Al-Qaida central has been virtually decimated. But what they espouse, there are cells all over the place. And I think the administration is -- you have to be engaged, but you handle it in a different way. They're not going to put boots on the ground. They're going to assist the French. The French have more of an interest in Mali than we do. And you're going to see more use probably of drones, which is controversial in and of itself. But the administration is not ignoring this area. And all of the critics are out there saying do this, do this, do this. Like what? Nobody really has any great answers. -Eleanor Clift

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In her opening statement before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said quote, Benghazi did not happen in a vacuum. The Arab revolutions have scrambled power dynamics and shattered security forces across the region. Instability in Mali has created an expanding safe haven for terrorists, who look to extend their influence and plot further attacks of the kind we saw just last week in Algeria. Unquote. What happened last week in Algeria, North Africa, was the murder of at least 37 hostages, including three Americans, after militants attacked a natural gas plant in the eastern part of the country. The al-Qaida splinter group, called the Signers with Blood Brigade, led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, claimed responsibility.