First you make the deceased into a classic loner-hero, “one of the few people in his village…who dared to speak out…” Then you make his killers seem hugely powerful with “…the rise of Islamist militants in central Mali…”—which is about like saying, “…the rise of annoying pedants in Berkeley cafes”—as if the bastards weren’t swarming there all along.


ButterflyEffect:

Brecher certainly came in swinging in this article. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this:

    The problem, for a hype-committed team of reporters and editors, is that Mali’s big spurt of Islamist rebellion came years ago, in 2012-13. By September 2012, the Islamist Alliance controlled two-thirds of the country (though most of that territory was Saharan desert).

Is referring to when Boko Haram took over a large chunk of the country and spurred French intervention, correct? erp. yep, kept reading. Funny, I remember reading about that in some French newspapers (Le Monde, etc...)


posted 3150 days ago