Not a great comparison because it's not a country-specific...

Not a great comparison because it's not a country-specific issue, and there's no ocean between these African nations. It's actually a regional trend, so it's relevant to Mali. Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Mali are all trying to respond to the general southward push of Islam out of northern Africa. The southern bulwark against this at the moment are the northern borders of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, which is why these countries are so concerned and beefing up their northern border security.

If the crazies ever get truly organised and try to start carving out their own patch of 'paradise' in the region, then we should all be very concerned.