Mali mainly, 2012 coup, drugs & more

[davidbfpo]

An update on the situation in the Sahel, with the focal point being Mali, where the crime-terror links is reported as thriving - drugs and kidnapping - with AQIM cooperating with local tribes: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010..._r=1&ref=world

[davidbfpo]

For two (unread) papers on AQIM, hat tip to the website too:http://www.jihadica.com/new-aqim-reports/#comments

[M-A Lagrange]

After 2 unsuccessful operations in sahara by the mauritanian and french special forces to liberate the French hostage (78 years old with heart problems) at the Mali border, AQ in Magreb annonce his execution.

Otage d'Al-Qaïda: Nicolas Sarkozy confirme la mort de Michel Germaneau
http://fr.news.yahoo.com/3/20100726/...y-1be00ca.html
(sorry the link is in French but I believe you can find links in english)

Some are wondering if there is a change in French doctrine on hostage management. I believe there is a change of doctrine in the hostage taker (a change of nature) rather than a change of French doctrine.
AQ in Magreb has shown how courageous they are: they take hostage an old man with heart disease and treated him like ####.
But the problematic remains and is expending in this part of Africa.

[davidbfpo]

From the BBC:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-10765891

Opens with:

Islamist militants in the Sahara Desert are exploiting differences between neighbouring countries to continue to roam around the lawless region unhindered.

The killing of French hostage Michel Germaneau by al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and the continued threat to other hostages still being held, has cast these differences into sharp relief.

[SlimRickins]

from what i've been reading and hearing Western Africa is the next global hot spot.

[ocnus]

Blaise Campaore is a major figure in the drugs business. See:

http://www.ocnus.net/artman2/publish...Perverse.shtml

[Stan]

Blaise Campaore is a major figure in the drugs business. See:

http://www.ocnus.net/artman2/publish...Perverse.shtml

While I don't completely agree with all the "Al Qaida in the blood diamond business" as there is more than sufficient evidence that they were all but last to discover what we did in the 60s on the Dark Continent, I do agree with some of your sentiments below:

Words cannot express the utter stupidity and self-destructiveness of US policy in allying itself to the rabble of Ouattara and his friends. What government in Africa will ever trust or deal openly with such a maniacal formulation of national interest on the part of the US.

The USG is culturally challenged and refuses to use or even consult with her military leaders. Trust is not a word used in Africa (anywhere).

The US is at war in Africa. To win, or survive, requires helping one's friends and punishing one's enemies. What imp of the perverse can have gotten things so wrong; and so often?

I disagree. We are not at war in Africa. We are chasing purported Al Qaida at the whim and will of our administration. We reported on these so-called blood diamonds over two decades ago and even then, no one was listening. I'm of the opinion we cannot determine our friends and enemies in Africa because we have neither and our administration is culturally challenged.