The soldier does not like fatalism.
“
Not everything was written in advance
,” he says.
At the beginning of July, from N'Djamena, Barkhane's headquarters in Chad, General Michon is counting the days before his departure.
His successor, General Baratz, is due to arrive at the end of July.
It is up to him to close the last French base in Mali by "
the end of the summer
".
We also feel on the phone a hint of bitterness, in General Michon, not being able to complete his mission.
But the officer has no qualms when he evokes the end of Operation Barkhane in Mali, nearly a decade of intervention which ends without military victory or defeat, but with a political failure for France.
The last detachment left the Gao base on Monday.
The disengagement of this small town of 2,500 soldiers required more than 5,000 containers and dozens of road convoys, "
in a context of fuel shortage on the African continent
", they say within the staff.
The logistical feat…
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