French government ‘begs’ for a terrorist attack

Alleged jihadist terrorist group threatens France after Hollande orders invasion of Mali

By LUIS MIRANDA MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | JANUARY 15, 2013

The ‘most urgent’ problem for France has been solved, it seems, after French troops invaded Mali last Friday. In another example of Western interventionism, France followed American steps in other African countries by putting boots on the ground to supposedly help liberate Mali from the advance of terrorists.

With its military intervention, Hollande apparently stopped an offensive led by three alleged radical groups while legitimizing their future attacks in the African country and on the French mainland. The former French colony is now ripe to become another Afghanistan in the heart of Africa.

A suspected North African branch of Al Qaeda (AQIM), the Tuareg, mobilized to northern Mali, which it allegedly controls since March. Seventy two hours after the French landed, the group moved south on two different axes to regroup in Segou.

France’s bombings were determined to stop a supposed take over led by the Tuareg. France intended to stop its advance to help the weak Mali Army to recover. The French fire spread north to, for example, Gao a city of 90,000 inhabitants, the largest Islamist jihadist power center, to destroy the bases.

The French operation seeks to create a sort of buffer zone in southern Mali protected from the ravages of the North. By sending hundreds of troops to Bamako, is an attempt by Hollande to supposedly hold on to one  of the weakest “democratic institutions in Africa”. The dissension of its political and the coup led by its military in March weakened the country even more.

“The operation will last long enough,” Hollande said on Friday, which means that the French must remain there for months, at least until they start the reconquest of the north.

More Bombardments, more troops

French President François Hollande, announced Tuesday morning that he will reinforce the French military operation in Mali, pending the arrival of troops from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that fight against Islamist rebels for the control of the north African country since last March.

The UN backed military intervention again called for a political solution and for national reconciliation to resolve the conflict, which the UN says has left 150,000 refugees in neighboring countries like Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Algeria, as well as 230,000 people displaced inland.

“Currently, there are 750 men and the number will increase so we can make room for African soldiers as quickly as possible,” said Hollande during his visit to a French naval base in Abu Dhabi. This figure will reach 2,500 soldiers, according to sources close to the French government.

Hollande, who believes that the deployment of African troops will still take “a long time” stated that “new attacks have reached their goals tonight.” According to a Malian military source quoted by AFP, the French air force has bombed the town of Diabali today, a place that the Salafists had taken over just 48 hours ago.

Without an open declaration of war, French war planes pounded Diabali, which is located 400 kilometers from the capital, Bamako. At least five people died and several other were injured in the attack, ” Hollande said. A local resident said he saw armed rebels fleeing the city.

Another Malian military source said, that jihadi fighters are still in Diabali and that several have kidnapped local politician as bargaining chips. The French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, who travels with Hollande, said he was confident that the Gulf states support the action of the African troops to fight Islamist Ansar Dine, the North African branch of Al Qaeda (AQIM ) and the Movement for the Union of Jihadism in West Africa (MUYAO), who supposedly control northern Mali.

U.S. to assist France in its reconquering of Mali

U.S. Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, said Monday that his country will provide “limited logistical support” and intelligence to the French Government in its military invasion in Mali.

“I’ve talked to the French Defense Minister,” said Panetta. Our aid will provide limited logistical and intelligence support where possible to assist them in their effort,” Panetta told reporters on the plane that took him to Lisbon.

Meanwhile, neither Panetta nor the State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, confirmed that the Obama administration has granted telecommunications and transportation assistance to France, said French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius.

However, Panetta admitted that the Pentagon considers sending transport planes to carry French troops or military equipment. “There are some areas where airlift will be used to assist the operation,” he said.

The Defense Secretary did not say whether U.S. drones will be sent to Mali, as requested by the Government of François Hollande. “I will not go into details about the assistance beyond saying that we will assist in the area of ​​intelligence,” he reiterated. That of course means the U.S. will indeed send drones for intelligence gathering at the very least, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the drones are also used to strike targets as the U.S. did in Pakistan and Afghanistan throughout 2012.

“We have a responsibility to pursue Al Qaeda wherever they are,” said Panetta. “We’re chasing them in Yemen and Somalia, and we have a responsibility to ensure that al Qaeda does not establish a base of operations in North Africa, in Mali.” Panetta, who last year announced he takes military orders from NATO, not from the U.S. Congress did not consult American representatives in Washington about this new intervention in Mali.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) “may have no specific plans to attack the United States and Europe, but that is a goal that they still have over all and that is why we must take steps now,” he added. As it has been publicly revealed by Hillary Clinton, al-Qaeda is a terrorist group created by the United States back in the 1970s to fight the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The U.S. government trained and financed al-Qaeda to carry out its dirty deeds all over the Middle East and now in Africa.

Al-Qaeda is the gift that keeps on giving for the United States. It was used as an excuse to attack Libya and later praised for its murderous campaign in Syria, where the U.S. recognizes the rebel opposition groups as ‘heroes’ for attacking innocent civilians while they try to destabilize the Assad regime. Now, Panetta warns that the American intervention in Mali is a preventive move to impede al-Qaeda related groups from establishing their bases on Mali.

Back in 2001, al-Qaeda was blamed by the Bush administration for the 9/11 attacks, which prompted the invasion of Afghanistan.

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