The French expedition in Mali, Africa

So after exiting from Afghanistan saying that they don’t see any exit strategy or no use of them there or whatever unofficial reasons are, now the French are in their former colony Mali battling Islamic Militants, the same kind that America has been fighting for a decade since 9/11. So what is wrong in this picture? It is the fact that Mali is closer to Europe and the French are afraid that if they had not acted there, they along with other European countries would have become a target. This is the same logic that America has applied in Afghanistan (I am not mentioning Iraq because it never was part of the original terror network). We went to Afghanistan because the originality of the 9/11 came from that place and now that the Jihadists (or whatever you want to call them) are in Mali and it has never attacked France, how come this logic is being applied by the French to invade another country. Excuse me if I am a little harsh on the French, but this war (intervention) that they are saying that will last a few weeks needs to be seen to be believed. America also went to battle in Iraq and Afghanistan and it took ten years for Iraq and more than that and continuing for Afghanistan. I hope that the French succeed in their endeavor because initially the American public was also behind their wars but grew tired and so will the French no matter what the support is right now for the intervention and will they have the financial means to sustain a long war like America is doing. Remains to be seen. Stay tuned.