France, US Play Tag-Team in Africa

French imperialism is bombing Mali and launching a ground invasion. The World Federation of Trade Unions have denounced the actions of Paris., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

France, US play tag-team in Africa

Tuesday, 29 January 2013 00:00
Glen Ford

“ONLY the United States has the logistical capacity to maintain a long war over great distances in Africa.” The French military has taken the lead in attacking Islamists in the former French African colony of Mali.

If recent history is any guide, the US will be not far behind.

Remember that France was, initially, the most aggressive in calling for a NATO war against Libya, in 2011.

But the fact is, only the US has the logistical capacity to maintain a long war over great distances in Africa.

Without US refuelling tanker aircraft and the awesome infrastructure of US Navy carrier groups, NATO’s eight-month assault on Libya would have been impossible.

In the same way, France would never have committed to putting at least 2 500 ground troops into Mali without assurances that the American superpower has its back.

Without US airlift capacity and other logistical support, neither France nor the West African nations of the region can hope for a swift victory over the rebellious Tuaregs of northern Mali.

The war in Mali is a direct result of the Euro-American aggression against Libya. The Tuareg people live in deep poverty.

Many found employment in Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya, as did immigrant workers from elsewhere in Africa.

Some worked with Libyan security services. When Libya’s government was brought down by the US and its allies, the Tuaregs gathered up as many weapons as they could in the chaos and headed south for home.

Many other Tuaregs never left, and were employed by the Malian Army and its sugar daddy, the United States.

The year after 9/11, the US military established its Pan Sahel Initiative, enlisting the militaries of Mali, Niger, Chad and Mauritania into America’s so-called War on Terror on the African front.

By 2005, the US had added Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria and Tunisia to what was now called the Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative.

This was the beginning of AFRICOM, the US Africa Military Command, which assumed control in 2008.

“The war in Mali is a direct result of the Euro-American aggression against Libya.”

In Mali, the Americans relied heavily on Tuareg soldiers to fight their war against Islamists and independence fighters in the northern part of the country.

But when their Tuareg brothers returned from Libya, three of the four Malian military commanders in the north defected to the rebels , which then led to the virtual collapse of the Malian Army.

Now the French, as the former colonial master, have sent their warplanes to strike at the Tuareg fighters and are preparing to send in 2500 French soldiers.

A regional African force was not scheduled to come to the aid of the Malian army until September, but with the rebel advance and the French response, that timetable will be speeded up.

The Americans will be arriving soon, with their massive airlift capacity.

And soon the US will have serious boots on the ground in Africa, when a 3500-member combat brigade from Fort Riley, Kansas, arrives to hold exercises with military units from 35 African countries, later this year.

It seems more likely that the brigade will find itself in an actual war in the Sahel.
Back in October of 2011, we wrote that NATO’s “attack on Libya threatens to set the whole northern tier of Africa ablaze,” providing “a pretext for further US and French operations.”

In the east, the Horn of Africa is already in flames, and central Africa has become a cemetery for millions. Now it is the Sahel’s turn to burn.

This article is reproduced from BlackAgendaReport.com