Meanwhile, in Bamako

Another terror event is unfolding, this time in Mali:

Men shouting "God is great" and armed with guns and throwing grenades stormed into the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali's capital Friday morning and seized 170 hostages.

The U.S. Embassy in Mali asked citizens to shelter in place amid reports of an "ongoing active shooter operation" at the hotel in Bamako. People in the area ran for their lives along a dirt road as a soldier in full combat gear them to safety.

Malian army commander Modibo Nama Traore said 10 gunmen stormed the hotel shouting "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great," in Arabic before firing on the guards and taking hostages. The Brussels-based Rezidor Hotel group that operates the hotel said the assailants have "locked in" 140 guests and 30 employees.

We haven't given Mali much thought over the past few years. I remember Mitt Romney talking about the country in the 2012 presidential debates and earning a fair amount of derision as a result; then again, everything Romney said seemed to earn derision. And, as usual, Romney was correct, because the northern part of Mali has been a stronghold for terrorists, despite the intervention of -- wait for it -- the French in 2013.

This is an active event, so we can only speculate about the endgame. We'll have our answer soon, though, and history suggests it won't be a happy ending.