Three years before masked gunmen stormed a hotel in the capital of Mali, killing at least 27 people early Friday morning, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was mocked by certain media figures for warning about the spread of terrorist activity in the small West African country.

During the final 2012 presidential debate, which focused on foreign policy, Romney cautioned that instability in the Middle East had given way to the rise of terrorist influences in several key countries, including Libya, Syria and Mali.