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| Africa Subsaharan | ||
| US, France assemble coalition to confront Islamists in Mali | ||
| 2012-11-19 | ||
| The US and France are partnering to create the plan. High-level American and French military and diplomatic leaders met for two days of talks in Paris in October to work out a common strategy. The US and French military strategy focuses primarily on ways to help regional militaries confront AQIM. According to US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, "[o]ur goal in Mali, because of our concern about AQIM, is that we need to work with the nations in the region. They all agree that we're facing the same threat there from AQIM." US Army General Carter F. Ham, chief of the US Africa Command, said that there were no plans for US direct military intervention in Mali, but that the US would support counterterrorism and peacekeeping operations by other countries. France has also determined that it will not to provide ground troops but will provide logistics, training, and intelligence support. The plan contains the following elements: Assist neighboring countries to defend themselves. The US has provided money to Mauritania and Niger for military equipment. The US has held military exercises with Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Gambia. French troops have also participated. Gather intelligence. The US military has launched a series of clandestine intelligence missions to conduct surveillance flights and monitor communications over the Sahara Desert and the region to the south. The US is operating surveillance flights from Special Forces bases in Burkina Faso. France plans to transfer surveillance drones to west Africa by the end of the year. Establish a base in Algeria. The US and France are lobbying for support from Algeria, which would be an important ally in any confrontation with the Islamists in Mali. Algeria is the strongest state in the area, and it fought and won a brutal war with radical Islamic groups in the 1990s.
Create a UN military force to intervene directly in Mali. The primary effort will be to assemble a UN peacekeeping force to intervene militarily in Mali. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will develop a force consisting of 6,000 African troops, funded and supported by the Western nations. Half of the soldiers will come from Mali's national army, and the remaining half will be drawn from other African countries in the region. The US, France, and Britain will supply the training, logistics, and intelligence support. The headquarters will be set up in Koulikoro, about 30 miles northeast of Mali's capital of Bamako. ECOWAS has agreed to provide 3,300 troops, mostly from Nigeria, Niger, and Burkina Faso. The US and allied countries are currently working out the details of a plan with Mali's interim government. Mali said it welcomes the support. The final plan will be reviewed by the UN Security Council in mid-November, at which point it could be put into action. The first step will be to establish the base of operations in Koulikoro. Then ECOWAS soldiers will be trained, equipped, and integrated with Malian forces. This will take about six months, at which point the ECOWAS force will be ready to begin operations. Prognosis It should be noted that the planned ECOWAS force is similar to one created in Somalia to confront al Qaeda's affiliate, Shabaab. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) force of 16,000 Ugandan, Kenyan, and Burundian troops, supported and trained by the US, was formed in 2007. By 2012, it had successfully driven Shabaab out of most of the populated areas of Somalia. According to the plan, the ECOWAS force will begin operations in Mali sometime next year. Its first task will be to secure Mali's capital, Bamako, and southern Mali. It will then move to northern Mali to confront AQIM directly. ECOWAS will attempt to drive AQIM and affiliated jihadist groups out of strongholds in Timbuktu, Gao, and Kidal and into the mountain ranges of Mali and Niger where their influence can be contained. AQIM and associated groups are taking the threat of intervention seriously. "Hundreds of jihadists, mostly Africans from Western Sahara have arrived as reinforcements to face an offensive by Malian forces and their allies,"AFP reported, quoting a Malian security source. "They are armed and explained that they had come to help their Muslim brothers against the infidels," a Timbuktu resident said. AQIM has threatened to attack Mali's capital of Bamako if the ECOWAS force is set up. On the other hand, Ansar Dine recently stated that it is ready to open talks with the Malian government to prevent a conflict. Ansar Dine has also sent delegates to Algeria and Burkina Faso in order to head off intervention. "Ansar Dine reaffirms its availability to immediately engage in a political dialogue with the transition authorities in Mali, in order to reach a complete end to hostilities," the group said. MUJAO also has appeared to back away from the conflict. Its rank and file have begun to defect and its commander in Gao surrendered to authorities in Niger. Video embedded at site: Interview with US General Carter F. Ham discusses the plan to confront Islamists in Mali. | ||
| Posted by:Au Auric |
| #2 All coordinated by the Nobel Peace Prize winner* and his minions. * and world record holder in personally selected drone killings. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-11-19 09:07 |
| #1 I'm sure that the French Foreign Legion will be happy to reestablish a military base in Algeria. In effect, they will be coming "home". |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2012-11-19 07:59 |