George W. Bush was going to do it. So was Obama. And David Cameron. And Theresa May. And Nicolas Sarkozy. And François Hollande. And Emmanuel Macron. And Muhammadu Buhari. And a host of others. It always goes this way: Islamic jihad terrorists commit mass murder. The usual candlelight vigils and tearful displays ensue. Then the stricken nation’s leader appears in front of microphones, chin out, resolute, righteously angry, and vows to hunt down and crush the jihadis. After that, nothing happens until the jihadis strike again, and the whole sorry charade plays out yet again.
“Burkina Faso leader vows to defeat ‘terrorists’ after ambush,” by Arsene Kabore, Associated Press, November 11, 2019:
Burkina Faso’s president vowed Thursday that security forces will hunt down “terrorists and all their accomplices,” a day after at least 37 people were killed in the West African nation when gunmen attacked a convoy carrying employees of a Canadian mining company.
President Roch Marc Christian Kabore also called for volunteers “to defend the homeland in the areas under threat” following what is believed to be the deadliest attack in Burkina Faso since Islamic extremists became active in the country in 2015.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s ambush but the high death toll and targeting of a foreign company’s employees suggest that well-armed jihadists carried out the assault. At least 60 other people were wounded in the ambush, according to regional governor Col. Saidou Sanou.
Wednesday’s attack happened in eastern Burkina Faso, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Boungou mine, which is owned Canada’s Semafo company. The gunmen attacked a convoy of five buses carrying mine employees that was accompanied by a military escort….