A US official at the State Department told The Associated Press on Monday that the US-backed French military intervention in Mali will last for years.

 

“This is only the first phase. It is going to take time. I think people should not be into the illusion that it is going to be quick,” said Don Yamamoto, the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs.

“It is going to take a long time and time means that it could take several years. And you got do it right,” Yamamoto added.

Yamamoto’s statements echo what British Prime Minister David Cameron said at the outset of the French intervention in Mali, that actions in Africa could take decades.

“It will require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months and it requires a response that is patient, that is painstaking, that is tough but also intelligent, but above all has an absolutely iron resolve; and that is what we will deliver over these coming years,” Cameron said.