Tag: Mali

Death In Mali

I recently wrote a post about eh death of a Green Beret at the hands of 2 SEALs in Mali.  Sadly to say there was not much outrage by my readers over this death….that worries me and shows just how little these wars mean to the average American….to them none of this means anything at all.  and that is truly sad….

I have been watching this development of the investigation into the death of an American at the hands of two other Americans….how sad…..

Logan Melgar hadn’t had a drink on June 4.

The Green Beret sergeant’s dry day became a key to unraveling the narrative spun by the elite Navy commandos whom military investigators now suspect killed him, officials familiar with the case said.

Melgar, a staff sergeant in the Army’s 3rd Special Forces Group, was specifically selected for an intelligence operation in the West African nation of Mali. He was well respected by the American Embassy staff and the partner forces there, a former U.S. Africa Command official said. But shortly before he died, Melgar told his wife that he had a bad feeling about two of his partners in that effort, both of whom were members of SEAL Team Six.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/green-beret-discovered-seals-illicit-cash-then-he-was-killed

Americans killing Americans……not cool at all.

USAFRICOM–WTF?

What the hell is going on in African Command?  They got 4 special ops troops killed with no air support and  with little knowledge of the bad guys in the region, Niger, to be exact…..and now more questionable deaths this time in Mali….and you will not believe who is involved……..

Nearly five months after a 34-year-old Army Green Beret was strangled to death in his embassy housing in the Malian capital of Bamako, military officials say investigators are looking into whether two members of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 are involved. Staff Sgt. Logan J. Melgar’s body was discovered June 4 in housing he shared with other Special Operations forces. And while no arrests have been made, the two SEALS were flown out of the country almost immediately afterward and put on administrative leave, the New York Times reports. The SEALs were originally classified as “witnesses,” but that designation was changed to “persons of interest.”

A military medical examiner has ruled the death to be a homicide, sources tell the newspaper. Originally the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command was investigating Melgar’s death, but on Sept. 25 the case was taken over by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which is not releasing details about the investigation or a possible motive. “NCIS does not discuss the details of ongoing investigations,” says a spokesman. The Army has yet to release a statement about the incident. Read the full Times story.

WTF?  Americans killing Americans….explain this one away.

There is something deeply wrong within USAFRICOM…………..time for Congress to pull their heads out of Trump’s ass and demand some accountability.

(Today will be light posting day….got a day full of doctors and such….hopefully will be back to full line up tomorrow….chuq)

US Special Ops in Africa

For those that are not aware of the fact that US special ops are operating in Africa….all of Africa……that means US troops are doing their thing in Africa….But it is Africa and “no one cares about Africa” to quote a movie villain….

It was September 2014. The sky was bright and clear and ice blue as the camouflage-clad men walked to the open door and tumbled out into nothing. One moment members of the U.S. 19th Special Forces Group and Moroccan paratroopers were flying high above North Africa in a rumbling C-130 aircraft; the next, they were silhouetted against the cloudless sky, translucent green parachutes filling with air, as they began to drift back to earth.

Those soldiers were taking part in a Joint Combined Exchange Training, or JCET mission, conducted under the auspices of Special Operations Command Forward-West Africa out of Camp Ram Ram, Morocco. It was the first time in several years that American and Moroccan troops had engaged in airborne training together, but just one of many JCET missions in 2014 that allowed America’s best-equipped, best-trained forces to hone their skills while forging ties with African allies.

Source: Mission Impossible: Keeping Track of US Special Ops in Africa – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

As long as I am posting on Africa I would like to expand your knowledge about the conflict in Mali…..

Image result for Mali

 

The conflict in Mali encompasses all parts of the country……but the hottest areas are the North and Central Mali……

In Central Mali their is an uprising that few are paying attention to……

While attention has focused on northern Mali, armed violence is escalating at an alarming rate in the centre of the country, long neglected by the state. The management of natural resources has given rise to multiple conflicts that the government and local elites are unable to control. For the past several months, a jihadist uprising has capitalised on the state’s lack of legitimacy and extended its influence. State representatives are being chased out of rural areas. Yet, violence also stems from settlings of scores, banditry and a growing number of self-defence militias. The peace agreement signed in Bamako in June 2015 applies primarily to northern regions and disregards the centre of the country. Mali’s government and its principal partners should renew their efforts to restore the state’s authority and legitimacy among all the communities of the area. Absent appropriate action, central Mali – an area more densely populated than the north and vital to the economy – risks becoming a source of protracted instability.

Source: Central Mali: An Uprising in the Making? | International Crisis Group

Speaking of Northern Mali…..child soldiers are being used in the fight…….

Abdallah is a 15-year-old boy with black curls and a shy, questioning look in his eyes. He has just arrived for the second stay in the giant refugee city in the Mauritanian desert. Before coming back, he had returned to Mali — as a skinny boy with a Kalashnikov around his neck. Abdallah was a child soldier.

Friends had told him about the Tuareg’s fight against the government and he returned with them to Mali where, upon reaching his hometown, he joined an armed group. Abdallah had gone to fight in the same war that had prompted his family to flee.

Source: Refugees in Mauritania and Child Soldiers in Mali – SPIEGEL ONLINE

It is a shame that the American people have so little knowledge of what is happening in Africa……there is more going on than the media is willing to cover.

The International Crisis Group does an excellent job tracking conflicts around the world….I recommend them for anyone that is caring enough to check out the rest of the world.

Faith’s archivists

How about a little historical perspective?

We all know that the barbaric group known as ISIS has set on a path to destroy many historical sites all in the name of some BS they think is right…..the recent problems in Mali have put many ancient texts in danger and this piece is about the attempts to save them for the future….

Catholic monks in Minnesota are helping to save a trove of Islamic treasures in Mali

Source: Faith’s archivists | The Economist

I have a problem with anyone that destroys a civilization’s history and heritage and I salute these brave people for their efforts to preserve the history…….may I say that it is nice to see Christians acting like Christians and not just sounding like one…….

A War In Mali–What Could Happen?

I know that there are many people that care about the situation taking place in the African country of Mali…..but that should change…..the US is about to enter into the fray in support of our ally, France………

Just in case you do not know where Mali is located…….allow me to help……..

Our French brethren have commenced a ground assault on the militants in Mali….in the North of the country……could this be a 6 day war or will it continue to fight on and on?  And what could be the results of the fighting?

………… the military action was expected to be “difficult” for France.

“Ansar al-Dine and other armed rebel groups that have control of the area know the terrain very well, and they have very sophisticated weapons,” she said, referring to the rebel-controlled northern part of Mali.

She said the first Nigerian contingent of about 190 soldiers was due to arrive in Mali on Thursday.

The parliament in Niger was waiting for approval to send its own contingent of more than 500 soldiers, currently waiting at the border, Al Jazeera’s Moshiri said.

For those who care — and we suggest you do — the democratically-elected government of Mali was thrown out in March by a faction of nomadic people living in the north of the country called the Tuareg. But the separatist Tuareg got more than they bargained for when they asked a local Islamist militant group, the Rebels of the Ansar Dine, to help. They helped all right: they called in their friends, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which swiftly moved to displace the Tuareg, imposed a strict interpretation of Sharia law on the moderate Sufi Muslims there in the north, and rendered Timbuktu — an ancient, bustling center of trade and tourism — a “ghost town.”

By the way, according to reports, the Ansar Dine and AQIM are apparently “flush” with weapons, thanks to the looting that occurred after the U.S.-led regime change in Libya. Furthermore, the leader of the Tuareg military coup, which opened the doors to what Bruce Riedel calls al Qaeda’s largest foothold “since the fall of Afghanistan in 2001,” was none other than Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, who came to the United States several times for “professional military education, including basic officer training,” according to The Washington Post.

“Three things emerge from the haze. First, fierce fighting in the North and the East, with French forces in the lead, will open up a whole new set of dangers. With Islamist forces on the attack, foreign intervention was necessary, and many Malians at home and abroad welcomed it enthusiastically. Still, this remains a dangerous moment all around.

“Second, while the latest crisis might not break the political deadlock in Bamako, it has already changed the dynamic. And third, despite the sorry state of mediation efforts to date – both within West Africa and beyond – savvy diplomacy is needed now more than ever.” – Gregory Mann, commenting on January 14 on the situation in Mali.

For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on Mali, including in 2012, see http://www.africafocus.org/country/mali.php

For a recent article with additional background on previous U.S. counter-productive support for Mali’s military, see “French Strikes in Mali Supplant Caution of U.S.”, New York Times, Jan. 14, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com / direct URL – http://tinyurl.com/boxv8va

For an article with background on the U.S. role past and present, see “U.S. Prepares Support for French Military Intervention in Mali” IPS, January 15, 2012 http://allafrica.com/stories/201301150071.html

For a pair of articles from last fall, by Gregory Mann and Simon Allison, respectively supporting and opposing military intervention, appearing in African Arguments and in the Guardian, now moot but with much useful background, see http://tinyurl.com/cofaqvv and http://tinyurl.com/clh4bnt

Mali is a hop skip and jump from Nigeria and Nigeria is home to many oil fields which the US gets oil…….if Islamists are successful in Mali, it will be only a matter of time before they start looking South……..and then the US will certainly have just cause for intervention…….

Also the French have embarked into the same situation that sucked in the US in Somalia…..this could be disastrous in the end results…..

As I have said……..I want to be optimistic……but I am too old to be so……

Is Mali Next?

The news is that we, The US, will be pulling our troops out of Afghanistan starting this Spring……and that will bring an end of this chapter in American history, our longest war……….but what will that do to our effectiveness to cease terrorists from attacking our shores?

We will still be using the drones to do the work of our soldiers….in Pakistan….in Yemen….and any where else they may be needed…..with that said, will we ever use our troops in a ground war again?  My ansdwer is….you can bet on it.  But where?  Iran?  How about Syria?  If not these then where?

Personally, I expect to see our soldiers used in Mali.  Why?  You may ask.

Mali is quickly becoming a stronghold for AQ……..yes there are some in Syria but the sheer force of the group is growing in strength as it did in Sudan and the Afghanistan……..it has worried the West, though not much has been in the press about it…..and the French took it upon themselves……

(Newser) – France’s foreign minister is optimistic about the campaign it started in Mali Friday, saying it will be over within “weeks.” He rejected a comparison to the Afghanistan war, adding, “we have no intention of staying forever,” the BBC reports. The country’s defense minister was also positive, saying the mission is “developing favorably,” even as Islamist fighters today seized Diabaly, a government-controlled territory 250 miles from the capital of Bamako. A Malian intelligence agent tells the AP that French pilots launched a raid near Diabaly this morning, which marks an expansion of the conflict—until now, raids were occurring in the distant north.

The defense minister says Islamists are retreating in the east, but still causing France difficulty in the west. Aides to French President Francois Hollande say they are better trained and better armed than had been expected. More from the conflict:

  • Mali rebels have sworn to take revenge; one leader for al-Qaeda offshoot Mujao tells AFP, “France has attacked Islam. We will strike at the heart of France.” French authorities are on high alert for retaliatory attacks on home soil.
  • The European Union will send military trainers to the Malian army late next month or early in March, Reuters reports, but the EU does not plan for those trainers to have any combat role in the country.
  • And NATO says France has not asked it for any help, Reuters adds. A spokesperson says the organization is “concerned” about the situation in Mali and welcomes France’s efforts, but “there has been no request, no discussion [within NATO] on the situation in Mali, the alliance as such is not involved in this crisis.”
  • Hollande is holding a cabinet meeting to discuss the crisis today, and the UN Security Council will also meet today at France’s request.
  • The New York Times takes an extensive look at the crisis and its background, noting that the US for years attempted to stop the Islamic militants from gaining a foothold in the region. But last year, many of the commanders trained by America defected. “It was a disaster,” says a senior Malian officer. It was also an American-trained officer who led the coup that eventually overthrew Mali’s elected government.

Meanwhile, a west African intervention force is putting together the promised troops who will be sent to Mali though it’s not clear when they will arrive.

The French are a bold bunch….but I do not think that it will be as easy as they would have us believe……..why do I say it?

Newser) – The US is reportedly going to provide more tactical help to French troops trying to keep Islamist rebels from overtaking Mali, and a former US ambassador to the country says it can’t come too soon. Helping France succeed is “in our national interest,” argues Vicki Huddleston in the New York Times. The rebels in Mali have ties to the notorious Boko Haram group, as well as to Ansar al-Sharia, the militia thought to be behind the Benghazi attack that killed ambassador Chris Stevens.

“Until the French stepped in, the near-collapse of the military had threatened to turn Mali, a landlocked, desperately poor country, into a desert stronghold for jihadists,” writes Huddleston. The US is spread thin in Afghanistan and elsewhere, so ground troops are off the table. But providing intelligence, money, and training—along with pressure on other African nations to intervene—is a necessary investment. If the US doesn’t want Mali to “become a launchpad for terrorism,” it “must not dither in doing its share.” Click for Huddleston’s full column.

And there we have it…….the US will be providing some support to the French in their operation in Mali…..now how many times has the US been sucked into more trouble spots by offering to support our friends……

Any thoughts?

Destruction In Mali

This is not a country that many Americans give two shakes in Hell about…..but that is a mistake to take the happenings in Mali, with their current civil war, with a grain of salt.  There could be far reaching consequences for not paying attention.

I know what could happen in some far off country that could effect me here in the US?

Let me explain.  Recall back to the days after the USSR removed itself from Afghanistan…..the semi civil war that took place and finally brought the Taleban to power…..and recall that they are extremists in Islam….one of their first acts after seizing power was to destroy some 1000 year old Buddhist statues that had been carved inside mountains…..(if you do not remember just Google it)…..

Something similar is happening in Mali…..the people in control of the North of the country are Salafist….an extreme form of Islam coming out of Saudi Arabia…..and these “people” and I use the term loosely have fallen into the same rhythm as the Taleban……

West African Islam has been deeply influenced by Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam that favours a metaphorical interpretation of the Qur’an and focuses on the spiritual development of the individual. West African Sufism is also known for its cult of the Marabouts, ‘enlightened’ individuals who mediate between God and humankind and who are also worshipped after they die.

The groups who have now seized power in northern Mali are followers of a very different movement: fundamentalist Salafism from Saudi Arabia. Their brand of Islam has no historical roots in West Africa and it rejects Sufism and the mystical veneration of saints as a heresy.

It is the fundamentalist Islam imported from Saudi Arabia and its animosity towards Sufism that has led to the tragic destruction of irreplaceable symbols of West Africa’s cultural heritage. Salafist literalists have already destroyed at least three historical mausoleums and they say they intend to raze them all to the ground. Historic mosques and libraries with manuscripts are not safe from these barbarians either. The manuscripts would fetch a fortune on the black market. There is a risk that important testimonies of a rich African scholarly tradition will disappear forever.

I know….what is the big deal?

European historians long claimed that Africa had no written history or intellectual tradition and that the first light of civilization arrived there with the European colonization. But if there is one city in Africa that dispels this myth, it is Timbuktu.

This city on the northernmost part of the river Niger, at the edge of the Sahara, was a thriving centre of commerce from the 13th century. There, Arabs from the north traded with various African tribes in gold, salt and other commodities. Europeans first arrived to the city in the 19th century, but Arabic scribes like the famous Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta described the city with admiration some five hundred years earlier.

Timbuktu is best known for its historic mosques and mausoleums, where Sufi saints are entombed. But only recently did people realize that, aside from a centre of trade, the city was also a significant centre of intellectual life. In the late 1990s, an international research team found a number of private libraries where prominent families from Timbuktu kept tens of thousands of medieval manuscripts. Written in Arabic and in African languages, the manuscripts showed the world that 13th-century West African scholars were deeply engaged in the study of religious subjects but also logic, mathematics, astronomy, medicine and natural sciences.

I was in Mali when I was working as a researcher and visited many of the places mentioned……would be a real shame to have this much history destroyed…especially in the name of God.

Once again extreme fundamentalists are endangering history!  Just as the Catholic Church destroyed Maya texts and the Taleban destroyed Buddhist sites….these pigs are endangering a rich cultural history by their moronic attitudes.  And keep in mind that the Taleban let AQ show up and work their magic and we could be looking at the same for Mali.  And if that occurs how long will it be before drones start destroying what is left of their history in the name of killing AQ operatives?