# Meddling in Mali



## longknife (Nov 10, 2012)

By Ivan Eland  |  Posted: Thu. November 8, 2012, 1:42pm PT

The United States is meddling in another internal civil war to prevent a terrorist haven from developing. This time its not in Somalia or Yemen but instead in the West African country of Mali. The United States and France are concerned that Islamists have taken over northern Mali, and the two countries are heavily leaning on Abdelaziz Bouteflika, president of the neighboring regional power Algeria, to support an international invasion of Mali. The American and French implication is that, if left unmolested, the Islamists in control of this territory will create a base for international Islamist terrorist operations. They back an invasion because they believe the government of Mali is incapable of retaking its own territory.

Read more @ Meddling in Mali: Newsroom: The Independent Institute


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## Mr. H. (Nov 10, 2012)

On first glance I thought it said "Wedding in Mali".

I guess congrats aren't in order after all.


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## waltky (Nov 12, 2012)

African Nations Agree: Let's Invade Mali...

*African leaders agree to send troops to north Mali*
_Nov 12, 2012 - Leaders aim to wrest northern Mali from Islamist control_


> West African nations on Sunday agreed to send some 3,000 troops to help the country of Mali wrest back control of its northern half, which was seized by al-Qaida-linked fighters more than six months ago, according to an official involved in the discussions, and a statement read on Nigerian state television.  The decision came late Sunday at the end of an emergency summit in Nigeria's capital of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS. They were joined by military experts from the United Nations, Europe as well as ministers from Algeria, Mali's neighbor to the north which has previously been against the military intervention. The plan needs final approval from the U.N. Security Council before it can be carried out.
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> An official involved in the negotiations said by telephone shortly after the meeting that the nations in West Africa are now unanimous in their decision to go forward with the military operation. He said that they will attempt one more round of negotiations with representatives of the Islamists controlling northern Mali, before moving ahead with the intervention.  "We have agreed that 3,300 troops will be sent from West Africa. In addition, around 5,000 Malian troops will also be involved. If there is no agreement in the talks, we will move in," said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.
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## waltky (Jan 16, 2013)

Situation in Mali results in American kidnappings in Algeria...

*Islamists take foreign hostages in attack on Algerian oil field*
_Wed January 16, 2013 -  U.S. official says as few as 3 Americans are being held; Americans are among the hostages, the U.S. State Department says; The In Amenas gas field is run jointly by BP, Statoil and Algeria's Sonatrac; Panetta calls hostage-taking a "terrorist attack"_


> Islamists angry over Algeria's support for the French offensive in Mali attacked a gas field in southern Algeria, killing two people and seizing hostages, including Westerners, Algeria's interior minister said Wednesday.  The Westerners, accompanied by Algerian security forces, were en route to Ain Menas Airport when they were attacked early in the morning by another group of no more than 20 people, Diho Weld Qabliyeh told Algerian state television. The security forces returned fire, and the attackers withdrew to the base of the petroleum operation, some 3 kilometers away, he said.
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> Upon arrival at the base, he continued, the attackers "took in a number of Westerners and Algerians -- some people told us they were nine, some people told us 12."  U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Americans were among the hostages.  Accounts over the number differed.  An Algerian and a Westerner were killed in the attack, and two other Westerners, two of the security forces and two guards from the base were wounded, Qabliyeh said.  Algerian media reported that a British national was among the fatalities.
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See also:

*Americans among hostages taken in attack by al-Qaida-linked militants*
_January 16, 2013 &#8212; Islamist militants seized a Western-run gas field in Algeria on Wednesday, reportedly taking as many as 41 hostages, including seven Americans, in apparent retaliation for recent French airstrikes against Islamist extremists battling to overthrow neighboring Mali._


> At least two people &#8212; a British citizen and a French national &#8212; were killed in the early morning raid on the In Armenas gas field in eastern Algeria, according to media reports that could not be independently verified. Seven people were reported injured.  A militant group with purported ties to Algeria&#8217;s al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack, an indication that the war in Mali may be spilling into North Africa. It was unclear exactly how many hostages were taken. The British Foreign Office and the U.S. State Department confirmed that Americans and Britons were among them.  &#8220;In order to protect their safety, I&#8217;m not going to get into numbers. I&#8217;m not going to get into names,&#8221; said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to get into any further details as we continue to work on this issue.&#8221;
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> A French catering company said that 150 local hires at its Algerian subsidiary were being held at the site. Media reports, however, said militants released the Algerians and were only holding foreigners. Hundreds of soldiers surrounded the complex and Algerian officials, who have battled militants for decades, appeared to rule out talks with the extremists.  &#8220;The Algerian authorities will not respond to the demands of the terrorists and will not negotiate,&#8221; Algeria&#8217;s interior minister, Daho Ould Kablia, told the state news agency.  The ministry said in a statement that a &#8220;terrorist group, heavily armed and using three vehicles&#8221; launched the assault at 5 a.m. about 60 miles from the Algerian-Libyan border. Militants who claimed they carried out the mission told the Mauritanian media they belonged to the Signed-in Blood Battalion, which is headed by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed Algerian militant the French had nicknamed &#8220;the Uncatchable.&#8221;
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## Mr. H. (Jan 16, 2013)

waltky said:


> African Nations Agree: Let's Invade Mali...
> 
> *African leaders agree to send troops to north Mali*
> _Nov 12, 2012 - Leaders aim to wrest northern Mali from Islamist control_
> ...



I think they're still waiting on them Aferkin troops.


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## percysunshine (Jan 16, 2013)

Let's bomb Libya without a  Congress thumbs up.

What could possibly go wrong?


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## waltky (Feb 24, 2013)

Extremists snatched lil' kids from schools to fight...

*Mali radicals recruited child soldiers at schools*
_Feb 23,`13  -- The radical Islamic fighters showed up at Mohamed Salia's Quranic school, armed with weapons and demanding to address his students._


> The leader, named Hamadi, entered one of the classrooms, took a piece of chalk and scrawled his message on the blackboard.  "How to wage holy war," he wrote in Arabic. "How to terrorize the enemy in combat," the lesson plan continued.  Then his mobile phone rang, and he stepped away to answer. Salia urged his students to pose some questions of their own when he returned: Where had he come from and what did he want with a bunch of young people?  Hamadi told the students that people didn't ask questions like that where he was from. Islam knows no nationality, he replied and then left - and did not return before the French-led military operation ousted him and his fighters from power last month.  "I told my students to be careful: that these men may be well-versed in the Quran but their Islamic point of view is not the same as ours," the teacher recalled.
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> Nearly a month after the al-Qaida-linked militants were driven out of Gao and into the surrounding villages, students are now returning to the city's Quranic schools.  Many classrooms, though, are still half full, as tens of thousands of people fled the fighting and strict Islamic rule the extremists.  However, other pupils left Gao not with their families but with the Islamic fighters when they retreated, say human rights activists and local officials.  The experience of the Gao schools illustrates how the extremists used madrassas in northern Mali to indoctrinate young people and to recruit child soldiers.
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## Saigon (Feb 24, 2013)

> I think they're still waiting on them Aferkin troops.



Why would you say that?

Have African troops not been involved in these kind of operations before....?


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## waltky (Mar 21, 2013)

AQIM claims to have killed French hostage...

*Al Qaeda beheads French hostage held for 14 months in revenge for war in Mali*
_20 March 2013 > Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claims to have beheaded Philippe Verdon; The geologist has been held captive by terror group for 14 months; French Foreign Office officials are still trying to verify the reports; Spokesman for the group said Hollande is responsible for other hostages; At least 14 french hostages currently held by Al Qaeda in west Africa_


> Al Qaeda terrorists today claimed to have beheaded a French hostage in retaliation for his countrys war in Mali.  Foreign Office officials in Paris said they were trying to verify reports of the horrific death of Philippe Verdon, who has been in captivity for the past 14 months.  Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is waging a terrorist campaign against the French Army in Mali, claims it cut the geologists head off on March 10 in response to Frances intervention in Northern Mali.
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## longknife (Mar 21, 2013)

As usual, the French can't manage ANY military operations without screwing up.


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## there4eyeM (Mar 21, 2013)

As usual, a gratuitous negative comment from knee-jerk anti-French quarters. What France has mismanaged here is not explained, nor how a few hundred of their soldiers made thousands of opposition fanatics run away without a fight.


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## Saigon (Mar 22, 2013)

longknife said:


> As usual, the French can't manage ANY military operations without screwing up.



What ARE you talking about - what was screwed up?


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