Chongaiman: Let Mr. Louis have his say and the majority, its way. He pretends not to know that national interest lies at the heart of international diplomacy. Left to him, the oppressive goverments that were swept away by the Arab Spring should have been left in place (even against the wishes of the majority of the people). Therein lies his interest - the people could go to hell so long as no Islamist regime was in place. Whatever happened to "Vox populi, vox Dei"? He is even working against his interests here as the intervention this time is against an Islamist group.

He then continues with half-truths and conjectures. Apart from Libya, were there any overt Western interventions in the Arab Spring? In pursuance of its interests, the West was ready to take a chance with a possible Islamist government in Libya rather than Ghaddafi. Ghaddafi had it coming. He was like Nze the bird which challenged its chi to a duel, after eating to its satisfaction. Mr. Louis wants us to believe that 9/11 was a false-flag operation. Is he the one to determine the legitimacy of the Malian presidency for the world? From the relative safety of Belgium, he could afford to downplay the Malian crisis. He very well knows his opinion would not stand up to proper scrutiny hence his digression through the use of Sagamite's favourite word low class speech and obsession with the French president's choice of words about destroying the Malian Islamists.

~Bluetooth:


The militants are spreading towards the south to take over the country.where you expecting such to happen before france wakes up from her slumber ?

Orikinla:

GEJ's decision to send our innocent soldiers to Mali was from the Oval Office.

Ngwakwe(m): 9:41am What is happening in Mali is a war by two colonial masters on the indigeneous Africans.

Islamists are Arabs trying to colonize Africans and then their rivalry the West rose up in arms against them.

aurenflani:

You are nothing but a religious bigot and brainwashed western media dog attempting to pose as an intellectual with ability to make analysis on international politics but as always with your kind, you have failed. Your types are a serious disgrace to fairness and truth.

Dede1: Africans are lazy, sentimental and deluded bunch of scallywags. It does not take a Belgian MP Laurent Louis to realize that the debacle in Mali is international neo-colonial plot. Any African who is afraid to deconstruct the 1884 European partition of Africa does not deserve a liter of air.

otokx: The truth is always bitter, did GEJ stop to think what we are to gain in MALI? At least in Sierra Leone we have aviation and finance companies trying to do do something. What can we gain by going to a french speaking country?

Orikinla: Nigeria is actively involved in the war in Mali and President Goodluck Jonathan has linked the Boko Haram to why Nigerian soldiers are fighting in Mali. But majority of Nigerians are ignorant of the facts. And it is interesting to read the following critical analysis of the Malian crisis by Belgian MP Laurent Louis who said he stands against war in Mali and exposes the international neo-colonial plot.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkzXTgslFNE

Full transcript follows.

Belgian MP LAURENT LOUIS: Thank you, Mr President. Dear Ministers, dear Colleagues.

Belgium is indeed the land of surrealism. This morning we learned in the media that the Belgian army is incapable of fighting some extremist soldiers having radical Islamist beliefs existing within its own ranks and who can not be dismissed by lack of legal means. However, at the same time, we decide to help France in its war against “Terror” by providing logistical support for its operation in Mali. What wouldn’t we do in order to fight against terrorism outside our borders?

I just hope we took care not to send for this anti-terrorist operation, in Mali, these much talked about Belgian Islamists soldiers! I seem to be joking, but what is going on in the world today does not make me laugh at all. It doesn’t make me laugh, because without any doubt, the leaders of our Western countries are taking the peoples for imbeciles with the help and support of the Media which are nothing more today than an organ of propaganda of the ruling powers.

Around the world, military actions and regime’s destabilization are becoming more and more frequent. Preventive war has become the rule. And today, in the name of democracy and the fight against terrorism, our states grant themselves the right to violate the sovereignty of independent countries and to overthrow legitimate leaders.

There has been Iraq and Afghanistan, the wars of the American lie. Came later, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, where thanks to your decisions, our country has been “first in line” to participate in crimes against humanity, in each case to overthrow progressive and moderated regimes and to replace them by Islamist regimes, and – isn’t it weird ? – their 1st will was to impose Sharia law.

This is exactly what is currently happening in Syria where Belgium is shamefully funding the arming of the Islamist rebels who are trying to overthrow Bashar Al Assad. Thus, in the midst of economic crisis, as more and more Belgians can no longer house themselves, feed, heat and cure themselves – Yeah, I can hear what a filthy populist I am – well, the Minister of Foreign Affairs decided to offer the Syrian rebels 9 million euros!

Of course, they’ll try to make us believe that this money will be used for humanitarian purposes … one more lie! And as you can see, for months, our country is only participating to put in place, Islamic regimes in North Africa and the Middle East. So, when they come and pretend to go to war in order to fight against terrorism in Mali, well… I feel like to laugh.

It’s false! Under the appearance of good actions, we only intervene to defend financial interests in a complete neo-colonialist mindset. It’s a real nonsense to go to help France in Mali in the name of the fight against islamic terrorism when at the same time, we support in Syria the overthrow of Bashar al- Assad by Islamist rebels who want to impose Sharia Law, as was done in Tunisia and in Libya It is about time to stop lying to us and treating people like imbeciles

The time has come to tell the truth. Arming the Islamist Rebels, as Westeners have, in the past armed Bin Laden, that friend of the Americans before they turned against him, well, the western countries are taking the opportunity to place military bases in the newly conquered countries while favoring domestic companies. Everything is therefore strategic. In Iraq, our American allies, have put their hands on the country’s oil wealth. In Afghanistan, it was its opium and drugs always useful when it comes to make lots of money pretty quickly.

In Libya, in Tunisia, in Egypt, or then again in Syria, the aim was and is still today to overthrow moderate powers, to replace them by Islamist powers who very quickly, will become troublesome and that we will shamelessly attack pretending once again, to fight terrorism or protect Israel.

Thus, the next targets are already known. Within a few months, I bet that our eyes will turn to Algeria and eventually to Iran. To go to war, to free people from an outside aggressor, is noble But go to war to defend the interests of the USA, To go to war to defend the interests of big companies such as AREVA, go to war to put our hands on gold mines, has nothing noble at all and it reveals our countries to be attackers and thugs!

No one dares to speak, but I will not shut up! and if my battle makes me look like an enemy of this system who flaunts the Human Rights in the name of financial, geo-strategic and neo-colonialist interests, so be it! Flaunting and exposing this regime is a duty and makes me proud And honestly, I apology for my low class speech, but I Bleep you all, the so-called do-gooders, both left and right wingers or from the center who are today licking the boots of our corrupted powers and who will be pleased to ridicule me.

I Bleep you all, leaders who are playing with your bombs as kids do in a playground!

I Bleep you, you who pretend to be democrates while you are nothing more than low class criminals. I don’t have much respect neither for the journalists who have the audacity to label the opponents as mentally retarded while basically, they know very well that these opponents are right.

Finaly, I despise, at the highest point, those who believe they are the kings of the world and who are dictating their laws, because I AM on the side of truth, the side of justice, the side of the innocent victims of looting at all cost. And it is for this reason that I have decided to clearly oppose this resolution that is sending our country to support France in its neo-colonialis operation.

Since the beginning of the French operation, the lie is organized. We are told that France is only answering the call for help of a Malian president. We almost forget that this president has no legitimacy and that he was put in place to ensure the transition following the coup of March 2012.

Who supported this coup d’état? Who started it? For who is this president of transition actually working? This is the first lie! The French president, François Hollande dares to pretend to wage this war to fight against the jihadists who threaten (ohhhh do you realize!) who threaten the French and European territory! But what an ugly lie!

By taking this official argument, while taking the opportunity to frighten the population increasing the terror allert level, implementing the Vigipirate plan our leaders and media are demonstrating an un-imaginable outrage! How dare they use such a point while France and Belgium have not hesitated to arm and support Jihadists in Libya and that these same countries continue to support these jihadists in Syria.

This pretext hides strategic and economic purposes. Our countries are no longer fearing inconsistency because everything is done to hide it. But the inconsistency is well present. It is not tomorrow that you’ll see a Malian citizen commit a act of terrorism in Europe. No! Unless we’ll suddenly create one so we can justify this military operation.

Haven’t we created september 11th, after all, to justifiy the invasions, arbitrary arrest, torture and massacre of innocent populations? Thus, create a Malian terrorist is no big deal! It must not be very complicated for our bloodthirsty leaders. Another pretext used these recent months to justify military operations, is the protection of human rights.

Ah! This pretext is still used today to justify the war in Mali. But yes! We have to act, otherwise the evil Islamists will impose Sharia law in Mali, stoning women and cutting the thugs’ hands off. Oh! The intention is truly noble. Noble and salutary for sure.

But then why is it, Good Lord, why is it that our countries have contributed in Tunisia and Libya to the accession to power of Islamists who have decided to apply this Sharia Law in these countries which were still not so long ago, modern and progressive? I invite you to ask the young Tunisians who have launched the revolution in Tunisia, if they are happy with their current situation? This is all hypocrisy. The purpose of this war in Mali is very clear.

And since no one talks about it, I WILL. The purpose is to fight against China and allow our American ally to maintain its presence in Africa and the Middle East. This is what guides these neo-colonialists operations. And you will see, when the military operation will be over, France will, of course, keep its military bases in Mali.

These bases will be a benefit to the Americans as well. And at the same time, as has always been the case, Western corporates will put their hands on juicy contracts that will once again deprive re- colonized countries of their wealth and raw materials. So let’s be clear, the primary beneficiaries of this military operation, will be the owners and shareholders of the French giant AREVA who has been trying for years to obtain a uranium mine in Falea, a town of 17,000 inhabitants located at 350 km from Bamako.

And I don’t know why, but my little finger is telling me that it won’t take long before AREVA will eventually exploit that mine! I don’t know, it’s an impression I have. It is therefore out of question that I would take part to this mining colonialism, that modern times colonialism. And for those who doubt about my arguments, I sincerely invite them to learn about the wealth of Mali.

Mali is a major producer of gold, but recently it has been designated – recently, eh….- as being a country that offers a world-class environment for the exploitation of uranium. How strange! One step closer to a war against Iran, it is obvious. For all these reasons and in order to not fall into the traps of lies they are tending us, I’ve decided not to give my support to that intervention in Mali.

Therefore, I will vote against it.

And by doing so, I’m being consistent since, I never supported in the past our criminal interventions in Libya or in Syria, and so being the only MP in this country to defend the non-interference and the fight against obscure interests. I really think it is about time to put an end to our participation to the UN or NATO and get out of the EU if Europe, instead of providing peace becomes a weapon of attack and destabilization of sovereign countries submissive to financial rather than human interests

Finally, I can only urge our government to remind the President Hollande the obligations resulting from the Geneva Conventions regarding the respect of prisoners of war. Indeed, I was shocked to hear on television from the mouth of the French President that his intention was to “destroy” – I say “destroy” – Islamist terrorists.

So, I do not want the qualification to be used to name the opponents to the Malian regime – it is always convenient today to talk about Islamic terrorists- to be used to circumvent the obligations of any democratic state in terms of respecting the rights of prisoners of war. We expect such a respect from the Fatherland of Human Rights.

In conclusion, Let me emphasize how lightly we decide to go to war. First, the government acts without any consent from the Parliament. It appears that it has the right to. It sends equipment, men to Mali

The Parliament subsequently reacts and when it responds, as today, well, this institution happens to be composed of only 1/3 of its members.

Much less if we speak of the French speaking MP’s. It is therefore a guilty lightness which does not really surprises me, coming from a Parliament of puppies, submitted to the dictates of political parties. Thank you.

(Translation: Geraldine Feuillien)

Shalomé: The opinion of a Random belgiam,i dont give 2 f.uc.ks about that? The politicking of the West,european powers,the arab world and china is hard to Comphrehend. We are being fed propaganda,an islamist would fueled by the propaganda he listens to in aljazeera while a supporter of the west will feed on the Cnn and bbc progaganda.

alj harem:

Why and why and why must we fight anyone ? Why not join in, I thank God for likes of IBB, OBJ, ADE AND DANJUMA in Nigeria if not we would not be different from all other countries in this so called africa.

The way I see it is that Nigeria should be the actual giant of africa by doing what the westerners are doing to other african countries.

Yes Nigeria needs to attain that statues like them fast. Ibb and Obj saw this and that is why they make some international policies which has helped some elite Nigerians and very very few of the populist but at least we are getting there.

~Bluetooth:
From slavery - colonization - humanitarian service . . . . . .they are all instruments/legacies of capitalism and capitalism can only function in a democracy.Solve the puzzle for yourself.

Raymondenyi: This foolishh guy called louis is very lucky we re in a democratic setting else I would hv clamoured 4 his immediate execution. How can dis fool claim 2 be enlightened n come here 2 say absolute rubbishe 2 d world!!! I feel like bringing him nd beating d daylight out of him! Animal, God will surely purnish yu whereever u re!!! He will mek sure u ceee excrutiating agony in its raw form, foooooooooooollll

Lovine: When Nigeria intervene we talk when they fail to intervene we talk what is wrong with us? We always criticize the West and still without them we can't live. We applaud China and Russia on the atrocities going on in Syria, God help us. We always bring religion in everything. So it is better that these disgruntled elements killed everyone in Mali just because of what they erroneously believe. Let's rethink lest it befall us.

vedaxcool:
Anyway, have you asked the west why didn't they intervene in Rwanda (900,000) christians died as a result!

In congo (ra.pe capital of the world and continued violence amongst christians) why did west intervene - this is ongoing

Uganda children are abducted and forced into child soldiers by the Lord Resistance Army what have the west done?

This stench of hypocrisy! I fully support Nigeria involvement in fighting the Malian rebels

take dat: The situation in Mali is that where the Islamist control(Northern Mali) have no mineral deposits. The uranium and gold mining operation in Mali are carried out in Southern and Western Mali which are nowhere Near the Conflict zone and these mining operation are carried out by multi-national companies. So what other interest do they(West) still need to protect through militarism since their investments in Mali is unaffected for now just like in Nigeria!

Zeddicus: Whilst not dismissing the sentiments of this man, this is no different from the rantings of a conspiracy theorist teenager typing out crap behind his keyboard. So 9/11 was staged? Tell me more..

AlterEgo™:

If you think 9/11 was a terrorist attack on the United States, then you probably think Saddam had WMDs

[b]Imperialism plans “decades of war” in Africa
23 January 2013
The French intervention in Mali, followed by the bloody siege in Algeria, represents a turning point in what has emerged as a new imperialist scramble for Africa. With these events, following on the heels of the US-NATO war for regime-change in Libya and the Washington-backed sectarian civil war in Syria, mankind is witnessing a convulsive drive by the major powers to re-divide the world, its territories, markets and resources.
There is every reason to believe that this campaign to re-colonize much of the planet will be even bloodier and more oppressive than the original colonization of Africa.
As in the Libyan war, France has taken the lead in unleashing fighter bombers and deploying its dogs of war, the French Foreign Legion, in Mali. However, the other major imperialist powers have made it clear that they will not remain on the sidelines.
Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron vowed that the UK will “work with others to close down the ungoverned space” in northwest Africa “with all the means that we have.” Terming the developments in Mali and neighboring countries a “global threat,” Cameron declared they would “require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months.”
The Obama administration initially adopted a cautious approach to the Mali events, no doubt out of concern that it could end up helping an imperialist competitor and undercut its own predatory aims in Africa. However, with the Algerian hostage crisis, which claimed the lives of at least 80 people, including three Americans, Washington has made it clear it intends to intervene aggressively.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta commented last Friday: “We have a responsibility to go after Al Qaeda wherever they are. And we’ve gone after them in the FATA (Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas). We’re going after them in Yemen and Somalia. And we have a responsibility to make sure that Al Qaeda does not establish a base for operations in North Africa and Mali.”
The message was unmistakable. Mali and the region are to be turned into a new front in the global US killing spree, to be carried out in the first instance with Predator drones and Hellfire missiles.
The US has also announced that it is sending US Special Forces troops as “trainers” and “advisors” to the six countries—Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Togo and Ghana—which are to provide the troops for an African force being cobbled together by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a proxy for imperialist intervention. It will also provide aircraft to deliver them to Mali.
So much for Obama’s inauguration rhetoric. “A decade of war is now ending,” he declared Monday, just a day after Cameron’s warning that decades of war in Africa have only just begun.
We have entered a period when each new war only begets the next: Libya, Syria and now Mali in the space of less than two years.
The connection between them is rarely recognized in the media, which breathlessly reports each new crisis, from the fighting in Mali to the hostage drama at the gas complex in Algeria, as if it were a senseless outrage explicable only as part of the unfolding battle between good and evil known as the global war on terrorism.
The word “blowback” is not to be uttered in the polite company of network news. Yet this is precisely what is involved. The US-NATO war for regime-change in Libya destabilized the entire region. It had the effect of sending Tuaregs, many of whom who had served in Gaddafi’s security forces, fleeing back into Mali under conditions in which Libya’s NATO-backed “revolutionaries” were hunting down and murdering people with black skins.
The Tuaregs, a nomadic people of the Sahel, the region on the edge of the Sahara desert, are to be found in northern Mali as well as Niger, Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Burkina Faso.
In Mali, oppression and neglect by the central government led to four major revolts since independence in 1960. Similar revolts took place in neighboring Niger. The arrival of Tuaregs from Libya, together with large quantities of Libyan weapons, triggered the latest revolt, which was swelled by the wholesale defection of Tuareg troops and officers from the Mali army.
The secular Tuareg nationalists, however, were quickly supplanted by better armed and funded Islamist forces. Immensely strengthened by the US-NATO war in Libya, where they were armed and backed by Washington as proxy ground forces against Gaddafi, they are now being similarly armed and funded as shock troops in the war for regime-change in Syria. It has become impossible to understand US policy in the Middle East and Africa without recognizing that Washington operates in a de facto alliance with Al Qaeda-linked forces.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the new “war on terror” bogey man, is, like its predecessor in Afghanistan, a Frankenstein monster of Western imperialism. It emerged from forces that had traveled to Afghanistan with US support to fight the Soviet-backed regime in Kabul in the 1980s, and then returned home to fight the bloody Algerian civil war of the 1990s, when US and French imperialism backed the Algerian military in seizing power to prevent the election of the Islamic Salvation Front. In the repression that followed, over 100,000 Algerians were killed.
The Algerian government has charged that AQIM, like the US-backed “rebels” in Syria, is funded by Washington’s key ally, the Gulf sheikdom of Qatar. And before the present conflict, it was well known that AQIM and similar groups enjoyed the tacit approval of Mali’s US and French-backed central government, which saw the Islamists as a useful counterweight to the Tuaregs.
Now we are asked to believe that this same force has become a “global” threat that may at any moment attack “the homeland.”
The escalating war in Africa is neither about terror nor Al Qaeda. Time magazine succinctly outlined the real motives in Mali: “The dangers expand elsewhere, with huge oil reserves attracting Western companies to set up production across the vast Sahel. South of Algeria and Mali sits Niger, a dirt-poor desert country with the world’s fourth largest output of uranium, which supplies France’s crucial network of nuclear-power stations. East of Algeria is Libya, where a number of Western companies exploit some of Africa’s biggest oil reserves.”
US imperialism and the European powers that formerly colonized Africa are determined to lay hold of these resources. Having been supplanted by China as Africa’s single largest trading partner, and badly trailing Beijing in terms of growth in foreign direct investment, Washington and the European powers are turning to military intervention as a means of offsetting economic decline.
As with the inter-imperialist rivalries generated by the scramble for Africa over a century ago, the present conflicts over domination of the continent point toward the eruption of a new world war.
Bill Van Auken
[/b]

igbsam: Africans are just a bunch of mofos who goes about licking the A55 of the westerners. I knew something wasn't right about the Malian war. This is an eye opener and a revealing fact. The westerners only use the excuse of islamist terrorist to gain access into the troubled zone in africa. They are here to exploit our motherland africa and the black man are so blind not to see it. Just the way they did with the asians (vietnam, thailand, myanmar to mention a few) Its time we need to wisen up africa and look beyond our nose. Africa has great wealth and this whites are here to claim them. We need not to sell out.

cap28:

Sadly many of us are still living in a dream world, many nigerians are going to have a very harsh awakening when this US/EU invasion moves into full swing, i pity all these brainwashed nigerians who still think US/EU are their friends and allies.

f i o: i keep saying this, cold war between east and west is like a chess game....and we africans are the pawns

AlterEgo™:

I'm not sure I understand the point of your post, but incase you missed the point in mine, what I'm saying to the guy who who thinks the MP was ptyalising bollocks when he said 9/11 was staged is that 9/11 was concretely staged by the US!

cap28: I wonder whether china are going to continue to fold their hands and allow US/EU to kick them out of africa without a fight. I was suprised at the way they allowed US, france and britain to force them out of Libya by overthrowing Qadaffi - it was this kind of scenario that resulted in Japan attacking the United States (Pearl Harbour) - provocation and blocking of Japanese acccess to oil in sovereign nations.

manny4life:

Well, if they keep silent now, what does that tell you? How else do you want them to fight?

I guess after all U.S. still has greater political influence than any other state.... Same argument I was having with Mr. Bluetooth.

cap28:

There are many weapons china can use against the US - but the biggest weapon they have at the moment is their position as america's biggest creditor - china holds over ver $1 trillion of US treasury bonds, if they want to mess america up big time all they need to do is demand repayment of this debt (knowing full well that america is bankrupt) and at the same time start getting rid of all their US dollar denominated assets this will trigger the immediate collapse of the US dollar as other countries will rush to offload the dollar as well as its value starts to plummet. I beleive that sooner or later China will attack them using this method because there is no way they are going to sit back and watch while europe and america locks them out of africa.

cap28:

There are many weapons china can use against the US - but the biggest weapon they have at the moment is their position as america's biggest creditor - china holds over ver $1 trillion of US treasury bonds, if they want to mess america up big time all they need to do is demand repayment of this debt (knowing full well that america is bankrupt) and at the same time start getting rid of all their US dollar denominated assets this will trigger the immediate collapse of the US dollar as other countries will rush to offload the dollar as well as its value starts to plummet. I beleive that sooner or later China will attack them using this method because there is no way they are going to sit back and watch while europe and america locks them out of africa.