Mali & other countries where Obama's special ops murder teams are operating

[Magda Hassan]

What The Washington Post failed to report: where Obama's special ops murder teams are operating
By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer


Jun 10, 2010, 00:23

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([url=http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/]WMR) -- The Washington Post, the White House’s largest collection of media stenographers for the administration, reported on June 3 that the Obama has secretly dispatched US Special Operations forces to 75 countries around the world. Just as the Post initially agreed not to publish the locations of CIA “black” torture and detention centers in eastern Europe, the Post has toed the line by not providing a complete list of the countries where US Special Operations forces are operating covertly.
WMR scooped the Post by identifying a number of eastern European “black” sites, including those in Poland and Romania.
We are now providing the list of 75 countries where Obama has secretly deployed US Special Operations forces:
1. Afghanistan 2. Albania 3. Algeria 4. Azerbaijan 5. Bahrain 6. Bangladesh 7. Benin 8. Bosnia and Herzegovina 9. Brunei 10. Burkina Faso 11. Cameroon 12. Central African Republic 13. Chad 14. China 15. Colombia 16. Comoros 17. Congo (DR) 18. Cote d’Ivoire 19. Djibouti 20. Egypt 21. Eritrea 22. Ethiopia 23. Gabon 24. Gambia 25. Georgia 26. Guinea 27. Guinea-Bissau 28. Honduras 29. India 30. Indonesia 31. Iran 32. Iraq 33. Jordan 34. Kazakhstan 35. Kenya 36. Kosovo 37. Kuwait 38. Kyrgyzstan 39. Lebanon 40. Libya 41. Malaysia 42. Mali 43. Mauritania 44. Mexico 45. Morocco 46. Myanmar 47. Nepal 48. Niger 49. Nigeria 50. Oman 51. Pakistan 52. Philippines 53. Qatar 54. Russian Federation 55. Rwanda 56. Saudi Arabia 57. Senegal 58. Sierra Leone 59. Somalia [including Somaliland] 60. South Africa 61. Sri Lanka 62. Sudan 63. Syria 64. Tajikistan 65. Tanzania 66. Thailand 67. Togo 68. Tunisia 69. Turkey 70. Turkmenistan 71. Uganda 72. United Arab Emirates 73. Uzbekistan 74. Venezuela 75. Yemen
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/...5982.shtml

[Magda Hassan]

Mysterious fatal crash offers rare look at U.S. commando presence in Mali

In pre-dawn darkness, a *Toyota Land Cruiser skidded off a bridge in North Africa in the spring, plunging into the Niger River. When rescuers arrived, they found the bodies of three U.S. Army commandos alongside three dead women.By Craig Whitlock, Monday, July 9, 11:04 AM

What the men were doing in the impoverished country of Mali, and why they were still there a month after the United States suspended military relations with its government, is at the crux of a mystery that officials have not fully explained even 10 weeks later.

Video here

Sen. Mitch McConnell eulogizes Capt. Daniel H. Utley, 33, who was killed in Mali on April 20, 2012. (via C-SPAN)



(The Washington Post/Source: Staff reports)


At the very least, the April 20 accident exposed a team of Special Operations forces that had been working for months in Mali, a Saharan country racked by civil war and a rising Islamist insurgency. More broadly, the crash has provided a rare glimpse of elite U.S. commando units in North Africa, where they have been secretly engaged in counterterrorism actions against al-Qaeda affiliates.
The Obama administration has not publicly acknowledged the existence of the missions, although it has spoken in general about plans to rely on Special Operations forces as a cornerstone of its global counterterrorism strategy. In recent years, the Pentagon has swelled the ranks and resources of the Special Operations Command, which includes such units as the Navy SEALs and the Army's Delta Force, even as the overall number of U.S. troops is shrinking.
At the same time, the crash in Mali has revealed some details of the commandos' clandestine activities that apparently had little to do with counterterrorism. The women killed in the wreck were identified as Moroccan prostitutes who had been riding with the soldiers, according to a senior Army official and a U.S. counterterrorism consultant briefed on the incident, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The Army's Criminal Investigation Command, which is conducting a probe of the fatal plunge off the Martyrs Bridge in Bamako, the capital of Mali, said it does not suspect foul play but has "not completely ruled it out." Other Army officials cited poor road conditions and excessive speed as the likely cause of the 5 a.m. crash.
U.S. officials have revealed few details about the soldiers' mission or their backgrounds, beyond a brief news release announcing their deaths hours after the accident.
In many countries, including most in Africa, Special Operations forces work openly to distribute humanitarian aid and train local militaries. At times, the civil-affairs assignments can provide credible cover for clandestine counterterrorism units.
But in Mali, U.S. military personnel had ceased all training and civil-affairs work by the end of March, about a week after the country's democratically elected president wasoverthrown in a military coup.
The military's Africa Command, which oversees operations on the continent, said the three service members killed were among "a small number of personnel" who had been aiding the Malian military before the coup and had remained in the country to "provide assistance to the U.S. Embassy" and "maintain situational awareness on the unfolding events."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nati...l-security

[Magda Hassan]

Qatar intervening in northern Mali?

MEHDI LAZAR 19 December 2012



If the presence of Qatar in Mali is confirmed, it is difficult to establish how the emirate is trying to change the political and strategic situation. However, despite the lack of proof of Qatari involvement in supportingarmed fighters, there is some evidence that this might be the case.

It is likely that ECOWAS is preparing for a military intervention to regainnorthern Mali following the military coup of March 22, 2012 that overthrew theregime of Amadou Toumani Touré. At the same time more and more is being said about Qatar's involvement in this part of the Sahel. Taking advantage of the dual crisis afflicting this country - Islamist groups have benefited from the Tuareg rebellion to take control of the north and a military coup overthrew the incumbent president in Bamako - the emirate could be engaged in advancing its pawns in that territory on a path towards Afghanization. A game which if confirmed would prove quite dangerous.

Qatar's presence in Mali has been proved but in a manner that remains unclear

The presence of Qatar in Mali is already known, but it is difficult to argue from this that the emirate is trying to change the political and strategic situation inone specific direction or another. However, despite lack of proof of Qatari involvement in supporting armed fighters, there is some evidence that this might be the case.
Firstly, Qatar already has a network of various funding projects which includemadrassas, religious schools and charities which date from the 1980s and 1990s in Mali, as in other Muslim-majority countries in Africa. Secondly, following an agreement between the Qatari Red Crescent and Red Cross Maliheld in Doha in August, Qatari aid is present on Malian soil to act in solidarity with the people of the north, particularly around the triangle of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal.
More worryingly, and to be treated with caution, is information taken from Le Canard Enchaîné and reprinted by the French and international press to the effect that Qatar is helping to fund armed groups, and that the Qatari Special Forces are supporting certain rebel factions in northern Mali by training theirrecruits (especially those of Ansar Ed-Dine). This information comes from arecent report by the French DRM (Military Intelligence Directorate under the Ministry of Defense). However, the lack of first-hand information, due in part to the conflict on the ground, makes it difficult to assess the accuracy of Qatari engagement in northern Mali and to put this report into perspective.
However, regardless of the degree and intensity, the presence of Qatari forcesin Mali has been, and continues to be, a strategy used increasingly in Africa, especially since the Arab Spring. The emirate became involved in the financing of political parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia and Egypt in 2011 and 2012, was involved in mediation in Darfur which was held in Sudan in2011 and engaged in the NATO coalition that fought the regime of MuammarGaddafi in 2011 (similarly, Qatar has also funded rebel fighters in Libya). Besides the presence of the Qatari Red Crescent humanitarian aid in Mali, one may speculate about other possible reasons for their presence in this part of the Sahel.

What are the interests of a Qatari presence in Mali?

If the assumption of funding, even training and arming Islamist groups by Qatarforces in northern Mali is confirmed, then it is possible to draw several conclusions.
Firstly, this intervention would provide the emirate with a simple but riskystrategy to greatly increase its influence in West Africa and the Sahel. Indeed, Qatar could greatly increase its influence in the mediation between the Malian government, ECOWAS, the northern rebels, and even France. This would increase its political clout on the continent, taking advantage, as it often does, of a favourable political environment. In the case of Mali, it is a failed state with a sudden power vacuum in the North, due both to the Tuareg rebellion in the North and the coup in the South. Add to this, the fortuitous presence in the Sahel of many fighters together with the weapons used in the recent war in Libya , alongside the presence in the North of young and unemployed Tuaregsopposed to the Malian state, and one can see how it might be possible to fund the rebels.
Using this combination of favourable factors, the emirate can see a way to continue making its influence heavily felt in Africa, work also undertaken in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. In this respect, as in the case of Qatari engagement in Syria, two factors are in common. Firstly, after the success of the Libyan campaign, the emirate feels confident in being able to directly intervene abroadin a power perspective. In addition, as in Syria, the presence of the emirate in Mali, if it is real, should be viewed in the context of a twofold competition: firstwith Saudi Arabia to control the Sunni Islamic world, but also to strengthen the power struggle of Sunni Muslims against Shiite Muslims (because the axis Iran- Syria - Hezbollah remains strong while the Shia in Iraq rises).
Another common point, but this time with Libya, is that Mali is seen as a potential owner of large reserves of natural gas and has a need for infrastructuredevelopment; two areas in which Qatar specializes. It could therefore, in the event of good relations with the leaders of an Islamic state in northern Mali,exploit the subsoil rich in gold and uranium, and prospect the country's oil and gas potential.
Finally, geographically, Mali is also an axis of penetration into black Africa andWest Africa where Qatar is pursuing its influence through the purchase ofresources and agricultural land, as well as the funding of places of worship.

An intervention, if proved, which could turn against Qatar

The situation in Mali illustrates how the problematic situation in the Sahel arouses considerable concern because of the weakness of states in the region and the presence of AQIM and other jihadist fighters. In addition, the war in Libya in 2011 has worsened the situation, as evidenced by the recent assassination of the US ambassador in Benghazi, Christopher Stevens. In Mali,the fragmentation of the state is not only due to intrinsic factors (Tuaregrebellion, structural weakness of the state, democratic façade, poordevelopment) but also the direct consequence of a poorly controlled Libyancrisis.
In this context the intervention of Qatar, should it prove as controversial as outlined, is very unwelcome and four players could take umbrage: the United States, France, Algeria and the African Union. French and Americanredeployment in the region is indeed currently in place to try to stop the downward spiral of northern Mali. The United States is refocusing its security efforts on North Africa and the Sahel, especially after the assassination of itsambassador and given the prospect of imminent withdrawals of military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. France, the traditional power in the region, has recently had several of its citizens taken hostage in Mali and are under pressure fromnumerous economic and political interests. However, the United States and France have very strong relations with Qatar, which in the case of Mali, unlike the Syrian intervention, could go against western interests. The United States and France could make Qatar understand their decision to intervene, yet wehave to wonder about the scope of 'retaliation' possible vis-à-vis an emirate that is important economically, politically and militarily to the two countries.
Meanwhile, the African Union is trying to assert itself as an influential political power and wants to resolve conflicts on its own soil, namely through its regional organization, ECOWAS, who have amassed a force of more than 3,000 men. If the strategy of Qatar is financing or arming fighters in northern Mali, then thiscomplicates the African Union's task. However, its ability to act and to influence the decisions of Qatar is very low (except through the EU or France). Algeria, for its part, is particularly concerned by the situation in northern Mali. On the surface, Qatari-Algerian relations are strong since the two countriesare 'brothers'. However, Algeria is monitoring this situation very closely because it fears an attempt to destabilize its borders and even its own soil. More generally, a Qatari intervention in northern Mali would increase Algeria's animus against the emirate. Despite recent agreements, the two countries oppose each other economically in their competition for gas exports, as well as politically (financing of the Muslim Brotherhood in North Africa by Qatar, which also hosts on its territory the former FIS leader Abassi Madani, is frowned upon by Algeria, as well as the fact that Qatar joined the NATO coalition in Libya while Algeria advocated non-interference). In addition, MOJWA (the Movement for Jihad in West Africa), which could be financed by the emirate of Qatar, holdsseven Algerian diplomats (kidnapped in April 2012 in northern Mali) hostage. Algeria, besides being a regional power, is therefore a key state in the Maliancrisis but is reluctant to intervene because of its 1,300 km border with northern Mali in an area extremely difficult to control. Doing so would indeed carry the risk of a new terror strike on its soil, as happened in the 1990s.
Algeria, like the United States and France has no interest in the status quo in the Sahel, and if Qatar intervenes, these states could potentially react. However, given the regional situation there is more for Qatar to gain than to losefrom an intervention in northern Mali. This of course is true only if the United States and France put the problems of the Malian crisis before their common interests with Qatar, which are indeed numerous.

---

"Notre ami du Qatar finance les islamistes du Mali" in Le Canard enchaîné, 6 June, 2012 edition.

Malika Groga-Bada, "Mali: et si les islamistes convoitaient l'or noir ?", in Jeune Afrique, July 19, 2012 edition.

Mehdi Lazar, "Axe sunnite et gazoduc : quand les Qataris interviennent en Syrie pour le plus grand bonheur des Occidentaux", in Atlantico, August 26, 2012.

Mehdi Lazar, "Qatar : une politique d'influence entre conjoncture favorable et fondamentaux géographiques", in Diploweb, May 27, 2012.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/mehdi-lazar...thern-mali

[Magda Hassan]

A googlish translation from French of an interesting article about oil, Mali and foreign interference via Al Qaida and Qatar

When oil and Qatar invited in Mali and the Sahel

Elizabeth StuderNews , Economy , Energy , Commodities , Values ​​CAC405 comments




It was suspecting ... as we noted here that the card layout AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) in the Sahel like "strange" that the implementation of the oil resources of the region, "The Chained Duck "reveals the diplomatic activism of Qatar on behalf of Islamist involvement in the financing of armed movements especially in the north of Mali .
According to the satirical weekly, the Emir of Qatar have helped financially the armed movements that took control of northern Mali. Among these groups are particularly famous Mujao, which holds seven Algerian diplomats hostage since 5 April.
In an article entitled " Our friend from Qatar Islamic finances of Mali , "the Chained Duck said that the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DRM), which reports to the Chief of Staff of the French armies, gathered information that" insurgents MNLA (independence and laity), movements Ansar Dine, AQIM and Mujao (Jihad in West Africa) received assistance dollars of Qatar. "
The end of the story: the impetuous volatile reveals that Qatar had "referred to s "on the wealth of the basement of the Sahel, évqouant" discreet negotiations "that have already started with Total" for next oil exploitation in the region in the future!
Also according to the Chained Duck, the French Minister of Defence, Jean-Yves Le Drian, " knows no bad news arrived from sub-Saharan Africa. And no involvement of " our friend from Qatar '- formula of an officer of the staff - in the " capture "of northern Mali by several jihadist movements. '
According to the weekly, earlier this year, " notes several of the DGSE alerted the Elysee international activities " , the Emirate of Qatar. But President Sarkozy are no responded not to disturb her "am" Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, we are told.
According to these secret notes officers of the DRM, "Qatar's generosity is unparalleled," the emirate has also helped "financially, sometimes delivering weapons, revolutionary Tunisia, Egypt or Libya."
In January, while the Sahel region was subject to conditions more severe, the French oil giant Total announced that it had signed two exploration licenses with the Mauritanian authorities in the basin Taoudéni very promising.
The group has acquired, as operator, a 90% interest in Blocks C 9 in ultra-deep water and Ta 29 onshore in the basin Taoudéni. Mauritanian national company SMH will hold the remaining 10%.
The block C 9 is located approximately 140 kilometers west of the Mauritanian coast, extends over 10,000 km (! ...), With water depths ranging between 2,500 and 3,000 meters.Block Ta 29 is located in the Sahara desert 1,000 kilometers east of Nouakchott, north of Block Ta 7 in which Total is already conducting exploration activities.
In February 2011, the Algerian press reported that the e French group Total and Sonatrach Algerian national energy company had in their wallets several projects in the Sahel. Most seem to be two groups of "grab" the most possible projects in Mali and Niger.
Recent discoveries of mineral wealth in the basin Taoudéni wide, 1.5 million square kilometers, divided between Mali, Algeria, Mauritania and Niger, cause now make a strong interest in this area.
Jean François Arrighi de Casanova, Director North Africa Total has reported huge gas discoveries in the area, slowing the progression of the well to the oil zone, Mauritania and even leading to talk of a "new Eldorado" .
Through its international subsidiary Sipex, Sonatrach has also received approval from the Nigerian Ministry of Mines to conduct experimental drilling.
In Mali, a subsidiary of Sonatrach has since 2007 acquired a further two years from the Malian Ministry of Mines for the first exploration phase will end in 2013.
Mere coincidence? For three months of the presidential election in Mali, the government already faces kidnapping al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the threat of a food crisis, had to face a new rebellion Tuareg and a coup d'état.
These attacks then being the first of its kind since an agreement that ended the rebellion but also from Libya return of hundreds of armed men who fought alongside the forces of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

http://www.leblogfinance.com/2012/06/qua...sahel.html

[Peter Lemkin]

What The Washington Post failed to report: where Obama's special ops murder teams are operating
By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer


Jun 10, 2010, 00:23


(WMR) -- The Washington Post, the White House�s largest collection of media stenographers for the administration, reported on June 3 that the Obama has secretly dispatched US Special Operations forces to 75 countries around the world. Just as the Post initially agreed not to publish the locations of CIA �black� torture and detention centers in eastern Europe, the Post has toed the line by not providing a complete list of the countries where US Special Operations forces are operating covertly.
WMR scooped the Post by identifying a number of eastern European �black� sites, including those in Poland and Romania.
We are now providing the list of 75 countries where Obama has secretly deployed US Special Operations forces:
1. Afghanistan 2. Albania 3. Algeria 4. Azerbaijan 5. Bahrain 6. Bangladesh 7. Benin 8. Bosnia and Herzegovina 9. Brunei 10. Burkina Faso 11. Cameroon 12. Central African Republic 13. Chad 14. China 15. Colombia 16. Comoros 17. Congo (DR) 18. Cote d�Ivoire 19. Djibouti 20. Egypt 21. Eritrea 22. Ethiopia 23. Gabon 24. Gambia 25. Georgia 26. Guinea 27. Guinea-Bissau 28. Honduras 29. India 30. Indonesia 31. Iran 32. Iraq 33. Jordan 34. Kazakhstan 35. Kenya 36. Kosovo 37. Kuwait 38. Kyrgyzstan 39. Lebanon 40. Libya 41. Malaysia 42. Mali 43. Mauritania 44. Mexico 45. Morocco 46. Myanmar 47. Nepal 48. Niger 49. Nigeria 50. Oman 51. Pakistan 52. Philippines 53. Qatar 54. Russian Federation 55. Rwanda 56. Saudi Arabia 57. Senegal 58. Sierra Leone 59. Somalia [including Somaliland] 60. South Africa 61. Sri Lanka 62. Sudan 63. Syria 64. Tajikistan 65. Tanzania 66. Thailand 67. Togo 68. Tunisia 69. Turkey 70. Turkmenistan 71. Uganda 72. United Arab Emirates 73. Uzbekistan 74. Venezuela 75. Yemen
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/...5982.shtml

As an American [by accident of birth and history], I can only reply with: "Atta' Way!" We aaaaaarrrrreeeeeee Number One!!!!!!.....[in what, is quite another matter, little considered by most of the Lumpenproletariat...........]...certainly nothing to be proud about....but something we ought to do something about....and fast, lest it destroy us all - if it hasn't already.... Making the World safe for........:joystick:

[Magda Hassan]

I wish we had a thousand more of these men around.

[Peter Lemkin]

Now there is someone who should be Director General of the UN....but he'd not last a week before he was suicided by the big powers. Great speech...logical, correct and devastating.....though I noticed almost no one was listening to him.....sad. Voices of sanity are lone voices these days.

[Magda Hassan]

170 hostages taken at the raddison Hotel in Mali capital. Report say 10 armed men maybe Ansar al Din

[Magda Hassan]

Hostage freed from Radisson Blu hotel in Mali capital says he heard attackers speaking English.
by jamillah.knowles 11:37 PM
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