European official: Al Qaeda threat in northern Africa 'spreading'

[Sunni Man]

Al Qaeda is determined to make the fragile African nation of Mali a safe haven, and the terrorist threat from the network's affiliate in that country, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, "is spreading while we speak," a senior European official said Wednesday.

The official's concerns echoed worries of American national security officials. The al Qaeda affiliate has gotten increased scrutiny after the recent deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. U.S. officials have said there are signs extremists responsible for the attack were affiliated with or inspired by AQIM.

The official, who spoke to reporters in Washington, compared Mali to Afghanistan under the Taliban, describing Mali as a "failed state." The official spoke on background because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue.

The country is being referred to as "Sahelistan," a reference to the Arabic word used to refer to the broad swathe of land in the north of African stretching between the Atlanta Ocean and the Red Sea.

AQIM, officials say, is heavily armed thanks to drug and arms smuggling, as well as kidnappings of foreigners. Six French nationals, for example, have been kidnapped in the region.

In an interview with the Voice of America, Carson said many of AQIM's senior leadership and members are non-Malians, "people who have come in from the region, who have come in from Algeria, who have come in from Mauritania, who have come in from Libya and other places. This is a terrorist group and the response to that must be a security, military response."

The United States wants Mali to accept an intervention force from the Economic Community of West African States because the country is incapable of adequately countering AQIM fighters.

"The Malian military has been broken," Carson told VOA. "It is now in need of restructuring and repair and rehabilitation. It should accept the support, the camaraderie, the mentoring and the friendship of other ECOWAS states as it attempts to get itself together so that it can help address the issues of terrorism in the northern part of the country, as well as humanitarian support."

Mali has asked the U.N. Security Council for a resolution that would authorize an ECOWAS-led military force to fight rebels in the northern part of the country.

Asked whether the United States might launch unilateral military strikes against AQIM in Mali, the European official said, "There is such close coordination on Mali and the Sahel that I doubt there will be unilateral U.S. action."

European official: Al Qaeda threat in northern Africa 'spreading' – CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs

 

[Mad Scientist]

Good thing the US has AFRICOM already set up there to battle the deadly Al Qaida that the US set up there.

See how the Military Industrial Complex works?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Good thing Obama's "I keeled bin Laden" movie is coming out soon

 

[waltky]

Pentagon Lawyer: US Near al-Qaeda 'Tipping Point'...

US heading for point when 'military pursuit of al-Qaida should end'
Friday 30 November 2012 - Fight against terrorist group on course for Obama to stop using legal authority given by Congress to wage war, says lawyer; Group someday won't be considered military adversary under law

The US is heading for a "tipping point" beyond which it should no longer pursue al-Qaida terrorists by military means, one of the Obama administration's most senior lawyers has said. Jeh Johnson suggested the group would become so degraded that a time would come when the legal authority given to the White House by Congress should no longer be used to justify waging the war that has been fought since 2001. Johnson said that when this happened, America had to "be able to say ... that our efforts should no longer be considered an armed conflict against al-Qaida and its affiliates". Instead, the responsibility for tackling al-Qaida should pass to the police and other law enforcement agencies.

Johnson has been general counsel at the US defence department for the past four years and has given advice on every military operation that needs the approval of the president or defence secretary. In a speech presented tonight in the UK, Johnson was expected to set out the legal principles underpinning the conflict against al-Qaida and insisted they were rooted in domestic and international law. Congress had authorised the president to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against the nations, organisations and individuals responsible for the 9/11 attacks; the US supreme court had endorsed this in 2006 by ruling "our efforts against al-Qaida may be properly viewed as armed conflict".

But Johnson also made clear these principles were not open-ended, and that the US government would need to respond when circumstances change. And though he said he could not predict when the conflict would draw to a close, he said the US must not be afraid to change its tactics. "I do believe that on the present course there will come a tipping point, a tipping point at which so many of the leaders and operatives of al-Qaida and its affiliates have been killed or captured, and the group is no longer able to attempt or launch a strategic attack against the United States, such that al-Qaida as we know it, the organisation that our Congress authorised the military to pursue in 2001, has been effectively destroyed. "At that point we must be able to say to ourselves that our efforts should no longer be considered an armed conflict against al-Qaida and its associated forces, rather a counter-terrorism effort against individuals who are the scattered remains of al-Qaida … for which the law enforcement and intelligence resources of our government are principally responsible." America's military assets would then be available in reserve, he said.

More US heading for point when 'military pursuit of al-Qaida should end' | World news | The Guardian

 

[CrusaderFrank]

GM is still alive, amiright?

 

[California]

Good thing the US has AFRICOM already set up there to battle the deadly Al Qaida that the US set up there.

See how the Military Industrial Complex works?

Don't forget tax breaks. We'll need those before we send our boys in.

 

[waltky]

North Africa is new test for U.S. on terrorist front...

North Africa Is a New Test
January 20, 2013 WASHINGTON — The bloody resolution of the hostage crisis in Algeria has brought into focus the broader challenges the United States and its allies face in confronting terrorist cells that have taken up sanctuary across northern Africa.

The United States and France have been courting Algeria for months, hoping to secure its support for an international effort to evict Islamic militants out of northern Mali. But the militants’ advance south, which set off an appeal for the French military intervention by the Mali government, and the hostage-taking at a gas-producing complex in the Sahara to the north have caught the United States by surprise and prompted fresh White House vows to combat terrorism in the region.

In taking on the militants, Western nations are confronting multinational bands that are often able to move with relative freedom across porous African borders. And those cells have many inviting targets to choose from: the region is rich with oil, gas, uranium and other international ventures that clearly represent Western interests and in some cases are poorly defended. Also, with the United States and Britain determined not to send troops to Mali, and the French hoping to avoid an open-ended deployment there, Western nations must rely heavily on the forces of local nations who are not always open to outside advice.

Rudolph Atallah, a former Pentagon counterterrorism official, noted that one major terrorist group in the region, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, had slowly branched out across borders. “To dismantle their network, the United States and its allies, African and European, will need a well-thought-out regional strategy,” he said. Forging that strategy will be far from easy, given those involved. The Algerians have an able, if heavy handed, military, but have not been eager to cooperate extensively with the United States or their neighbors. Libya’s new government appears willing to cooperate but has little ability. Mali has little military ability and any enduring solution needs to be crafted with an eye to internal politics.

The harsh political realities of operating in Africa were evident during the hostage crisis in Algeria. Calculating that Algeria’s cooperation will be needed for the campaign against the militants in Mali, both France and the United States were careful not to complain that the Algerians had mounted their hostage rescue operation without consultation, nor did they complain about the tactics. “Algeria has an approach which to me, as I see it, is the most appropriate because there could be no negotiation,” President François Hollande of France said Saturday. Both France and the United States want Algeria to seal its borders with Mali, and France wants Algeria to continue to allow French planes to overfly its territory.

MORE

 

[Katzndogz]

The map of terrorist violence shows it spreading from one nation's border to the next, starting with Libya, which is just what obama wanted in the first place. Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Mali, in a line.

Leon Panetta knows that America cannot stand back and permit this to happen. That's why he will be replaced by someone who WILL.

 

[Sunni Man]

Obama is not responsible for the spread of active Islam throughout N. Africa.

The people of these countries want self determination and to choose their own destiny for their nation.

These nationalistic movements would still happen regardless of which political party was in control of the White House.

 

[Katzndogz]

Obama is not responsible for the spread of active Islam throughout N. Africa.

The people of these countries want self determination and to choose their own destiny for their nation.

These nationalistic movements would still happen regardless of which political party was in control of the White House.

obama isn't responsible for the existence of terrorism. He's responsible for its spread. He's responsible for its expansion. We really don't know if the people of these countries want fundamental islam as their self-determination because the islamists start killing everyone who doesn't see it their way.

What's needed is a new crusade. Periodically islam has to be pushed back into its caves. It's been that way for 2,000 plus years. This time, though, with the proper application of understanding and sympathy, islam might well be able to slaughter its way up the food chain.

 

[Sunni Man]

Whether the people of Mali, or any other country, want to be ruled by communism, Islam, or democracy.

That is their decision to make and fight for within their country.

And is really none of our business.........