I believe that the author gets the facts regarding Mali correctly, but fails to draw the proper conclusions. I don't think that Empire agents under the guise of "humanitarian intervention" disregard lessons; I think they are deliberately sowing chaos in Africa to justify intervening there and establishing permanent military bases, all, of course, directed toward the ultimate goal of exploiting African resources. They are not stupid.
Western powers are engaged in yet another military intervention, this time in Mali, a country whose troubles are in no small part a consequence of the U.S./NATO war on Libya to overthrow the regime of Muammar Gaddafi. And yet policymakers and political commentators are proving as disciplined as ever in disregarding the obvious lessons.