November 6th, 2012
NewsRescue- A Guardian UK source from within Mali has revealed that the state of the Nigerian army is a big reason for the current delay in the French led invasion of Mali.
According to the source, the Nigerian army, expected to lead the effort, lacks discipline, basic military skills and the ability to carry out basic military maneuvers. Quoting the Guardian:
“The Nigerian army is in a shocking state,” said the source, who has seen recent assessments of Ecowas’s military capability. “In reality there is no way they are capable of forward operations in Mali – their role is more likely to be limited to manning checkpoints and loading trucks.”
“The Nigerian forces lack training and kit, so they simply don’t have the capability to carry out even basic military manoeuvres,” the source added. “They have poor discipline and support. They are more likely to play a behind-the-scenes role in logistics and providing security.” Read more…
The French are eagerly planning and pushing for a military venture against Mali “Islamists” who have taken over the northern part of the Gold and Uranium rich country, which boasts of Africa’s third largest reserves of Gold.
The EU, the UN, ECOWAS and the African Union are jointly plotting military operations to assist the Mali government to reclaim the Northern regions. An intervention is expected early next year.
In recent chatter, ‘foreign non African troops’, are being proposed to be a part of the intervention force, this could be related to the problem that obtains with the Nigerian ‘party-army’ formation, or the debasing of the Nigerian army could merely be an excuse to bring foreign boots into the equation.
Ansar Dine, the leading rebel group in control of Northern Mali, along with other Islamist groups are adamant on imposing the Islamic Shariah code of law in the country.
It will be recalled that it was after the French led the chaotic and retarded overthrow of the Gaddafi regime in Libya, that the new al-Qaeda affiliated Libya government displaced millions of Tuareg black Africans from Libya. These Tuareg’s left the country with loads of Libyan weapons, and within months easily sacked the sitting democratic government of resource rich, but economically poor Mali.
Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo described the killing of US ambassador Steven’s in Libya on September 11th, as being a result of careless and unreasonable French led, and Obama- NATO operation that sacked the Libyan government and unleashed terror and instability all over the region in Africa.
According to the ex president and military general,
“But then there are also external elements. Now, the fallout from Libya, which of course as a result what happened in Libya, those that have been trained in Libya in the time of Gaddafi from other countries who are neighbors of Libya, when Gaddafi fell they moved out. They moved out with their training, their weapons and they started to wreak havoc on the communities in which they have moved out to. And that is the situation in northern Mali,”
When asked if he meant there was a connection between the overthrow of Ghaddafi and the Boko Haram insurgency, the killing of the US ambassador in Libya on Tuesday and the instability in northern Mali, Obasanjo replied: “There is connection.”
He said those who masterminded the fall of Ghaddafi, as well as the whole of Africa, have already started paying a price for that.
“And we know that there will be a price to pay in the way that it all went in Libya. At the end of the day all of us in Africa, and all those who masterminded the way it happened will have to pay a price, and we are now paying the price.” – Obasanjo Read more [NewsRescue]
DigitalJournal– Bamako – Ansar Dine, the main Islamist group in control of northern Mali, has sent negotiators to both Burkina Faso and Algeria, in an attempt to forestall an invasion by a U.N. backed force to defeat the rebels.
Ansar Dine reportedly told Algerian officials that they are willing to cut ties with their ally, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and also hold elections. Algeria favors negotiations with the rebels as a solution to the situation rather than invasion. Read more
African problems deserve completely local address, with no foreign interference
The economic and instability risks of irrational foreign interventions in Africa are all too familiar. As happened in Liberia, where after African troops, led by the very same Nigerian army, bled and led the stabilization of the nation, the west came in with the UN and signed 100 year contracts to usurp resource, Mali’s destiny is crystal clear. And as terror was unleashed across Africa with the foreign staged upstaging in Libya, the risk for neighboring nations is clear and present too. It appears that African states are never ready to take charge to protect their safety, value and integrity.
For a better understanding of the regional crises in Mali-more than just an issue of religion and Islamic fanaticism, as the hegemonists may paint it to be, but an issue of a population that have been relegated secondary citizens in all nations they are now found in Africa. Read our August 9th article.
Mali, Land of Gold and Uranium: UN Prepares to Send in ECOWAS Troops
NewsRescue– As UN prepares to finalize its approval of an ECOWAS force 3,300 men strong into Mali, the real facts surrounding global interest, positions and actions on Mali come into perspective.
Mali is Africa’s third largest producer of gold, after South Africa and Ghana. In addition to other minerals, Mali has great deposits of Uranium. Previously known as one of the most stable nations in Africa, with so much resource, yet, “surprisingly”, one of the poorest nations in the world.
Tuareg Islamists have progressively gained control of Mali, following the NATO organized, abhorred, staccato overthrow of the Libyan government by foreign Al-Qaeda agents and a Benghazi ‘unpopular’ uprising. See: NewsRescue– Al-Mahdi al-Harati: The Next Osama Bin Ladin; Mercenary from Libya to Syria… Coming to a Town Near You!
The Tuareg used to be a prominent ethnic group in western Africa, Mali, Niger etc. These countries proved highly resistant to French occupation and when the French reluctantly gave independence to these Nations, they ensured that the Tuareg remained sidelined, denied and deprived of education and not a part of governments, despite being a majority.
“Tuareg leadership in the resistance to colonization meant that their territories were among the last in Africa to be colonized, with Mali and Niger only signing peace treaties with the French in 1905 and 1917 respectively. However, their role in resisting colonization and their reputation as a fierce and rebellious people, led the French to marginalize the Tuareg. Read more
