France invaded Mali, with a scotched earth policy –on the pretext of an invitation from the government of Mali– but actually under the “Pacte Coloniale” which allows Paris to invade any of its former colonies.
The truth of the matter is that –that there was no invitation. The comedy of errors actually pales the Soviet Union’s fig leaf for invading Afghanistan. At least in that case there was semblance of truth which actually showed the existence of an invite!
Paris’ blatant invasion of Mali is indeed a blatant invasion and will end in the same manner as the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In fact all major US and world newspapers are filled with the Afghan analogy. Mali is being called “France’s Afghanistan”.
As the French gendarmes appeared the ancient town’s “maze of mud-walled mosques and sand-blown streets was deserted”. Rebel fighters from of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) that had taken over Timbuktu in 2012 in a well thought strategy –simply withdrew, to fight another day.
The military intervention in Northern Mali, began on Jan. 11 with air strikes against the so-called “Islamist camps” is now moving closer to the capital city of Bamako. Like all guerrilla armies, the rebels have dissipated and dissolved into the countryside. It is the age old tactic espoused by Mao which goes something like this–”when they attack, we retreat; when they occupy, we harass; when they retreat, occupy –till the paper tigers are vanquished”.
Already the propaganda wars against the AQIM had begun with claims and counter claims on who had burnt the ancient libraries. The AQIM has ruled the city for months and did not harm the relics. Within 24 hours of the French arrival the manuscripts were up in flames.
In the forties every major European power had their own East India Company. The French had theirs, the Dutch had theirs, the Swedes had theirs, the Portuguese had theirs and so on and so forth.
The British “India” was East South Asia. The Duth “India” was Indo-nesia. The French “India” was Indo-China etc etc.
The French had been clever in what it used to call “French India” (Indo-China) or what the world got I know as Vietnam. Instead of fighting the war it transferred the Beatles to America–which got stuck in the quagmire.
While the French are insisting that there is was an invitation, diplomats in UN corridors are confused.
The confusion stems from the French ambassador Gerard Araud’s insistence that his government was responding to a request from the Interim-Malian government for assistance, under Chapter 51 of the UN Charter. The Article states that “there shall be an inherent right of collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the UN, until the Security Council has taken measures to maintain international peace and security.”
As the invading troops numbering more than 2500 moved forward towards the he town’s maze of mud-walled mosques they found the sand-blown streets deserted. Fighters from al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) that took Timbuktu last summer appeared to have left.
When France invaded Egypt, Napoleon declared that “we have come here as liberators not and conquerors.
Similar bluster from Paris accompanied the invasion. President Francois said that his government was determined to end “Islamist” domination in Northern Mali an liberate the land. Paris justified the invasion by saying that France feared the use of the territory as a base for attacks against the West.
In a sentence –Neocolonialism at its best.
A token number of troops from Niger, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal making up some insignificant “organization” like the Economic Community of West African States would give it a flavor of liberation.
The African Union will surely fallow suit–all for a few Dirhams. The AU did not come to the rescue of its chief patron, Mr. Qaddafi. His eulogies of Obama did not save his life.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the truth. “Key interests were at stake for us, for Africa, for Europe—so we had to act quickly.” Those key interest were spelt as Uranium.
Uranium is France’s key energy resource, according to the World Nuclear Association, “with 75 percent of the European nation’s electricity being produced from nuclear energy, which explains French dependency on uranium.”
Now we know why France invaded Mail-again! Everything else is an eye-wash.
It is a well known fact that beneath the deserts in Northern Mali and Eastern Niger, exists the world’s third largest uranium reserves and a substantial oil reserves. This territory is exclusively owned by the nomadic Tuareg tribes,.
The French are there to dispossess them of their wealth. It is pure unadulterated theft.
For 40-years the French company Areva had exclusive rights to uranium exploitation in Niger, until recently.
The government of Niger has recently issued permits to China, India, Britain, South Africa, the U.S., Canada and Australia to explore for uranium and oil.
An incensed France cannot afford to lose the uranium reserves in Mali. So the “threat” has been manufactured to justify the invasion.
The China factor.
The Independent, a British publication, stated on Jan. 15 “that China has given millions ‘as a gift’ to the Malian people to raise their standard of living.” The China Times revealed that Mali and China signed three agreements worth $117.7 million. Beijing will be building a hydro-electric dam in Taoussa, located in the region of Gao in northern Mali, allegedly under Islamic control.
China is involved in various development projects in Mali such dealing with industrialization, health, agriculture, education, security, communications and infrastructure.
“The Mbendi Information Service reported in 2010 that several companies had been granted permission to explore for uranium in the Falea and Gao regions by the administration of former Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was mysteriously ousted from office in March 2012 by junior Army officers a month before he was to step down.”
The uranium potential in the Gao region is thought to be 200 tons, while the Falea-North Guinea basin’s potential is thought to be 5,000 tons. France wants all of this for itself.
Not to be outdone, the US has decides to setup a drone base in Niger.
“The French don’t need a letter to intervene in their former colonies because of the accords they forced on them before granting independence; and these accords have not been re-worked,” Dr. Jeffries, world renowned scholar on Africa.
For half a century “France has maintained a neo-colonial relationship known as “Pacte Coloniale” that gave France control of components of the new African states, including their economies and military institutions, Dr. Jeffries said. ‘Paris has cultivated the dependency of their former colonies by hand-picking weak regimes that gave them access to resources,’ he added”.
“Pacte Coloniale” is the reason Paris can invade any of its former colonies with impunity. The Islamic threat is just an excuse.
