Quote:
Originally Posted by Kavy
This is a pretty complicated topic, and as many people know; the French are spearheading this one, trying to halt the spread of the al qaeda.
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Yes, it is complicated and, like the Former Yugoslavia, often the truth is not what it appears in the mainstream media.
Let's examine the French motive. France:
a. was the first country to recognize the legitimacy of Libya's rebels who were allied with - or had ties to - al-Qaeda;
b. was the first country to recognize Syria's rebels, despite that the only effective rebel fighting force was/is Al Nusra, an ally of al-Qaeda;
c. now must intervene in Mali because there is a danger that al-Qaeda Islamists will over-run that strategic African country. Does that not seem rather a stretch?
The United States, incapable of allowing a military intervention to pass by without jumping on board, dutifully followed France in the Libya debacle, blowback from which was responsible for the re-igniting of the Touareg rebellion in Mali. France, with the US providing communication and drone power, now expands the Libya intervention to Mali in attempt to end the series of events it unleashed with the Libya intervention.
The Touareg rebellion, however, is not Islamist of the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) variety and in fact the Islamic connection may well be a convenient bit of propaganda by both the eager French government and the shaky and opportunistic political leadership in Bamako.
So what is really going on? What do the Touaregs have that is causing such stirring in France's colonial loins? France is dependent on nuclear power for 75 percent of its energy needs. The larger African region inhabited by the Touareg, including in particular Niger, contains tons and tons of that substance required for nuclear power: uranium.
The world's third largest uranium reserves, as well as substantial crude reserves, are located in Toureg territory. The French mining company, Areva, lost its mining rights in Niger; they cannot afford to lose Mali.
But the insanity of the "war on terror" is that whenever a naked resource grab or land grab needs a bit of cover, one only need scream "Islamists", "terrorism" or "Al Qaeda" and the Western world jumps into action while the propagandized citizens scream for blood.