The Current Crisis In Mali Exposes A Major Failure Of U.S. Policy In The Country

French Strikes in Mali Supplant Caution of U.S. -- New York Times

BAMAKO, Mali — French fighter jets struck deep inside Islamist strongholds in northern Mali on Sunday, shoving aside months of international hesitation about storming the region after every other effort by the United States and its allies to thwart the extremists had failed.

For years, the United States tried to stem the spread of Islamic militancy in the region by conducting its most ambitious counterterrorism program ever across these vast, turbulent stretches of the Sahara.

But as insurgents swept through the desert last year, commanders of this nation’s elite army units, the fruit of years of careful American training, defected when they were needed most — taking troops, guns, trucks and their newfound skills to the enemy in the heat of battle, according to senior Malian military officials.

“It was a disaster,” said one of several senior Malian officers to confirm the defections.

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My Comment: This New York Times article is brutal in bluntly hinting that America's policy towards Mali has been a complete failure. Quoting one senior Malian officer .... “it was a disaster”. And what is worse is that after longstanding American warnings that a Western assault on the Islamist stronghold could rally jihadists around the world and prompt terrorist attacks as far away as Europe .... the French have entered the war themselves. In short .... the French have calculated that the American approach towards Mali has been a failure and that it now directly threatens French interests in the region and maybe France itself.

What's my take .... the French are right. Mali has become a disaster for U.S. policy, and with Al Qaeda now firmly entrenched in northern Mali, we are now facing a situation where Al Qaeda's safe haven can now directly target Western interests throughout western Africa and (maybe) Europe itself. As to why has the White House downplayed the role and success of Al Qaeda in Mali for the past year .... and the threat that they may possess ... your guess is as good as mine.