Waco, 9/11 and Mali.

As I don't think this particular genie is going to go back into the bottle any time soon I might as well explain more fully the links between the explosion at fertiliser plant in West, Texas, the US' response to 9/11 and the current situation in Mali.

On September 11th 2001 (11/9/01) the US was attacked by an Islamic terrorist group called Al Qaeda who were based in the failed state of Afghanistan. As this was one of the worst terrorist attacks ever seen anywhere in the world the international community's reaction was quite simple - the US should go and utterly destroy Al-Qaeda. This was evidenced by the immediate and unanimous passing of a series of United Nations Security (UNSC) resolutions to strengthen the Chapter VII (authorising military force) resolution 1363(2001) that had already been passed in July of 2001. Even world leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez who sort of always have to voice opposition to everything the US does only really paid lip service in their criticism.

The problem was that the US then went off and declared war on Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, the entire religion of Islam and the concept of terror. By anyones estimation that is a big job and 12 years later the US is still stuck in Afghanistan pouring away blood and treasures in what appears to all concerned as an effort to provide security for Chinese mineral mining operations. Even the Chinese think this is unfair on the US and despite the constant provocation they are actually trying to help the US resolve the situation.

Contrast this with the current situation in Mali where once again western forces are fighting Islamists in a near to failed state with an incredibly weak government. The situations in Mali now and Afghanistan in 2001 are so similar that they essentially involve elite special forces doing battle with heavily armed and highly motivated Jihadists who are hiding in caves. The crucial difference though is that rather then declaring war with closest thing to a host government available France who with a lot of support from Chad are running the show in Mali are instead trying to strengthen the weak government so that government can go and fight the Jihadists itself. This contrast between the US' approach to Afghanistan and France's approach to Mali means that the last thing the US wants to be doing is getting involved in Mali at the same time it is attempting to withdraw from Afghanistan. That why for all my screaming, shouting and swearing on the issue since the French operation began I have not once suggested that the US gets directly involved in Mali.

The problem is that by continuing the Chris Brown/Rihanna operation the US is making it impossible for any nation to do the Mali job for them. So by highlighting this issue through the Waco attack the US seems to be openly challenging France not to suggest that the US gets involved in Mali. However I must say that as far as I can tell apart from repeatedly requesting that the Chris Brown/Rihanna operation is terminated France has not requested anything more in the way of support from the US in the Mali operation.

Obviously I cannot speak for the French but judging from the deafening silence to the US' fishing trip that was part of the Ricin letters (there's a lot of sealed envelopes flying around at the moment) I'm pretty sure the situation will remain unchanged until such a time as the US chooses to change it by terminating the Chris Brown/Rihanna operation. So once again I'm forced to ask; Is the US sure we're going to have to wait until June for Chris Brown's next Court appearance?


(Originally Posted) 17:10 on 18/4/13.