There is no military solution in the Sahel. But by expelling the French army, the
Bamako junta is not aiming for a political solution. She seeks only to protecther power, by linking her fate to Wagner's Russian mercenaries. The Malian peoplewill foot the bill. ---- While it has been bogged down since 2014 in an "endlesswar", the French intervention in the Sahel has just suffered a major setback.Since its August 2020 and May 2021 coups, the military junta in power in Bamakohas methodically pushed Operation Barkhane towards the end.Bamako began by challenging Paris by calling, in November 2021, mercenaries fromthe Wagner agency, connected to the Russian state. Then, on January 24, Bamakodemanded, under an administrative pretext, the departure of Danish reinforcementsfrom the Takuba force. Created in March 2020, Takuba is a coalition of "specialforces" of around 900 people, under French command, which includes Swedish,Estonian, Italian, Romanian, Czech squads... It is the "European" guarantee ofinterventionism French in the Sahel, and Paris has gone out of its way to bringreluctant allies into this task force.The snub inflicted on the Danes - who,furious, left Mali - ruined the French efforts to make this coalition exist.Three days later, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian railed against an"illegitimate" junta taking "irresponsible measures". Immediate reply: the Frenchambassador was expelled from Mali: an earthquake in Françafrique! Inmid-February, finally, Paris announced the end of Operation Barkhane in Mali.The French army therefore retreated to Niger: in Niamey, from where its dronesand hunters took off, and in Aguelal, a base located not far from the Arlituranium mine - in 2020, 35% of uranium imported to supply the French nuclearfleet was from Niger[1]. It's a safe bet that, from Niger, the French air forcewill continue to track down the jihadists in the Malian desert, with the tacitagreement of Bamako.After the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian (here visiting CampKosseï, in 2016), railed against an "illegitimate" junta, the French ambassadorwas expelled from Mali. An earthquake in Françafrique!ECOWAS sanctionsMake no mistake: the Malian junta is by no means anti-imperialist. It only wantsto replace a sponsor deemed inefficient and cumbersome - the French State - byanother sponsor deemed more pragmatic and expeditious - Russia. We are heretypically in a policy of competition between foreign powers and, within theMalian army, the pro-Russian fraction - heir to the ties of friendship with theUSSR dating back to the 1960s - prevailed over the traditional pro-Frenchfraction. Wagner's fees would amount to 10 million dollars per month according tothe (unverifiable) figures circulating. If they are not paid, the company has ahabit of paying itself off, by obtaining mining concessions - because Mali isrich in gold. French imperialism, however, has not said its last word and,Economically strangled, despoiled, the Malian people are taken hostage. The"endless war" will continue. The French State was an obstacle to a politicalsolution[2], sought by the partisans of a dialogue and a "nationalreconciliation"[3]. The Wagner agency, whose interest is precisely that theconflict lasts indefinitely, will be an equally formidable obstacle.Guillaume Davranche (UCL Montreuil)To validate[1]Euratom figure quoted by Le Monde, January 24, 2022.[2]"Why the French army must leave the Sahel" , Alternative Libertaire, June 2020.[3]Aminata Dramane Traoré: "Neoliberalism has Operation Barkhane as its strongarm" , Alternative Libertaire, November 2020.https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Mali-Francafrique-Russafrique-changement-de-carcan_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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