Mali – We Had Better Pay Attention
January 23, 2013 in Uncategorized by John House
The last few weeks have seen conflict in a place most Americans have probably never heard of – Mali. I recommend everyone pull out a map of Africa and look toward the northwest just in case France gets in over its head. Yes, France, our NATO ally has intervened in Mali because the government there was about to be overwhelmed by al Qaeda. Yeah, see that, too. Al Qaeda is not dead just because bin Laden took a few in the head. That manifestation of evil is still killing people around the world.
The next time you are staring at your computer screen, search for al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb or AQIM. You’ll find out that AQIM is alive and well and trying real hard to take over Mali. Our State Department has already declared them to be foreign terrorists. The group is known for brutality such as beheadings and was born out of the Algerian civil war. The Council on Foreign Relations has a worthwhile summary at http://www.cfr.org/north-africa/al-qaeda-islamic-maghreb-aqim/p12717.
An Associated Press report has a West African force of 1,000 troops and 2,150 French troops already deployed into Mali (http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/01/22/2150-french-troops-in-mali-germany-balks-at-aid.html?ESRC=eb.nl). I’ve seen no reports that the United States is involved. Germany is hesitant to help France. Nonetheless, a NATO ally is now fighting an al Qaeda based insurgent force trying to depose the lawful government of Mali. AQIM also staged the assault on the gas refinery in Algeria that resulted in at least three Americans dying with others being held hostage until the Algerian military assaulted the compound. So even though we are not yet fighting in Mali, Americans are dying nearby and being killed by the same enemy as that faced by the people and government of Mali.
So what does all this mean? I don’t know. However, I do think we all should brush off our world maps and realize that even if we declare victory and leave Afghanistan, the war against Islamic terrorists is not yet over. Not by a long shot.
You are so right about what’s happening in North Africa at the moment, John. And the media had better start opening its atlases too because much more is to come from that area of the world. It’s not so new as we like to think. I was with USIA in the early 70s and traveled regularly out of Abidjan to thirteen other west and central African countries.I was the regional librarian for the USIS libraries in those countries for four years. It is interesting now that I take a look back at those times to realize that I heard from time to time murmurs of “activity” being done (mainly recruiting young Africans) by Libyans for what —- that was not clear nor did I think much of it at that time. In much later years I heard from Africans that Muslem “terrorist” groups were infiltrating black African countries all along the Sahara. Nigeria and Togo seemed to be targeted at that time. Now we know that such infiltration has been going on for many years and that Christian groups especially have been targeted for elimination. As in Mali these trained militias are now trying to topple governments. I believe we do have a hundred or so (most likely more) military in black Africa to help train the local special forces to weed out these terrorist groups and try to stop the cruel activities going on there now. From murmurs I heard in the 70s to full blown terrorist activities now … it shows the patience these people have to go into an area of the world and make it an Islamist-extremist territory. And the Administration says that Al-Quaid is on the run? They sure are. Right onto and throughout all of the African continent. And that is just a continuation of they really want. Domination on a world level of Islam.