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Al-Qaida Carves Out Own Country In (Northern) Mali
Associated Pres ^ | Jan 14, 2:48 PM (ET) | By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI

Posted on 01/15/2013 12:57:11 PM PST by drewh

Deep inside caves, in remote desert bases, in the escarpments and cliff faces of northern Mali, Islamic extremist fighters have been burrowing into the earth, erecting a formidable set of defenses to protect what has essentially become al-Qaida's new country.

They have used the bulldozers, earth movers and Caterpillar machines left behind by fleeing construction crews to dig what residents and local officials describe as an elaborate network of tunnels, trenches, shafts and ramparts. In just one case, inside a cave large enough to drive trucks into, they have stored up to 100 drums of gasoline, guaranteeing their fuel supply in the face of a foreign intervention, according to experts.

Now that intervention is here. On Friday, France deployed 550 troops and launched air strikes against the Islamists in northern Mali, starting battle in what is currently the biggest territory in the world held by al-Qaida and its allies. But the fighting has been harder than expected, and the extremists boast it will be worse than the decade-old struggle in Afghanistan.

"Al-Qaida never owned Afghanistan," said former United Nations diplomat Robert Fowler, a Canadian kidnapped and held for 130 days by al-Qaida's local chapter, whose fighters now control the main cities in the north. "They do own northern Mali."

Al-Qaida's affiliate in Africa - al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM- has been a shadowy presence for years in the forests and deserts of Mali, a country hobbled by poverty and a relentless cycle of hunger. Last year the terror syndicate and its allies took advantage of political instability in Mali to push out of their hiding place and into the towns, taking over an enormous territory larger than France or Texas - and almost exactly the size of Afghanistan.

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: alqaedamali; mali

1 posted on 01/15/2013 12:57:19 PM PST by drewh
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To: drewh

Note to the French Air Force: Northern Mali is a “target rich environment”.


2 posted on 01/15/2013 1:06:18 PM PST by reg45 (Barack 0bama: Implementing class warfare by having no class.)
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To: drewh

I like the description of what happens when you drop a FAE (fuel-air explosive) bomb near a cave.

Apparently the ignition makes a sonic boom inside the cave which knocks them senseless, then the huge vacuum it creates makes a suction action the sucks them all out of the cave.

Sounds like it would be fun to watch


3 posted on 01/15/2013 1:08:59 PM PST by Mr. K (There are lies, damned lies, statistics, and democrat talking points.)
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To: reg45

To zee Franch....bring matches


4 posted on 01/15/2013 1:13:45 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: reg45

To zee French....bring matches


5 posted on 01/15/2013 1:14:00 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: drewh

So why are the French involved?


6 posted on 01/15/2013 1:17:56 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

Mali was formeerly a French colonial possession, so they have retained some political interests and influencee in the region, including certain responsibilities for fostering democratic government.


7 posted on 01/15/2013 1:39:25 PM PST by WhiskeyX
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To: MinorityRepublican

Mali was formeerly a French colonial possession, so they have retained some political interests and influencee in the region, including certain responsibilities for fostering democratic government.


8 posted on 01/15/2013 1:40:00 PM PST by WhiskeyX
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To: MinorityRepublican

Mali also has a lot of gold.


9 posted on 01/15/2013 1:52:32 PM PST by BBell (And Now for Something Completely Different)
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To: WhiskeyX

Nice job the French did in Africa. Their former poseessions are worse off than former British dominions (except for former Rhodesia)


10 posted on 01/15/2013 1:52:32 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: drewh

Napalm sticks to kids.....


11 posted on 01/15/2013 1:54:33 PM PST by BBell (And Now for Something Completely Different)
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To: drewh

>guaranteeing their fuel supply

Yeah right. If our governments were to actually get serious about the elimination of this filth, these would be easy targets.

Myself and a lot more like me could inflict near total ruin on these islamogarbage with just a few billion dollars worth of modern hardware and electronics. Then real soldiers with standard hardware could mop up the remainder.


12 posted on 01/15/2013 2:15:33 PM PST by soycd
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To: drewh

“...tunnels, trenches, shafts and ramparts...” It’s all good grave material. A few well placed bombs should finish the job for them.


13 posted on 01/15/2013 2:25:06 PM PST by pallis
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To: drewh
"Al-Qaida never owned Afghanistan," said former United Nations diplomat Robert Fowler,

Oh, really?


14 posted on 01/15/2013 2:50:39 PM PST by Clock King
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To: drewh

Now why did the French go in there to screw everything up??

Did they get permission from the UN??

Did they tell us beforehand??

Why, all the good guys are already fleeing from the territory, so in a few more months all that will be left there is scum. Let all the scum move into Northern Mali; hell, give them free one way tickets.

Then once all the scum is in place, unleash all hell in napalm, the 30,000lb monster bombs. No-one survives, not even scum woman or scum kids.

Should take about a day!


15 posted on 01/15/2013 4:03:18 PM PST by Noob1999 (Loose Lips, Sink Ships)
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To: drewh

“they have stored up to 100 drums of gasoline, guaranteeing their fuel supply in the face of a foreign intervention, according to experts.”

Wow,, 100 drums! Dang, there’s just no practical way to impose sanctions when they have that kind of supply salted away. They probably have 200 pounds of rice too.


16 posted on 01/15/2013 4:10:12 PM PST by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office.)
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To: drewh

I don’t care what happens in Mali. It isn’t worth one American dollar or life. As for 9/11,, i wonder if in the 2020 election we will still be on war footing, condition orange, homeland security, universal surveillance, etc etc.

This continual war is designed to distract us from financial chaos, and from a revolutionary socialist government takeover at home.


17 posted on 01/15/2013 4:17:16 PM PST by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office.)
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