Africom and colonial plans in progress.


West African leaders agree to send 3,000 troops to wrest control of north Mali


By Rukmini CallimacHi,Yinka Ibukun, The Associated Press November 11, 2012 7:20 PM

LAGOS, Nigeria - West African nations on Sunday agreed to send some 3,000 troops to help the country of Mali wrest back control of its northern half, which was seized by al-Qaida-linked fighters more than six months ago, according to an official involved in the discussions, and a statement read on Nigerian state television.

The decision came late Sunday at the end of an emergency summit in Nigeria's capital of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS. They were joined by military experts from the United Nations, Europe as well as ministers from Algeria, Mali's neighbour to the north which has previously been against the military intervention. The plan needs final approval from the U.N. Security Council before it can be carried out.

An official involved in the negotiations said by telephone shortly after the meeting that the nations in West Africa are now unanimous in their decision to go forward with the military operation. He said that they will attempt one more round of negotiations with representatives of the Islamists controlling northern Mali, before moving ahead with the intervention.

"We have agreed that 3,300 troops will be sent from West Africa. In addition, around 5,000 Malian troops will also be involved. If there is no agreement in the talks, we will move in," said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.

The official said that the largest number of troops will come from Nigeria, which has agreed to send 600 to 700 soldiers, he said. Niger is expected to contribute around 500. And the remaining troops will come from the other 13 nations in the 15-nation ECOWAS bloc. Air power, he said, will be provided by either France or the United States.

Both France and the U.S. have said that the will provide technical and logistical support to the intervention, provided that it is first approved by the United Nations.

Mutinous soldiers overthrew Mali's democratically elected president in March, creating a power vacuum that paved the way for Islamists to grab the north, an area the size of France. In the more than six months since then, the Islamic extremists have imposed a strict form of Shariah law. Music of all kinds has been banned, and people are not even allowed to have a ring tone on their phones, unless it's one based on Quranic recitations. Women have been flogged for failing to cover themselves. And in all three of the major towns in the north, residents have been forced to watch thieves getting their hands hacked off.

The United Nations is expected to meet later this month to review the military plan. Security analysts and diplomats say that even if the deployment of troops to north Mali is approved by the U.N. it could take months to implement.

The official who spoke privately disagrees.

"As soon as they say it's OK, it won't take 24 hours for us to go. If the U.N. says go, we will move in immediately. They (the troops from ECOWAS) will be targeting the hardcore Islamists. Not the Malian nationals — but the foreigners," he said.

In recent weeks, representatives of Ansar Dine, one of the Islamic factions operating in the north, have sent delegations to Burkina Faso and to Algeria in an effort to negotiate a solution in order to avoid a military intervention. Ansar Dine is believed to be made-up mostly of Malian fighters, whereas the two other groups are said to be primarily composed of foreign fighters, some allegedly from as far afield as Pakistan. Mediators are hoping to weaken the Islamic rebel front by peeling off the more moderate members.

___

Associated Press writer Rukmini Callimachi contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/StateTV+West+African+leaders+agree+send+troops+wrest+control+north/7532465/story.html#ixzz2By8gGDvh

There is just no better alternative than to fight the Islamists otherwise Mali becomes a base to destabilize the entire West Africa region.
There is no point negotiating with them, move in and rout the Islamists once and for all.

Prof Corruption: There is just no better alternative than to fight the Islamists otherwise Mali becomes a base to destabilize the entire West Africa region.
There is no point negotiating with them, move in and rout the Islamists once and for all.

War is good business for those manufacturing and financing the sale of weapons. Don't forget, the international banking cartels make big profits on wars, and supply both sides of the conflict. Imagine the amount of western military companies that would go out of business if there was peace on earth. Europeans have learned to stop making war on each other but still export their war weapons to others in the world. And the U.S. is still an attack dog of the powers in Rome. How many centuries have we had the crusades now?

Afro_Blue:

War is good business for those manufacturing and financing the sale of weapons. Don't forget, the international banking cartels make big profits on wars, and supply both sides of the conflict. Imagine the amount of western military companies that would go out of business if there was peace on earth. Europeans have learned to stop making war on each other but still export their war weapons to others in the world. And the U.S. is still an attack dog of the powers in Rome. How many centuries have we had the crusades now?

War is bad but at times you go to war to bring lasting peace. Would you say Nigeria should not confront Boko Haram? Did the Islamists capture Northern Mali through peace initiatives ? Do you want people in the region to be living in perpetual fear with petty thieves having the misfortune of having their hands chop off?

War is part of humanity. War is as ageless as the world itself even before the advent of the so called international banking cartels. The imminent war in Mali is a good war. We should not allow Islamists to gain a foothold in any region in West Africa. There is nothing wrong if a country decides to adopt Sharia but it becomes dangerous if some folks (just like Boko Haram plans to do) just seize half of the entire country and force their barbarism on everyone.

Prof Corruption:

War is bad but at times you go to war to bring lasting peace. Would you say Nigeria should not confront Boko Haram? Did the Islamists capture Northern Mali through peace initiatives ? Do you want people in the region to be living in perpetual fear with petty thieves having the misfortune of having their hands chop off?

War is part of humanity. War is as ageless as the world itself even before the advent of the so called international banking cartels. The imminent war in Mali is a good war. We should not allow Islamists to gain a foothold in any region in West Africa. There is nothing wrong if a country decides to adopt Sharia but it becomes dangerous if some folks (just like Boko Haram plans to do) just seize half of the entire country and force their barbarism on everyone.

Should not Naija resources be put to protect Naija citizens on Naija soil first? I don't know for sure but I don't think there's an concrete connection between B.H. and the North Mali rebels. I've seen some online speculation that rich deposits of gold were discovered in Northern Mali.

Afro_Blue:

Should not Naija resources be put to protect Naija citizens on Naija soil first? I don't know for sure but I don't think there's an concrete connection between B.H. and the North Mali rebels. I've seen some online speculation that rich deposits of gold were discovered in Northern Mali.

Is the gold responsible for the virulent form of Sharia being visited on hapless Northern Malians without their consent and in defiance of the rest of the country? Leave speculation out of this.

You think there is no connection but intelligence communities believe otherwise. Even if there is no connection, you don't wait till when connection is established before you rout a potential disaster waiting to happen. Part of protecting Nigeria citizens is identifying impending danger and acting quickly to stop it. If they seize half of a country, then with time perhaps the whole country and who now says they can't seize the whole West Africa region?

Prof Corruption:

Is the gold responsible for the virulent form of Sharia being visited on hapless Northern Malians without their consent and in defiance of the rest of the country? Leave speculation out of this.

You think there is no connection but intelligence communities believe otherwise. Even if there is no connection, you don't wait till when connection is established before you rout a potential disaster waiting to happen. Part of protecting Nigeria citizens is identifying impending danger and acting quickly to stop it. If they seize half of a country, then with time perhaps the whole country and who now says they can't seize the whole West Africa region?

Western forces have been in Iraq and Afghanistan for roughly ten years and spent trillions of borrowed dollars from the banks in an effort to identify and route out impending danger to no avail. Point being, the powers that be function on perpetual wars and play offense and defense with their twisted wars games. I'm of the opinion that Nigerian troops should be deployed to route out the criminal element in Northern Nigeria before being exported to help others. My people say, what sane man protects his neighbors house before protecting his own?

RUBBISH!!!
Wat has the world been looking for 6month dat d islamist take over d place..
RUBBISH!!!

Prof Corruption:
Is the gold responsible for the virulent form of Sharia being visited on hapless Northern Malians without their consent and in defiance of the rest of the country? Leave speculation out of this.

You think there is no connection but intelligence communities believe otherwise. Even if there is no connection, you don't wait till when connection is established before you rout a potential disaster waiting to happen. Part of protecting Nigeria citizens is identifying impending danger and acting quickly to stop it. If they seize half of a country, then with time perhaps the whole country and who now says they can't seize the whole West Africa region?

Prof., what's in Mali for us? - bear in mind that Mali is a french quasi-state and with the large gold deposits recently discovered in Northern Mali, we shouldn't allow them use us to fight their dirty war... The Islamists running around Mali were also armed and trained by NATO in Libya - and we need to let them go after these people by themselves...

NATO knows who the Islamists are and a comprehensive autobiography of their leader was posted on the GuardianUK a couple of weeks ago... This isn't our war, France and NATO need to take the lead and leave Nigeria out of it...

if it is needed, then its a must

I just hope the ecowas troops take back northern mali from the rebels.

the irony

Afro_Blue:

Western forces have been in Iraq and Afghanistan for roughly ten years and spent trillions of borrowed dollars from the banks in an effort to identify and route out impending danger to no avail. Point being, the powers that be function on perpetual wars and play offense and defense with their twisted wars games. I'm of the opinion that Nigerian troops should be deployed to route out the criminal element in Northern Nigeria before being exported to help others. My people say, what sane man protects his neighbors house before protecting his own?

@ Afro Blue.......

Out of the 3000 troops that will be sent, Nigeria will only contribute 600. Let us be realistic, 600 troops Nigeria will contribute won't make any difference to our war on Boko Haram..... 600 troops coupled with the fact that France or America will provide Air support, is a nice initiative.

This ' what sane man protects his neighbours house' thing is hogwash.



@Shymexx..... In every situation, if Nigeria stays out and does nothing, there might be bigger implication on Nigeria, than there will ever be on France.

war.................makes me so sad.

shymexx:

Prof., what's in Mali for us? - bear in mind that Mali is a french quasi-state and with the large gold deposits recently discovered in Northern Mali, we shouldn't allow them use us to fight their dirty war... The Islamists running around Mali were also armed and trained by NATO in Libya - and we need to let them go after these people by themselves...

NATO knows who the Islamists are and a comprehensive autobiography of their leader was posted on the GuardianUK a couple of weeks ago... This isn't our war, France and NATO need to take the lead and leave Nigeria out of it...

Read somewhere that our own Boko Haram is connected to the Northern Islamists some of whom according to report are from Pakistan.

I that same report also said that Pres GEJ and NSA traveled to Mali. They spoke to the Mali President about the Intel.

Our soldiers may actually be there to do some special ops kinda thing

Our going there will serve two purposes. The must be routed out in order not to distabilise other west African nations like Nigeria. Secondly, they will serve as a training ground for our soldiers against boko haram.

How long would our troops be in Mali? We must have a withdraw time table for all this atleast to come and teach this boko boys a lil lesson for the embarrassmemnt meted out on Nigerian Military might.

after depolying our troops to Mali,we must ensure that our business organisations employing Nigerian graduates follow closely behind and are arwarded contracts and access to mineral resources by the Malian government.
I hope Abati has whispered something like this to GEJ

This article answered some questions, the Nigerian army are way too undisciplined for missions like these. They can't even handle their own people, people they understand. Talkless of foreign countries, they won't be made to do anything too sophisticated so we don't need to worry too much about their lives. *sigh of relief*

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/05/nigerian-army-mali-mission-delayed

queensmith: This article answered some questions, the Nigerian army are way too undisciplined for missions like these. They can't even handle their own people, people they understand. Talkless of foreign countries, they won't be made to do anything too sophisticated so we don't need to worry too much about their lives. *sigh of relief*

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/05/nigerian-army-mali-mission-delayed

I read the article
It lacks depth and appears to be built around rumours and condescending preconceived notions
passed of as rigorous analysis

Also, the authors profile doesnt seem to belly the skills needed for such miltary assessment

in fact, too much gaps in the article. Almost like a soft sell

[size=17pt]France To Send Drones To Mali [/size]

France will move surveillance drones to West Africa and is holding secretive talks with U.S. officials in Paris this week as it seeks to steer international military action to help Mali's feeble government win back the northern part of the country from al-Qaida-linked rebels, The Associated Press has learned.

France and the United Nations insist any invasion of Mali's north must be led by African troops. But France, which has six hostages in Mali and has citizens who have joined al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, is playing an increasing role behind the scenes.

[img]http://uas.noaa.gov/news/images/drone-seeks-secrets.jpg[/img]

Many in the West fear that northeast Mali and the arid Sahel region could become the new Afghanistan, a no-man's-land where extremists can train, impose hardline Islamic law and plot terror attacks abroad. And France, former colonial ruler to countries across the Sahel, is a prime target.

"This is actually a major threat — to French interests in the region, and to France itself," said Francois Heisbourg, an expert at the Foundation for Strategic Research, a partially state-funded think tank in Paris. "This is like Afghanistan 1996. This is like when Bin Laden found a place that was larger than France in which he could organize training camps, in which he could provide stable preparations for organizing far-flung terror attacks."

France is turning its attention to the Sahel just as it is accelerating its pullout of combat troops from Afghanistan ahead of other NATO allies.

A French defense official said Monday that France plans to move two surveillance drones to western Africa from Afghanistan by year-end, though he did not provide details. France is also reported to have special forces in the region around Mali, and to have contracted out surveillance of Mali to a private company.

Top-level American and French military leaders and diplomats, including U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson, began two days of talks in Paris on Monday on intelligence-gathering and security in the Sahel region, including Mali, diplomats from both sides told the AP.

The defense official and diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk publicly about the activities.

Source: http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2012/10/23/france-mali/

esere826:

I read the article
It lacks depth and appears to be built around rumours and condescending preconceived notions
passed of as rigorous analysis

Also, the authors profile doesnt seem to belly the skills needed for such miltary assessment

in fact, too much gaps in the article. Almost like a soft sell

I disagree with you, is it not the same Army shooting at Nigerian citizens sporadically? Murdering protesters? Is that discipline? A result of skilled military efforts? A demonstration of superior military training?

A journalist doesn't need his/her qualifications appraised to observe or report on that. The article doesn't at all seem far fetched, the Nigerian Army have shown us they can be indisciplined, if they can't deal with Nigerians I don't trust they can handle foreigners.

@queensmith
Our army has been know to serve comendably offshore
The writer even alluded to this by citing success stories of Nigeriaan military

They might be indisciplined in their internal fights alright
but the meaning of 'indisplined' in the two scenarios (onshore and offshore) are quite different
I think she erroneosly transposed the definition of one on another or somehow got it mixed up

The indisipline that she refers to seems to reflect a ragtag army, much like the Libyan rebels that where almost uncontrollable and disorganised because of lack of proper training
In Nigeria, when we say the military is indisciplined, we mainly refer to their disrespect for human rights (like you rightly noticed), and not their submission to military authority


As per the journalist skills (not qualification). I think this is extremely important
I won't expect a strong, rigorous media analysis of global military strategy from Dele Momodu of Ovation

queensmith: This article answered some questions, the Nigerian army are way too undisciplined for missions like these. They can't even handle their own people, people they understand. Talkless of foreign countries, they won't be made to do anything too sophisticated so we don't need to worry too much about their lives. *sigh of relief*

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/05/nigerian-army-mali-mission-delayed

Go and learn, research the Nigerian army before commenting because you're obviously ignorant. And you can take that Guardian report and wipe your asss with it.

ROSSIKE:

Oh shut up ignoramus. And you can take that Guardian report and wipe your asss with it.

No need for that my friend. She is only airing her views

^^^ Her views?? She should go and read and learn before airing illiterate views.

Every tom dicck and harry just wakes up to come online to rubbish Nigeria without conducting the most basic research into their topic, and we should be patient and nice with them? I think not.

esere826: @queensmith
Our army has been know to serve comendably offshore
The writer even alluded to this by citing success stories of Nigeriaan military

Its funny because thats the part I will have classed as the 'soft sell.

esere826: @queensmith
They might be indisciplined in their internal fights alright
but the meaning of 'indisplined' in the two scenarios (onshore and offshore) are quite different
I think she erroneosly transposed the definition of one on another or somehow got it mixed up

What exactly makes the meaning of indiscipline different? You have to explain further. What exactly suggests the Nigerian military's indiscipline is subject only within the nations borders?
Your argument of semantics is a weak one, I am yet to observe evidence of this at all, and the sources are indeed correct. Charity begins at home, if an army cannot be organised in its home how exactly will they thrive in (foreign) battle?

esere826:
The indisipline that she refers to seems to reflect a ragtag army, much like the Libyan rebels that where almost uncontrollable and disorganised because of lack of proper training
In Nigeria, when we say the military is indisciplined, we mainly refer to their disrespect for human rights (like you rightly noticed), and not their submission to military au

Right, so the Army is not indisciplined even though they have no regards for human rights because the meaning of indiscpline in Nigeria is different? WOW!
And lets not over flog the one word you seem not to understand, the article also mentioned the lack of skill and inability to carry out basic military manouvres, is this also subject within Nigeria alone? Or do they gain extra powers on leaving the country due to the absence of Kryptonite?

I'm not even surprised at the information given I don't trust the Nigerian government to make the much needed investments to correct things, the situation in Nigeria reflects this.

esere826: @queensmith
As per the journalist skills (not qualification). I think this is extremely important
I won't expect a strong, rigorous media analysis of global military strategy from Dele Momodu of Ovation

Of course you do, you don't agree with the journalist, hence the ad hominem in attacking her skills or qualifications, or warreva you feel she has and doesn't have.
It's not the first time these comments have been made and it certainly won't be the last.

ROSSIKE:

Go and learn, research the Nigerian army before commenting because you're obviously ignorant. And you can take that Guardian report and wipe your asss with it.

yes, this is certainly the enlightened educated views the argument clearly needed. Thank you for your contributions, has made soo much difference!

obo_man:
@Shymexx..... In every situation, if Nigeria stays out and does nothing, there might be bigger implication on Nigeria, than there will ever be on France.

What implication? - we just need to be proactive and watch our borders, period... If there were to be larger implications, Algeria would have been the right country to intervene(they have a well equipped and well trained military with vast experience in counter terrorism). Algeria is also closer to Mali than Nigeria is...

The question should be what is in there for Nigeria? Tired of seeing young Nigerian men and women going to fight wars in foreign countries and the government wasting the scarce resources to execute these peace-keeping jamboree - without any end game... We won the wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia - however, the Brits short-changed us, claimed the victory, and they have been benefiting from the huge resources in Sierra Leone since then... We were also instrumental in the separation of South Sudan and Sudan - what did we benefit from there? - the Americans claimed the victory...

Nigeria needs a well-defined foreign policy before embarking on such missions...

.

Whoever said the Nigerian military was incapable of basic manoeuvres? We've been fighting guerrilla warfare since the wars in Congo and more recently Liberia and Sierra Leone and our success rate beats that of the western powers you hold in high esteem.
Our leaders have made the right call sending troops to Mali and the best we can do is support them.

Ah ahnnnn just 3,000 troops?

ECOWAS, what happened to the 9,000 troops we discussed?

Naija has like over 170mils ppl, I'm sure that we can send atleast 10,000 troops nau, My naija ppl always stingy.