French forces take action against Mali Islamists

[No Elephants]

Jan 11, 7:01 PM EST

French forces take action against Mali Islamists

By BABA AHMED and SYLVIE CORBET
Associated Press

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) -- France launched airstrikes Friday to help the government of Mali defeat al-Qaida-linked militants who captured more ground this week, dramatically raising the stakes in the battle for this vast desert nation.

French President Francois Hollande said the "terrorist groups, drug traffickers and extremists" in northern Mali "show a brutality that threatens us all." He vowed that the operation would last "as long as necessary."

France said it was taking the action in Mali at the request of President Dioncounda Traore, who declared a state of emergency because of the militants' advance.

The arrival of the French troops in their former colony came a day after the Islamists moved the closest yet toward territory still under government control and fought the Malian military for the first time in months, seizing the strategic city of Konna.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_MALI_FIGHTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-01-11-19-01-58

Hmmm. So France is going to sent its young people to die in Mali because good ole Dioncounda made a request and drug traffickers threaten the entire world?

I guess expending blood and treasure decade after decade in half-assed drug wars makes more sense than taking the profit out of drug trafficking.

By the way, I can remember when I never heard the word "Islamists," only "Muslims." Now, it seems we have to have two words, "Muslim" for the Muslims we like (or at least won't publicly condemn because we are a nation founded not on Christianity, but on freedom of religion and there's only so far our hypocrisy can go) and Islamists when Muslims are doing things we don't like.

Guess it's a little like "Christians" versus "members of a Christian cult?"

[Enthusiast]

1. Yeah.

We could take the profit out of the drug trade in one day. The value of drugs would drop off the cliff. People in high places do not want this to happen.

We could treat addiction as a medical addiction issue instead of a crime-punishment issue. Unfortunately this would upset "their" precious status quo.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/outrageous-hsbc-settlement-proves-the-drug-war-is-a-joke-20121213

[No Elephants]

2. Not to mention taking a lot of money away from those running private prisons--

and the judges they bribe to give heavy sentences, too.

What the fuck are you trying to do, Enthusiast, cool down this blazing economic recovery?

[Enthusiast]

3. Actually I do wonder what

part illegal drug sales play in the economy. I would guess it is a huge part of the economy. Last I heard marijuana was a leading cash crop in Ohio, California and Kentucky, to name three. Just imagine, more value than lettuce and wine grapes in California and more money than corn and soybeans in Ohio. People have real jobs growing and selling dope. Legalizing marijuana might actually destroy the nation's economy. I am sure the PTB are aware of this.

[No Elephants]

6. States are starting to do that, but, as we all know, Holder has been acting against it anyway.

Several years ago, Massachusetts de-criminalized "possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use" via a ballot question. Guess even in Massachusetts, the legislature was too chicken simply to pass a law. The one cop who appeared in an ad before the vote urged us to vote for decriminalization.

Marijuana for medical purposes has been legal in California for years, too, but that did not stop Holder from raiding places that make it available to folks with a frickin' prescription for pity sake.


Democratic legislators pressed and pressed the head of the DEA to say that marijuana was not, or should not be, as much of a DEA priority as heroin, but she would not budge.

However, Obama said after his re-election that it is not his priority, whatever that means. I wonder if he's shared that with his head of DEA and his head of D of J.

If your head is spinning at this point, don't worry. That would be a very normal reaction to the facts in this post.

[Leopolds Ghost]

4. This is a neocolonial adventure I can get behind purely because

The "Islamists" are destroying the cultural heritage of the (Islamic) Mali empire, the only precolonial libraries in Sub Saharan Africa. Of course the (racist) French soldiers probably don't care about those world heritage sites... but at least it will save Timbuktu (for all we know they've demolished half of Timbuktu, an Al Quaeda affiliated party took over there and started killing people, banned music and secular writing, killing musicians and burning thousandf year old books)

[Enthusiast]

5. They are not a pleasant bunch, Al Quaeda.

Banning music. And burning books! Not to mention how they treat women.

[No Elephants]

7. I wonder if we don't overuse the term Al Qaeeda, though.

I think the media does, be it out of genuine ignorance or political expediency.

I don't think every Muslim or Muslim group that does things we don't like is Al Qaeeda.

And I think mistreatment of women is very common among Muslims in other countries and we did before Al Qaeeda even formed. Hell, we've even had so-called "honor" killings here (an ugly misnomer if I ever heard one).

IMO, having a women covered in black layers, literally from head to toe, in countries where the temperature can hit 120 and over is in itself mistreatment. Not every home or tent is air conditioned, either. Far from it, in fact. That has been going on for a very long time, before Al Qaeeda was formed. I would guess the same about book burning, honor killings, etc.

(In case you're wondering, I am using a spelling that is the closest I can get to the way an Egyptian I know pronounces it.)

[No Elephants]

8. It's hard to parse right and wrong in some situations; and this is probably one of them.

I guess you were beside yourself when we allowed emptying of the museum in Baghdad.

I was.

I still remember Dennis Miller's insane comment about that. "It doesn't matter. Their new shit is the same as their shit."

So, I guess ancient tablets and a hut made the same-ish clay as ancient tablets are interchangeable in his pathetically deteriorated mind.

By his standard, I guess every oil painting is interchangeable, so it would also be okay if Dummya had allowed people to walk off with the contents of the Louvre.

What bullshit people spin in defense of their Party's Preznut, eh?

[Enthusiast]

9. Dennis Miller imagines that the history of Islam

stretches far into the past, pre-CE. It's a common enough mistake among the uninformed. Nearly everyone on the right is completely ignorant of history. Ever notice that? At any rate I have zero respect for the asshole.

[No Elephants]

10. Bile corroded his brain.