shelves.

 

Then they torched these priceless artifacts, in a scene of destruction that horrified scholars around the world.

 

But in a relief for this beleaguered city, and in a triumph for bibliophiles, the vast bulk of the library was saved by wily librarians and a security guard—with an assist from modern technology.

 

An estimated 28,000 of the library's artifacts were smuggled out of town by donkey cart, said Prof. Abdoulaye Cissé and security guard Abba Alhadi, who worked to relocate the documents. Gunmen managed to burn only a few hundred papers, but even those were backed up digitally, said the library's bookkeepers.

LINK

[nickydog]

Smuggled out of town by donkey cart. Sounds like the Middle Ages.

[Valin]

Liberated Mali town residents recount horrors of being ruled by Islamists and Sharia law

 

Residents of Gao, a town in Mali, celebrate the French forces having driven out the Islamists that have ruled them for the last 10 months. But among the celebrations are stories of horror from residents that were maimed, tortured and beaten while living under Islamic rule and Sharia law.

 

 

(Click On Link)

[nickydog]

Liberated Mali town residents recount horrors of being ruled by Islamists and Sharia law

 

Residents of Gao, a town in Mali, celebrate the French forces having driven out the Islamists that have ruled them for the last 10 months. But among the celebrations are stories of horror from residents that were maimed, tortured and beaten while living under Islamic rule and Sharia law.

 

 

(Click On Link)

 

Definitely the Middle Ages. Or do I mean the Dark Ages?

[Valin]

Liberated Mali town residents recount horrors of being ruled by Islamists and Sharia law

 

Residents of Gao, a town in Mali, celebrate the French forces having driven out the Islamists that have ruled them for the last 10 months. But among the celebrations are stories of horror from residents that were maimed, tortured and beaten while living under Islamic rule and Sharia law.

 

 

(Click On Link)

 

Definitely the Middle Ages. Or do I mean the Dark Ages?

 

Actually Sub Saharan Africa.