France Urges Foreign Military Intervention In Mali After PM Arrest

Washington officials have also claimed that the US Defense Department is preparing a military operation in Mali.

[link to rt.com]

It’s only December, but it looks like the Pentagon has all planned out how they’ll spend a good part of 2013. US officials now claim that the Defense Department is busy preparing a military operation in the nation of Mali.

United States officials with knowledge of the matter tell the Washington Post that the Department of Defense and the US State Department will assist next year in a mission to overthrow Islamic extremists with ties to al-Qaeda who took under control a significant part of Mali, a small West African country that is still picking itself up after a coup this past March.

[link to rt.com]

funny how everytime I see your OP pic it looks like lizards walking downhill.

A French or African led force?

Where have we heard that before? Mogadishu repeat anyone?

Yes, I believe our govt is just about stupid enough to get involved in this.

just another opportunity to spread the american military thinner and spend tax payer dollars.

i am so sick of this...

Thnx for info SG! I've been watching the Mali situation for some time now, ain't looking that good.

Northern Mali: the Politics of Ethnicity and Locality
[link to thinkafricapress.com]

lol

No doubt. It won't be "African-led."

Thanks for the pin, BTW!



Last Edited by Sleeping Giant on 12/11/2012 08:44 AM

Wow, thanks for the link. I'm not real in-tune to what all is going on in Mali, but this article explains a lot.

But, Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize...

My pleasure buddy.

A thread running for about 2 months now covers a lot of Mali situation if you are interested for more info here:
Thread: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

Stinky job as usual.

Last Edited by insertfunnyusername on 12/11/2012 08:47 AM

Thanks, bud! I will definitely read through that thread in a bit!

So, the US was behind this...


U.S. military experts are providing key planning support to regional militaries on a strategy for an African-led intervention in northern Mali, which has become a safe haven for al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations, U.S. defense officials said Wednesday.

“The broad strategic concept for that deployment is sound; more specific planning is under way to address operational shortfalls,” Amanda Dory, deputy assistant secretary of defense for African Affairs, said during a Senate hearing.

There is no plan to send U.S. troops to take part in the intervention, but support could come in other forms, including training for the African forces that would be taking part in the operations.

[link to www.stripes.com]

They will recruit a lot of new brill activists if they going there!

plan in progress

[link to www.expatica.com]

Sanogo the putschist who sees himself as Mali's De Gaulle.

I knew you were a Reptillian SG!

so much unrest

Wars and rumors of war everywhere it seems.

Just on my Mom's side.

well France is quite influential in Africa.....

I think it was Edgar Cayce who said that WW3 would come from a force in Africa, and I think Nostradamus said beware of French neglect..... its been along time since I've read about them so sorry if info is wrong

Is there oil in Mali?

Great question, I wondered the same.

[link to www.africaoilcorp.com]

The area of the licenses is part of the Cretaceous-age Central Africa Rift Trend which contains significant oil accumulations in Chad, Sudan and Niger. The basin has been sparsely explored with only 600 kilometers of older vintage seismic data. A nearby water well had significant shows of oil and gas demonstrating an active petroleum system.

Gold, too.



Gold has become Mali's third-largest export, after cotton.

[link to en.wikipedia.org]

Lots of things in Mali. Copy/paste info from the other thread.

.....


A May 2006 cable "predicted" the crisis in the northern part of the country, published on September 2011 on wikileaks

One and a half years after oil and gas exploration in northern Mali resumed, those searching for &black gold8 may be on the brink of success. To date, the Malian government has opened approximately 700,000 square kilometers of land to oil prospecting. Recent estimates by Australian-owned Baraka Petroleum, which leads the race for Malian oil, suggest that oil may be flowing by the barrel from Mali no later than 2008. For landlocked and poverty-stricken Mali, oil reserves could mean a considerable economic boost. With oil prospecting centered on Mali's politically fragile northern regions, many see a real opportunity for economic diversification, development and growth. At the same time, however, some have serious doubts about the economic viability of extracting oil and gas from Mali's isolated North and further fear that the discovery of oil could upset the already delicate balance between Mali's central government and the Tuareg populations of the North.

[link to www.cablegatesearch.net]

Other than gold, no other mineral commodity was produced in huge quantities in 2010. However, semiprecious stones such as epidote, garnet, amethyst, prehnite, and quartz were also produced. Diamond was found in small quantities while mining for gold.

Mali also has several other unexploited natural resources such as iron ore, lead, copper, nickel, manganese, bauxite, rutile, silver, talc, titanium, niobium, palladium, lithium, thorium, chromium, zirconium, marble, tungsten, and tin.

[link to www.azomining.com]

According to fresh reports, the northern part of Mali is found to be rich in oil and, importantly, contains a usable underground water ecosystem. It is worth bearing in mind that over the past few years, the UN International Law Commission was preoccupied with the theme of shared natural resources, with the focus on trans-boundary aquifers instead of traditional staples like energy or precious metals, and even drafted an international convention on the subject (8). The point is that in the case of Mali external players - who had no reasons to throw their support behind the separatists as long as those laid claims to desert lands holding no economic promise - may be attracted by the recently discovered key natural resources. The political approach was manifest in Sudan, which eventually had to say goodbye to its part containing oil reserves. If the analogy is viable, in the foreseeable future we will hear about the independence of “North Mali” (or even about some kind of “North Sudan”, considering that Mali used to be a piece of a country known as Western Sudan till 1960).
[link to www.strategic-culture.org]

this may help explain the situation more, as I was looking into if there was to be any Muslim brotherhood involvement in Mali I came across this:

After several recent battles, it appears the Islamic-oriented forces have temporarily defeated the MNLA. This is of grave concern to Mali’s neighbors as well as the U.S. and European countries because Ansar Dine is allied with al Qaeda-linked groups–such as the AQIM–which support other radical Islamic groups in the region. The efforts by radical Islamic groups across North Africa from Boko Haram in Nigeria to al-Shabab in Somalia to take advantage of the current political instability throughout the region are of concern to those who want secular regimes in North Africa. To this end, the United Nations Security Council and West African leaders are discussing possible military intervention as a means of diminishing the influence of the more militant Islamic groups.

[link to intevents.wordpress.com]