Admiral Edouard Guillaud, France's military chief of staff, arrives for a meeting January 14, 2013 in Paris

Admiral Edouard Guillaud, France’s military chief of staff, arrives for a meeting on January 14, 2013 at the Hotel Matignon in Paris. The United States has chosen to play a cautious supporting role to France’s military action against Islamist fighters in Mali, after Washington’s own attempt to build up the African nation’s army backfired badly