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• NAKED 12 years ago

  Mali at first glance seems a most unlikely place for the NATO powers, led by a neo-colonialist French government of Socialist President Francois Hollande (and quietly backed to the hilt by the Obama Administration), to launch ...
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  Mali at first glance seems a most unlikely place for the NATO powers, led by a neo-colonialist French government of Socialist President Francois Hollande (and quietly backed to the hilt by the Obama Administration), to launch what is being called by some a new Thirty Years’ War Against Terrorism.
  
  Mali, with a population of some 12 million, and a landmass three and a half times the size of Germany, is a land-locked largely Saharan Desert country in the center of western Africa, bordered by Algeria to its north, Mauritania to its west, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Niger to its southern part. People I know who have spent time there before the recent US-led efforts at destabilization called it one of the most peaceful and beautiful places on earth, the home of Timbuktu. Its people are some ninety percent Muslim of varying persuasions. It has a rural subsistence agriculture and adult illiteracy of nearly 50%. Yet this country is suddenly the center of a new global “war on terror.”
  
  On January 20 Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron announced his country’s curious resolve to dedicate itself to deal with “the terrorism threat” in Mali and north Africa. Cameron declared, “It will require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months, and it requires a response that…has an absolutely iron resolve…” [1] Britain in its colonial heyday never had a stake in Mali. Until it won independence in 1960, Mali was a French colony.
  
  On January 11, after more than a year of behind-the-scenes pressure on the neighboring Algeria to get them entangled in an invasion of its neighbor Mali, Hollande decided to make a direct French military intervention with US backing. His government launched air strikes in the rebel-held north of Mali against a fanatical Salafist band of jihadist cutthroats calling itself Al-Qaeda in the Islamic-Mahgreb (AQIM). The pretext for the seemingly swift French action was a military move by a tiny group of Islamic Jihadists of the Tuareg people, Asnar Dine, affiliated with the larger AQIM. On January 10 Asnar Dine – backed by other Islamist groups – attacked the southern town of Konna. That marked the first time since the Tuareg rebellion in early 2012 that Jihadist rebels moved out of traditional Tuareg territory in the northern desert to spread Islamic law to the south of Mali.
  
  As French journalist Thierry Meyssan noted, French forces were remarkably well prepared: “The transitional President, Dioncounda Traore, declared a state of emergency and called to France for help. Paris intervened within hours to prevent the fall of the capital, Bamako. Far-sightedly, the Elysée had already pre-positioned in Mali troops from the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (“the Colonials”) and the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment, helicopters from the COS (Special Operations Command), three Mirage 2000D’s, two Mirage F-1’s, three C135’s, a C130 Hercules and a C160 Transall.” [2] What a convenient coincidence.
  
  By January 21 US Air Force transport planes began delivering hundreds of French elite soldiers and military equipment to Mali, ostensibly to roll back what we were told was an out-of-control terrorist advance south towards the Mali capital. [3] French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told media the number of its ‘boots on the ground’ in Mali had reached 2,000, adding that “around 4,000 troops will be mobilized for this operation,” in Mali and outside bases. [4]
  
  But there are strong indications the French agenda in Mali is anything but humanitarian. In a France 5 TV interview, Le Drian carelessly admitted, “The goal is the total reconquest of Mali. We will not leave any pockets.” And President Francois Hollande said French troops would remain in the region long enough “to defeat terrorism.” The United States, Canada, Britain, Belgium, Germany and Denmark have all said they would support the French operation against Mali. [5]
  
  Mali itself, like much of Africa is rich in raw materials. It has large reserves of gold, uranium and most recently, though western oil companies try to hide it, of oil, lots of oil. The French preferred to ignore Mali’s vast resources, keeping it a poor subsistence agriculture country. Under the deposed democratically-elected President Amadou Toumani Toure, for the first time the government initiated a systematic mapping of the vast wealth under its soil. According to Mamadou Igor Diarra, previous mining minister, Malian soil contains copper, uranium, phosphate, bauxite, gems and in particular, a large percentage of gold in addition to oil and gas. Thus, Mali is one of the countries in the world with the most raw materials. With its gold mining, the country is already one of the leading exploiters directly behind South Africa and Ghana. [6] Two thirds of France’s electricity is from nuclear power and sources of new uranium are essential. Presently, France draws significant uranium imports from neighboring Niger.
  
  Now the picture gets a little complex.
  
  According to usually reliable former US military experts with direct familiarity with the region, speaking on condition of anonymity, US and NATO Special Forces actually trained the same “terrorist” bands now justifying a neo-colonial US-backed invasion of Mali by France. The major question is why would Washington and Paris train the terrorists they are now acting to destroy in a “war on terror?” Were they really surprised at the lack of NATO loyalty from their trainees? And what is behind AFRICOM’s American-backed French takeover of Mali?

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• gretchy 12 years ago

  wot da fuk has that shit got to do with nursing geeze.U spreading rumours

  wot da fuk has that shit got to do with nursing geeze.U spreading rumours

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• OZA 12 years ago

  I hope you are talking about some few (bad)nurses in Ghana. Nursing of course is a noble profession. However there are always bad apples among every profession including Doctors and even Pastors. I empathize with your terribl ...
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  I hope you are talking about some few (bad)nurses in Ghana. Nursing of course is a noble profession. However there are always bad apples among every profession including Doctors and even Pastors. I empathize with your terrible experience but that is more about personal behavior of those nurses and NOT about the profession. For, Nurses are NOT taught to behave that way in school.

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• augiman Bening 12 years ago

  is a noble profession always. remember in every field there are bad nuts among. we can't say every one in the police department take bribe. again is not every teacher that goes to class everyday, some use students to even far ...
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  is a noble profession always. remember in every field there are bad nuts among. we can't say every one in the police department take bribe. again is not every teacher that goes to class everyday, some use students to even farm to their advantage so my brother if u have a problem with a nurse or don't understand why a nurse did act the way he/she did, kindly ask for clearance for u have a right to ask as a client to us

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• A citizen 12 years ago

  We cannot defend the bad behavior of some nurses,in fact they should be condemned for behaviors that leads to the loss of precious lives. But as a nation do we consider their profession as noble, when newly trained nurses wil ...
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  We cannot defend the bad behavior of some nurses,in fact they should be condemned for behaviors that leads to the loss of precious lives. But as a nation do we consider their profession as noble, when newly trained nurses will go to work for almost 24 months without pay as in the recent case at Korle- Bu?. As the saying goes,"a hungry man is an angry man". Let us treat them as noble men and women and demand quality service from them.

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• Johnny 12 years ago

  Is true some nurses dont like the profession but are in for the money and thinking they will go abroad to work after their service.Well is the way they are train now.Through training they have to let them know that is not eas ...
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  Is true some nurses dont like the profession but are in for the money and thinking they will go abroad to work after their service.Well is the way they are train now.Through training they have to let them know that is not easy at the word.

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• joe sala 12 years ago

  I fully understand where you are coming from regarding the alleged deplorable way your friend's colleague was treated by midwives at the hospital. Much as I would like to utterly condemn such an appalling if not criminal beha ...
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  I fully understand where you are coming from regarding the alleged deplorable way your friend's colleague was treated by midwives at the hospital. Much as I would like to utterly condemn such an appalling if not criminal behaviour I would like to point out that this is a national problem that cuts across most professions in Ghana. The thing is no one appears to be accountable for what they do or don't do. There appears to be a complete breakdown of law and order in all walks of life even with people who are supposed to be men of God and judges. These shameful behaviours will not not stop unless we as a people begin to have some social conscience as those in civilised counties.

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