Right on schedule...

...since we have bases there, and Africomm as well, operations can now begin in earnest.  Note the admission of official U.S. personnel (as opposed to more clandestine operations or contractors.)

Nothing new to readers here.

Full article here.

The Pentagon has deployed a small number of troops to Mali to support allied forces fighting there, despite repeated pledges by the Obama administration not to put “boots on the ground” in the war-torn African country.

About 10 U.S. military personnel are in Mali to provide “liaison support” to French and African troops but are not engaged in combat operations, said Lt. Col. Robert Firman, a Pentagon spokesman. Twelve others are assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Bamako, the capital, he added.