The kidnapped aid worker, Michal Germaneau, was abducted in April of this year by elements of AQIM in the Sahara. AQIM was a major factor in terrorist attacks in Algeria, but the government in Algiers cracked down on the militant's activities forcing them into the southern desert. While AQIM has managed to continue its attacks against military convoy's it has not been able to sustain a campaign of terror in the major cities. Because AQIM has become isolated in the Sahara they have been required to rely on kidnapping to raise funds. AQIM may be isolated but the resulting failure of the French-Mauritanian raid shows that they are not a spent force. Both the French and AQIM have released competing accounts of what transpired, but it is clear that neither escaped unscathed.

The joint French-Mauritanian raid in Mali that was supposed to rescue the kidnap victim reportedly did not have any proof of life or any indication of where he was being held. French media claimed US support in locating the base that was the subject of the raid, but they did not reveal if this was the only base located, and if not, why it was chosen. Furthermore, the nations of France, Algeria, Mali, and Mauritania have not indicated how AQIM is surviving subsisting on money raised from kidnapping, or if the group is receiving any support from any members of the Taureg community.

If anything needs to be taken away from this account it is that AQIM's strength needs to be reconsidered in light of France's statement that they are now at war with one another. We must also consider the French interest in their former colonies of West Africa. France pulls the vast majority of its energy from nuclear power and it gets uranium from the very African locations that AQIM inhabit. At this point we don't know how this will affect the local populations if combat operations heat up since the area is so sparsely populated, but we can be sure that neither the countries involved, nor AQIM, is ready to back down.