Mali Islamists seize town amid French intervention

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

Islamist fighters in Mali have seized a town in government-controlled territory amid a military intervention by France.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Diabaly, 400km (250 miles) from the capital, Bamako, was taken in a counter-attack on Monday.

Mr Le Drian insisted France's campaign was "developing favourably".

He said Islamists had retreated in the east but admitted French forces were facing a "difficult" situation against well-armed rebels in western areas.



Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21009368

[bemildred]

1. Hmm, the peasants are well-armed it seems.

Mali is near to Libya, isn't it?

[dipsydoodle]

2. Thought to be

Marzouki: Tunisia becoming arms corridor for Malian jihadists.

TUNIS - President Moncef Marzouki said on Saturday Tunisia was becoming a "corridor" for arms to Islamist militants in Mali, as the premiers of Algeria, Libya and Tunisia sealed a pact to secure their borders against arms trafficking.

"The situation in Mali has always worried us because we have begun to understand that our our jihadists, quote unquote, have ties with these terrorist forces," Marzouki told France 24 television on the eve of the second anniversary of his country's Arab Spring revolution.

"We have the impression that Tunisia is becoming a corridor for Libyan weapons to these regions," said Marzouki, whose country borders Libya but not Mali.

He was referring to arms from the arsenal of former Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi that he said are reaching Islamists in northern Mali via Tunisia and Algeria, the latter of which shares borders with Mali.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=56417

Source of arms is one thing : ability to fight is another and the northern Malians , the majority of who are Touregs , seem quite adept that.

[ellisonz]

3. Even in death, Gaddafi is a cancer upon Africa.

[Arctic Dave]

4. Funny how you blame one man but not the people who sold him all those weapons.

The MIC is a cancer upon the world. Fuck them all, from grunt on up.

[ellisonz]

5. Gaddafi's biggest arms suppliers were the Soviets/Russians

We obviously were not very friendly with those nations for OH AN ENTIRE FUCKING COLD WAR OF FIVE DECADES.

I'm still waiting for you to explain how:

President Obama is a "neocon" who wages war on entire regions and ethnicities (sic)."

Or do you just have a habit of making ridiculous statements and not defending them when challenged?

[Arctic Dave]

6. Look in your posts, I did.

And like I said, the MIC is the biggest problem for arms sales. The US is the biggest arms dealer in the world.

[ellisonz]

7. "The US is the biggest arms dealer in the world."

Lemme know when the weapon of choice in Third World conflict zones stops being the Kalashnikov and its variants and starts being the M-16.

[Arctic Dave]

8. LOL. You think that little piss-ant AK is anything compared to the

planes, missile systems, attack helicopters and armour we sell the world.

Every AK in the world doesn't add up to the military hardware we sell the Saudis or Israel.

[ellisonz]

9. MiG's, SA-Systems, Hinds and T-tanks...

...the predominant weapons in conflict zones are all Soviet/Soviet Bloc or PRC.

We sell a lot of weapons, but generally speaking, you won't find our weapons in places like northern Mali.

You can't pretend it's just the United States that creates conditions like these or exacerbates the suffering.

[Arctic Dave]

10. Not saying it is just the US.

But facts are facts, we are the biggest arms seller in the world.

The arms we are seeing here are part of the post Soviet Union arms sell-off. They were cheap and no questions asked. By the way, we helped with that also, it was our way of defanging the USSR.

[ellisonz]

11. "By the way, we helped with that also"

Link that establishes the United States intentionally assisted in or tolerated distribution of arms from the Soviet sphere post collapse to belligerent parties in conflict zones?

[Arctic Dave]

12. Are you serious?

You do realize there are agreements in place that restrict the trade of arms right?

When the USSR collapse we didn't give a rats butt were they went to. Why do you think it has been a priority to secure nuclear material for the lsat twenty years?


Google "arms trade treaties"

Here is the first of many links

[bemildred]

14. I notice in another thread that there doesn't seem to be anybody defending.

You can't stop a ground advance with a few jets. This doesn't have a good look to it, the initiative all seems to be with the rebels, and nobody seems to be in charge of the defense.

[dipsydoodle]

15. I noticed a news item on the subject earlier today

that the "rebels" were using about 15 pick up trucks. I've seen more than at one of our Rockabilly get togethers.

Part of the issue here, notwithstanding some of the appalling practices of the pro Sharia mob, is how much support they may have from the locals a lot of whom are pissed off with their government anyway.

[zellie]

16. Reminds me ...

Of what the Iman Chowdhury said..

(Paraphrasing)

You love life ... We love death.

[ellisonz]

17. The Tuaregs are only 10%

But they are a well-armed and trained 10%. The other 90% of Mali lives almost entirely in the south in areas that have not been overrun.

I have seen 0 evidence the "rebels" are representative of the other 90% of Mali.

[dipsydoodle]

18. They are the 10 % which occupy the northern region

They would've settled for separation. I refered to other part of Mali whose population are not patricularly enamoured with all farm land being appropriated. They may regard their enemy's enemy as being their friend.

[ellisonz]

19. The UN hasn't ruled out some sort of autonomy...

...but the world isn't going to accept an Al Qaeda run state and foreign military intervention only came when they started advancing to try and subjugate the other 90% of Mali.

[kelliekat44]

13. Here we go again!!! nt

[hughee99]

20. Wait, Mali doesn't have any oil, do they?

What's going on here?