Previously published on Black Agenda Report. France has thrown its military weight around in Africa for years, but recently, in the wake of troop casualties, and with the prospect of more soldier deaths, French imperialist punks have signaled their plan to withdraw more than 2,000 troops from the continent. France began “Operation Barkhane” in 2013, supposedly to rid the Sahel region of al-Qaeda cells and sympathizers. However, resistance to the military campaign has left about 55 French soldiers dead. French President Emmanuel Macron said: “Many of our soldiers have fallen, I have a thought for their families. We owe them . . .