In the press - Reinforcement of Operation Barkhane in the Sahel: "The right decision?"

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In the press, this morning, the start of the Democratic primaries in the United States, the state of Iowa is the first to vote today.

This vote gives the start of the presidential race. The start of a long marathon, which Bernie Sanders tackles as a favorite among Democrats, according to the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter . The Financial Times , the British daily newspaper, evokes a "push of the socialist Sanders", presented like "the progressive candidate who shakes the democrats", from the height of his 78 years. Bernie Sanders, whom the French newspaper Le Figaro calls "dinosaur" of American politics, like his main democratic rivals, Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden - candidates "survivors of the old world" against "the political UFO Donald Trump "- whose newspaper recalls that he is already assured of winning the Republican nomination and that he has already raised $ 185 million for his campaign. "From this point of view, comments Le Figaro , there is only the former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, who decided not to compete in Iowa, to do better, thanks to his personal fortune, estimated to $ 52 billion. "

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg appears to be the preferred Democratic candidate for the American conservative press. According to The National Review , which judges the programs of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to be "eccentric", the former mayor of New York is one of the "realists capable of solving problems" and "getting things done". The review even predicts that if Sanders or Warren win the Democratic primaries, Donald Trump will find himself facing an opponent who is "easy to sweep".

Also in the press, France's decision to increase the numbers of Operation Barkhane in the Sahel. The French counterterrorism operation will drop from 4,500 to 5,100 men, Armed Minister Florence Parly announced yesterday. Reinforcements that will first serve to "concentrate the blows against the Islamic State group in the greater Sahara, in the region known as the three borders, on the borders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso", according to Le Monde, which specifies that on the other hand, there are “no new air assets planned, in particular in helicopters”. Is strengthening Barkhane a good thing? Wonders Le Djély . The Guinean newspaper evokes a decision which "obeys (certainly) a certain logic", that of the need to deal with "the deterioration of the security climate in the region in recent months". But the daily wonders if France, accused of having "a variable geometry approach" in the Sahel, can really hope for a result in its fight against terrorism, "while at the same time, it openly protects (the Chadian president ) Idriss Deby Itno against (his) opponents ”. "Does terrorism not arise (not) from injustice and the negation of freedoms and the plurality of opinions?", Questions Le Djély - warning that "France, friend of leaders often in failure with their peoples, needs the support and buy-in from these same people ”. La Croix , another French daily, believes that "France does not have the shoulders broad enough to stabilize the Sahel". According to the newspaper, "a powerful and global international commitment would be necessary", even if such a commitment would not be a "guarantee of success". La Croix compares what is happening today in the Sahel with the situation in Afghanistan, "where the Westerners, in twenty years, have not succeeded in bringing peace". According to the daily, the Afghan precedent explains "partly the reluctance of many European countries to get involved", despite the fact that "the jihadists are hostile to Europe". "The development of the Sahel would promote harmonious relations between the two continents, so close", argues La Croix , which asks Paris "to convince and bring together".

A word of sport. Yesterday, the players of the England team had to bow to the XV of France, at the start of the Six Nations tournament. The Blues of Fabien Galthié took up the challenge against the vice-world champions - and inevitably, the French sports press exults and boast all the more, that this victory appears to some as a small revenge on Brexit. "Sorry, good game": "sorry, well done", jokes L'Equipe , who are delighted to see the English "cold as roast beef". Across the Channel it is indeed very rare for the English. The Sport edition of the Daily Express evoking "a severe backlash" for the English team, defeated 17 to 24. And that of the newspaper The I squarely takes up the title of the novel by Victor Hugo in original version, dealing with rugby players "miserable" premises.

We don't leave each other on this. Let's say tomorrow rather with an info that will not offend anyone. The Guardian warns us that yesterday, February 2, 2020 was a somewhat special day, not because of the defeat of the English, but because this date constitutes what is called a palindrome - a date which is identical, whatever the direction in which it is read, since we were 02/02 / 2020. Know that the last time such a thing happened, it was November 11, 1111, and that the next palindrome will have take place on December 2, 2021. To be celebrated as it should be, since the next will only occur in 3030.

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