Trouble in Mali

[rachelnguyen]

This just in. Folks are protesting the coup today. I am praying it remains peaceful.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa ... fter_coup/

[michi]

Not looking good

Gains of Mali's Tuareg rebels appear permanent, analysts say

Michi.

[EvanP]

Wow. Not at all.

[rachelnguyen]

Prayers and more prayers.

[michi]

Mali coup leaders agree to civilian power transfer

Truly stunning. A handful of idiots decide to stage a coup—six weeks before a scheduled election—and, as a result, Mali loses the entire northeastern half of the country (more than half, in area, actually) to the rebels. What will follow is almost certain: military action in the rebel area, lots of civilian lives lost, lots of misery, and unstable conditions in the country for years to come. Well done!

Michi.

[e2c]

The northeastern part of the country would (imo) have likely become further destabilized without any "help" from the military coup.

(Gotta admit that I do feel a certain amount of sympathy for the Tuareg and northern Fulani in Mali and adjacent countries... they had no say in where the borders between countries were drawn; it seems to have been pretty arbitrary.)

[michi]

I agree, trouble has been brewing there for a long time. But, the way it looks, once Mali has a recognized government again and sanctions are lifted, military aid will be made available to take back the areas that were recently lost to the rebels. That definitely won't be good for civilians…

I have sympathy for the Tuareg cause as well. But the way they acquired the territory may not actually end up being in their interest in the long run.

Michi.

[rachelnguyen]

The issue is further complicated by the fact that there are several factions in the North which are going to be jockying for power and control. The Al Quaida cell is one. The Ansar Dine group is another. They are the ones that want to impose shariah law on the whole country.

I have some sympathy for the Tuareg's too.... but the fact is there have been other ethnic groups in that territory for centuries.... (The Songhai, for example, have been in Gao since the Mali Empire.) I have friends from inside the territory the Tuareg's are now claiming. I just don't think that you can arbitrarily take territory that has been cohabited in by different peoples for a thousand years.

This crisis has been so unpredictable right from the first day. I can't even begin to imagine how it is going to unfold at this point.

[e2c]

Agreed on people arbitrarily taking territory, but... that's what happens in most (if not all) wars.

And civilians and the innocent suffer.

I do hope that things become as stable as possible - and as soon as possible - in a good way. (One that brings the least amount of harm and that is good for all.)

*

On another aspect of this, I just found out today that the French weren't able to "crack" Tuareg territory until 1920, which means that they were just about the last people colonized... no wonder they're fighting now. (I realize that the issue is very complex and hate to be simplistic about it here, but surely the same feelings that kept out the French for so long are active now.)

*Nobody* got to draw the borders when the French were there, let alone when they left... and I know of at least one Malian teacher here in the US who will wax eloquent on how Guinea is *really* part of Mali (since it was part of the empire at one time).

So there are all kinds of views out there.

[rachelnguyen]

There are all kinds of views... that is true. Even among my Malian friends, there are radically different opinions of what is going on.

I am tremendously grateful that there has been so little bloodshed to this point. One of my biggest fears early on was that there would be an attempt to regain control by violent means... in the center of Bamako. That has not come to pass, thank God. It seems to me that the pressure ECOWAS applied was the deciding factor. (The modern equivalent of a siege, really.)

It seems incredible to me that the Coup leaders have actually transferred power back to the civilians... and that ATT has resigned. In my Panglossian world, that indicates that everyone is genuinely looking for a reasonable solution.

Now, for the North. Apparently because they did it during a coup, the MNLA claim of independence actually has some legitimacy based on international law. We shall see.

[Daniel Preissler]

good evening!

how Guinea is *really* part of Mali (since it was part of the empire at one time).

it's even more complicated. We can't say Guinea was part of Mali once and is not today. Today's Mali is not that directly historically related to the Mali (or Melli) empire in the 13th-15th century. Or in other words: Guinea could have taken the name of Mali as well. The biggest Maninka town of 1958/60 was Kankan, Sundyata's capital was Niani - both in the territory of the odern state Guinea.
At the same time, the modern state République du Mali is dominated by a 25% Bambara population, not by a Maninka population (Bambara was a little vasal of the Mali empire and became two slave catching and trading kingdoms in the 17th or 18th century). The Republic of Mali was founded after a political clash between the groups of Modibo Keita (Maninka) and Léopold Senghor (Wolof, wasn't he?) in July or August 1960 about the question of who (and how) should lead the new built "Mali Federation" (capital: Dakar, in a region that was not or not directly part of the Mali empire).
They had been looking for a "great historical" name for their federation. And as there were only 3 possibilities, and Songhai or Gao was ethnically too related to the Songhay population (and the french colonies of Sudan and Senegal to much in the west) and Ghana was already taken (strange idea: the Gana empire had not reached the Gold Coast), they took "Mali". In the end, the guys in Dakar decided to make a France related state without there semi-socialist "friends" in Bamako and to keep the colony's name (Senegal). So they called the Bamako state with half of the desert (where Maninka and Bambara only had come through as slaves before) "Mali".

Funny history!!

Greets, Daniel

[e2c]

Excellent post - though it won't keep some people from believing in incorrect versions of history.

[Daniel Preissler]

e2c,
inike! n bara sewa (I'm happy)
Daniel

[Paul]

In the end, the guys in Dakar decided to make a France related state without there semi-socialist "friends" in Bamako and to keep the colony's name (Senegal)

If I ever write a book can I quote that?

[Daniel Preissler]

sure! d;-)
but please send me a copy!