Pentagon planning for multinational military operation in Mali

Pentagon planning for multinational military operation in Mali

www.washingtonpost.com

U.S. military planners have begun to help organize a multinational proxy force to intervene next year in Mali... contingent on the U.N. Security Council’s endorsement... U.N. officials and diplomats from other countries have said that U.N. approval is likely...

Amanda J. Dory, the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary for Africa, ... emphasized that no U.S. ground troops would enter Mali, but she would not rule out... U.S. warplanes to transport African troops or provide... aerial cover

(visit the link for the full news article)


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I really could not believe it, but the USA is already planning another war in Africa. No, not Syria, this will likely be after that, in Mali. This came out in a Senate hearing yesterday.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa, claimed that northern Mali is now “the largest territory controlled by Islamic extremists in the world.”

Apparently unnamed US officials claimed that al-Qaeda moved in and took over northern Mali using weapons they smuggled out of Libya and they claim they are now a threat to the west.

Sounds like they are saying that the very same rebels the US and NATO armed in Libya have now used those weapons to take over part of another country, one we didn't tell them to go into (i.e., Syria) and so now we need to go wage war against the very people we armed. Just like we had to go into Afghanistan and fight Osama bin Laden, who we had armed and trained when he was part of the Mujaheddin.

Just another step in the unending global war on terror...

www.washingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I'm shocked.
Mali doesn't have any oil.

I wonder why we are bothering.

reply to post by ikonoklast

Okay, when Bush stood before the nation and said the United States would bring justice TO the enemy, I think even the most die hard of us believed there to be some implied TIME issues and LIMITS to WHO this applied to. It would seem our military and foreign policy is to pursue these people to the ends of the Earth AND till the end of time. Anyone else think this is getting just a bit too much?? I mean, an intervention SO urgent, we can calmly plan it all out and wait for all the proper permissions in advance? Sounds a lot like an intervention I'd have to question the need on entirely?

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
Okay, when Bush stood before the nation and said the United States would bring justice TO the enemy, I think even the most die hard of us believed there to be some implied TIME issues and LIMITS to WHO this applied to. It would seem our military and foreign policy is to pursue these people to the ends of the Earth AND till the end of time. Anyone else think this is getting just a bit too much??

9/11 was domestic state-sponsored-terrorism. This new war will be just one more example of US-state-sponsored-terrorism. Nothing more, nothing less. No American can legitimately claim ignorance. At this point, every single American that wants to know the facts has that option.

This will end badly. Empires always do.

reply to post by jcarpenter

Yeah... You and I are never going to agree on that and I'm not ignorant to hold a different opinion. In fact, there is a whole forum on 9/11 just for this and because.....beliefs are so strong on both sides, it tends to tear threads up that it gets brought into that way.

I was replying to the OP in reality of an actual military thing being planned with the real world United Nations.....If Africa is where we're next going to fight, hell, I guess it's where we end the chapter which started in Independence Hall. If Afghanistan wasn't enough to graveyard this Empire, then Africa is absolutely going to be. If only we'd known , as a nation, we were signing on for perpetual war........enough opposition would have been raised to stop it back when it still could have been.

*Sorry if I seemed to invite it.... I was referring to the wars in general...as it's been over 6 nations in open fighting now and even 2002 had multiple nations with U.S. forces shooting at people....(quiet like in a couple) I hadn't personally meant to bring up that as a topic....to clarify .

Originally posted by grey580
I'm shocked.
Mali doesn't have any oil.

I wonder why we are bothering.

I was wondering the exact same thing. I would love to hear if anyone knows what the economic or political interest is really. The only thing I could find is that they are the third leading producer of gold in Africa. But it must not be produced in huge amounts, because they are one of the poorest countries in the world. Maybe someone thinks they could change that.

There is one other possibility I thought of. I doubt this is the reason, but it fits right in with ATS... The manuscripts at Timbuktu:

Timbuktu Manuscripts Project

There are about 700,000 ancient documents stored there in mostly bad condition. There are one of a kind documents where the only copy may exist in Timbuktu. There are rumors of esoteric documents that may go back to before the destruction of the library in Alexandria.

And allegedly there are Islamic extremists who want to destroy them. I don't know if that's propaganda or not, and I doubt this is the reason we would go to war there, but it is interesting to think what might be in some of those documents.

reply to post by grey580


Africa is teeming with rare earth materials. Considering our need for these materials it makes perfect sense.

How can they afford too? Where are the getting the money to fund this?

Originally posted by Unity_99
How can they afford too? Where are the getting the money to fund this?

QE100000000000 Duh

Bernanke will drop it from helicopters

I wasn't too familiar with Mali until I read the wiki on it.

My opinion is that Mali is a pretty stable state. Other then the fact they are very poor, they are not run by a tyrant...The only real problem I read was this,

n 22 March 2012, a group of junior soldiers seized control of the country's presidential palace and declared the government dissolved and its constitution suspended.[11] On 6 April 2012, rebels from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) declared the secession of a new state, Azawad, from Mali.[12] Shortly after, the MNLA were sidelined by Islamist groups associated with Al-Qaeda, and dropped their demands for secession. Mali is currently being led by an interim government led by former President of the General assembly Dioncounda Traoré. Plans to re-take the north with international assistance are being formulated, after which the interim government plans to hold the long-delayed national elections.

Is this what we are prepping for? May be I am a bit confused and some one could inform me just on what the big issue is?

-SAP-

reply to post by SloAnPainful


China has huge interests in Africa. This is just the US getting a foot in the door, perhaps a military base or three. It is simply a counter to the Chinese push.

Meanwhile China is just waiting like a patient tiger for the eagle empire to fail.

P

Originally posted by SloAnPainful
I wasn't too familiar with Mali until I read the wiki on it...

...Plans to re-take the north with international assistance are being formulated, after which the interim government plans to hold the long-delayed national elections.

Is this what we are prepping for? May be I am a bit confused and some one could inform me just on what the big issue is?

It sounds like that is what they claim this is all about in Mali. The Washington Post article says:

Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa, called northern Mali “the largest territory controlled by Islamic extremists in the world.”

Other U.S. officials said al-Qaeda’s North African affiliate, which for years attracted limited global attention, poses an increasing threat. The group has become well-stocked with weapons smuggled out of Libya after the NATO-led war there last year. It finances its operations by smuggling rackets and by kidnapping foreigners for ransom.

SOURCE

But the same Washington Post article also pointed out:

At the same time, U.S. officials acknowledged that the group has not demonstrated an ability to launch terrorist attacks outside the region. Some independent analysts have questioned whether the administration’s strategy could backfire by embroiling the United States in an in­trac­table local conflict.

SOURCE

If you look at the examples of Libya and Syria, it seems likely that the real reasons (or at least strong additional reasons) for involvement were oil and gas and perhaps especially control of the banking systems.

Libya:

AFRICAN MONETARY FUND, AFRICAN CENTRAL BANK, AFRICAN INVESTMENT BANK

The US$30 billion frozen by Mr Obama belong to the Libyan Central Bank and had been earmarked as the Libyan contribution to three key projects which would add the finishing touches to the African federation – the African Investment Bank in Syrte, Libya, the establishment in 2011 of the African Monetary Fund to be based in Yaounde with a US$42 billion capital fund and the Abuja-based African Central Bank in Nigeria which when it starts printing African money will ring the death knell for the CFA franc through which Paris has been able to maintain its hold on some African countries for the last fifty years. It is easy to understand the French wrath against Gaddafi.

The African Monetary Fund is expected to totally supplant the African activities of the International Monetary Fund which, with only US$25 billion, was able to bring an entire continent to its knees and make it swallow questionable privatisation like forcing African countries to move from public to private monopolies. No surprise then that on 16-17December 2010, the Africans unanimously rejected attempts by Western countries to join the African Monetary Fund, saying it was open only to African nations.

SOURCE

Interestingly, one of the very first things the rebels did in Libya, long before Gadhafi fell, was to set up a new Central Bank and a new national oil company:

The rebels in Libya are in the middle of a life or death civil war and Moammar Gadhafi is still in power and yet somehow the Libyan rebels have had enough time to establish a new Central Bank of Libya and form a new national oil company. ...What a skilled bunch of rebels - they can fight a war during the day and draw up a new central bank and a new national oil company at night without any outside help whatsoever. ...Apparently someone felt that it was very important to get pesky matters such as control of the banks and control of the money supply out of the way even before a new government is formed.

SOURCE
Additional reference: Asia Times

With Syria, there are huge oil and gas interests: AboveTopSecret

And Syria was one of the last countries that didn't have their banking system controlled by the international Central Bankers: AboveTopSecret

So what are the global financial interests in Mali, anyone know?

Originally posted by pheonix358
reply to post by SloAnPainful

 

China has huge interests in Africa. This is just the US getting a foot in the door, perhaps a military base or three. It is simply a counter to the Chinese push.

I've head of the secret plan developed by George Kennan for American empire post World War II. Noam Chomsky and others have discussed how America didn't have too much interest in Africa except for the Middle East:

Africa the US wasn't very much interest in so George Kennan who was the Head of the Policy Planning Staff recommended that it be handed over to Europe to "exploit" - that was his word - for Europe to exploit for its own reconstruction... As for the Middle East, the US took for granted that it would take it over because of what they called its "stupendous source of strategic power" and "one of the great material prizes in world history".

SOURCE

This viewpoint seems to have changed, as there are increasing activities (drone strikes in many African countries, this new planned incursion into Mali, etc.). Obviously China sees a reason for this to change too. Anyone know why, outside of the Middle East oil countries? Is it this:

Originally posted by antonia
reply to post by grey580

 

Africa is teeming with rare earth materials. Considering our need for these materials it makes perfect sense.