Gold Digging: Will Mali be Obama’s Afghanistan?

When I think of Mali, or any part of West Africa, I often say to myself, I had a ball when I was there in 1992 and 1993. At the time I was living in Owerri, in Southeastern Nigeria. And if you have ever seen the Sahel, what sticks out from a geo-political locution is that it runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.

But the country, inclusive of the history of the Dogon and those who inhabit the Mopti river region of that great historic place, may be the location of America’s next war of western imperialism and neocolonial fervor. To top it all off, it will be carried out via the instruction of the first African America President in the history of the United States.

It seems that Obama drone wars will have to find a new country to target since the US will be ending its occupation of Afghanistan soon. And since the Administration’s war on terror has not ended, the obvious next place to send US and UN troops is Africa, specifically Mali. Now I know we have US troops in the Congo, Uganda, Somalia and several other nations, but I have an inclination that Obama will be in this West African nation soon.

All of this would have been unnecessary if the administration had not taken the actions via the UN it did in Libya. In fact, Mali was a stable democracy for the last few decades until we destabilized. Not only did it lead to arms from Libya flooding the northern region of the nation, it also leads to the influx of al-Qaeda affiliated Islamists in the North.

Some would say that I am making this entire up. However, I would say that they have not been reading or paying attention or worse, they do know evaluate historical actions that would make the suggestion that the Obama Administration would be supportive of Western military forces in Mali. The US in concert with the UN has conducted armed interventions (with support from Obama). We saw such in Libya where via the UN; Obama although in direct violation of the US constitution, never consulted congress to overthrow the leader of a sovereign nation. Even though it required supporting militarily, Islamic fundamentalist militants and Al Qaeda and resulted in the — ethnic cleansing and lynchings of thousands black Africans.

We also saw such when the Obama Administration and the UN aided in the violent overthrow of the President of the Ivory Coast although the nations highest court that he had won the election. He was subsequently replaced by a UN hand-picked Muslim central banker. This too resulted in the death of thousands most of which were Christians.

We are already hearing the administration and UN drop little hints about al Qaeda having set up in northern Mali, right next to Boko Haram in Nigeria. Not to mention the Islamic Maghreb, al Shabab in East Africa. Especially if the story is being laid out by Robert Fowler of the UN. In addition, Last year the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution “determining that the situation in Mali constitutes a threat to international peace and security.” The resolution also noted that the UN was ready to deploy an “international military force” to invade the country if such is seemed necessary.

Stranger is that this is all coming from the urging really, of the Obama State Department – that is the ideal of invading Mali - to prop up the interim government. The Obama administration has also been increasing military aid to leaders of ruling countries around Mali in preparation for the upcoming intervention. Not to mention that last year, President Obama ended all of Mali’s trade privileges with the US, citing backtracking from democracy in the annual assessment of benefits conferred by the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) program. Funny, the way I see it, taking the limited benefits they had under the prior arrangements will only punch prospects for democracy farther away. Especially given he approved such with the South Sudan, who is in conflict with Sudan. Mali only exported about $7 million from precious stones, gold, art and antiques, while imports from the U.S. exceeded $40 million. But that’s right; the South Sudan has the plentiful Abyei oil region.

Funny, Mali used to be Africa’s democratic success stories, now it may be the next Somalia, or even worse – Afghanistan. If the President does involve US military forces in Mali, it will be a tacit confession that his actions in Libya failed and really served to undermine international peace and security., It will reveal to history that his Libyan interventionist policy was his biggest foreign policy mistake and that helping Africa is the farthest thing from his policy perspectives when compared to the old imperialistic agenda of raping the continent of all its natural resources while killing million via war, starvation, poverty and drought in the process.Yes Mali may be Obama's Afghanistan and all because there is gold in them their hills. Afterall, Mali is Africa's third largest gold producer after South Africa and Ghana. Mali produced 53,7 t of gold in 2009.

Obama Administration Policy on Middle East and Africa all over the place

If one has followed President Obama’s statements and position on the middle east and North Africa prior to his policy speech on the region last week, you like me probably have no clue to the reasoning behind his words. After reading his remarks last Wednesday, I am even in more of a stupor of consternation.

What I can say is that his approach and policy alike are whimsical or fickle at best and unprincipled and inconsistent at worse – thus the rarefied stupor I alluded to previously. For example, I recall how initially in Egypt, he proclaimed his support for Hosni Mubarak in word, but fleetly altered this position upon the observation that President Mubarak did not have the support of the military. Similarly in Bahrain, he offered effeminate words of support for the long ruling leadership yet at the same time; he attempted to protect the leadership and longtime alley for the sake of the fleet anchored in its harbor. Even as the Monarch, with the aid of Saudi Tanks and military, killed unarmed protesters, the administration and its figure head turned a blind eye to the citizenry desire for democratic rule and liberty. This same behavior and action drew harsh military reprisals and words from Obama via NATO requesting Muammar el-Qaddafi leave office.

In Libya, our military are protecting the innocent, but we do no such protection for those in Yemen, Syria or Bahrain. In his speech, Obama commented, the “humiliation that takes place every day in many parts of the world – the relentless tyranny of governments that deny their citizens dignity. “ He added “we can – and will – speak out for a set of core principles – principles that have guided our response to the events over the past six months: “In fact the President eludes to hearing the calls for help, but strangely it is only in the middle east and Libya but no other parts of Africa.

The problem for me is that there is not one standard stated; for there isn't any unifying principle that guides this new policy. Meaning, that any effective policy for unstabilized governments on our behalf will require coherence, which thus far is lacking. Will he treat all attacks on the general populations the same? Will King Abdullah of Saudi be held to the same standard of Qaddafi? What makes a distinction to have different positions between Qaddafi and Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad? He did not even mention Bahrain or Saudi Arabia in his speech.

The Obama administration is all over the place, for to say we hear the calls for democracy yet cover our ears from similar cries from the Congo, Uganda, Sudan and other nations is disingenuous and fails the litmus test of reality and consistency.

Congo: soldiers explain why they rape

actions speak louder than words

For the record, I love me some Africa. And I have been blessed to have lived in Nigeria for 13 months, 3 months in Ethiopia, four summers in a row in South Africa, and two six month stints in Senegal. I won’t even mention the Malawi’s, the Benin’s the Zimbabwe’s or score of other countries I have visited.

As we get closer to that historic day on which the President Elect is expected to take his oath of office, I have started to think about how or what his main foreign policy targets will be. Sure I’m certain that he will deal with the Asian countries located in what many call the Middle East, and that he will have to bump heads with Putin in Russia, but I’m not so sure where he will place the needs of the continent I love so dearly.

I would suspect or hope that the tope two will be Sudan and the Congo, followed closely by Rwanda. We know that genocide is the rule of thumb in the Sudan and has been so for a while. As a national government, all we have done is utter words, phrases and clauses and looked, on purpose the other way. I wonder what is Obama’s plan for dealing with the Sudanese Government and the Arab Janjaweed militias which are supported by Khartoum? Even after a July 30th UN Security Council resolution the Sudan still has yet to meet its commitment to rein in these militias.

I say this for almost 15 years after the atrocities we saw in Rwanda we must not let history repeat itself. I say this for I believe we have not learned our lesson since 1994 as a nation supposedly of moral statue. I was looking for any position papers that he may have written on the Sudan, Congo or Rwanda – but could not find any (just a statement from 2007). I just wonder if Obama really meant what he said that the United States should support the immediate deployment of an effective international force to not only protect civilians and proffer the delivery of humanitarian aid, but also to disarm militia, or support the African Union troops to do such.

Since this shit started in 2003, an estimated 450,000 plus have died as a function of and disease, and another 2 to 3 million displaced to neighboring countries. I know Obama was hard on Bush for his inaction, but my query is what is his plan, and what actions does he plan to take to support his prose? Yep, the economy needs to be dealt with, as well as issues of national security, but what will he do of substance outside of imposing tougher fiats that target Sudan’s oil revenue or implementing effective diplomacy? I know he has co-sponsoring six bills on the conundrum – but they still remain words on paper that have not yielded any results.

I’m not saying Obama can really do anything, but he can try. Especially now since we see what did happen in Rwanda, may be starting up again via the Congo. General Laurent Nkunda has actively recruited member of the Rwanda military to accomplish his stated goal to “eliminate” the militias who assisted in the genocide of nearly a million folks in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Even using and forcing children to kill in his effort.

So Mr. President elect, you were right to hold Bush accountable for his strong words but non action, just hope you don’t mind if we don’t forget, and remind you, or hold you to the same standard.