Leading From Behind II: Obama Trains Mali Troops Who Join Al Qaeda, Refuses to Defend Mali

Can Obama's lack of a foreign policy get even worse?

Now, it turns out France has been left to its own devices as it struglles to conrain an Al Qaeda-led rebellion in Mali, featuring tropss we trained, gave intellignece, and armed, who have joined rebels attempting to overthrow the Mali government.

French fighter jets struck deep inside Islamist strongholds in northern Mali on Sunday, shoving aside months of international hesitation about storming the region.
...
For years, the United States tried to stem the spread of Islamic militancy in the region ... .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.

Then an American-trained officer overthrew Mali’s elected government, setting the stage for more than half of the country to fall into the hands of Islamic extremists. American spy planes and surveillance drones have tried to make sense of the mess, but American officials and their allies are still scrambling even to get a detailed picture of who they are up against.

www.nytimes.com...

This, from Obama stalwarts and sycophants at the New York Times!

Details of the horrible failure are available, and spreading across other, less biased media.

Call it “leading from behind,” Part II.

What is worse is that the Islamist rebellion has used American-trained soldiers and officers who defected from Mali’s regular army last year, taking their counter-terrorism training, their advanced combat skills, and their knowledge of western intelligence methods with them. France is now facing off against an Islamist foe that the United States has unwittingly assisted--and the U.S. is barely offering help.

When Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney raised the issue of Mali during the debates last fall, the media reacted with amusement. A few briefly noted that Mali was, indeed, a “serious problem”--that the collapse of the country could create a safe haven for Al Qaeda in the heart of Africa. Others, such as Bill Maher, mocked Romney, secure in the understanding that nothing the Republican said could be taken seriously.

One reason that Americans had not heard much about Mali is the near-total lack of interest by the mainstream media in focusing on the flaws in President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. During the Bush administration, there were near-daily reports of deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, and deep analyses of how U.S. intervention policy was creating new dangers. Today, the media are uninterested in foreign policy--even in U.S. deaths ...

The coup in Mali--carried out by an American-trained officer--surprised U.S. intelligence as U.S-trained Malian defectors teamed up with ex-Libyan soldiers and Islamist militias to carve out an Al Qaeda haven in the north of the country. “The same American-trained units that had been seen as the best hope of repelling such an advance proved, in the end, to be a linchpin in the country’s military defeat,” the Times notes.
...
The Islamist rebels are imposing sharia law, and busily destroying ancient tombs, historic landmarks and UN World Heritage Sites in Timbuktu--much as the Taliban destroyed the 2,000-year-old Buddhas of Bamiyan, among other priceless artifacts of pre-Islamic civilization, in early 2001. Meanwhile, paltry U.S. efforts to help neighboring states contain the rebellion have failed--and the French have decided to act decisively.

We have reached a new low in American foreign policy when France leads international intervention against Al Qaeda to fix a mess partly of American making. It is worth noting that France did not wait for a mandate from the UN, from the Arab League, or even from NATO in order to do what is necessary to prevent a regional collapse from becoming a global menace. Leading from behind is not leading at all--much to the world’s detriment
.

France Strikes in Mali After U.S. Strategy Collapses.

www.cbsnews.com...

France seeks allies in Mali operation

How much of the Middle East and Africa do we have to turn over to militant Islamists before the MSM takes more notice, or Obama develops a spine?

Hi,

I posted about this this morning. It makes me ill, what is going on.

www.abovetopsecret.com...


Not only did an American trained person precipitate the coup, there has been a near total media blackout about this.

We aided France to attempt to get a French prisoner, and ended up with a dead prisoner, a dead French military troop, and now a captured French military troop.

These are AQ from Libya involved, as well.

So this weekend, we get involved in yet another potential war, and ATS is silent.

All I have to say is when in the hell are we going to stop training foreign troops? What types of idiots give away their secret military tactical techniques willingly? How many times has this come to bite us in the ass? Let everybody go screw who need to have us train them, let them learn their own techniques.

Originally posted by dizzie56
All I have to say is when in the hell are we going to stop training foreign troops? What types of idiots give away their secret military tactical techniques willingly? How many times has this come to bite us in the ass? Let everybody go screw who need to have us train them, let them learn their own techniques.

The real question should be, who tipped them off they were coming to rescue the prisoner? They got wind of it and killed him. Why did we send fighter jets with no bombs?

Support France? More like ambush.

reply to post by Libertygal

It seems that ignorance, apathy and a growing surrender to perceived impotence is taking hold to a degree that "facts" are only those things spoon-fed to us by the MSM and government.

No one seems able or willing to think or research for themselves. How many times do we see a post or thread ask for help in finding an answer readily available with just a modicum of efort and creativity?

We are going to end up as slaves, and wonder, "How did that happen?"

It is sad and pathetic that France takes the lead (again) in defiance of despots and terrorists while the Obama administration sits on its hands.

jw

Originally posted by dizzie56
All I have to say is when in the hell are we going to stop training foreign troops? What types of idiots give away their secret military tactical techniques willingly? How many times has this come to bite us in the ass? Let everybody go screw who need to have us train them, let them learn their own techniques.

One area ripe for spending cuts is so-called "foreign aid" (now at $60 billion+) that serves to support failing regimes and dictatorships; they are failing for a reason.

reply to post by Libertygal

The real question should be, who tipped them off they were coming to rescue the prisoner? They got wind of it and killed him. Why did we send fighter jets with no bombs?

Support France? More like ambush.

There's little evidence we provided any meaningful "support" to prevent a (another) dead foreign service officer, and (more) dead special forces.

Seems like everything Obama gets into over seas supports radical Islam.
Almost as if there were a purpose behind it.

reply to post by badgerprints

Almost?

Do we need any more proof?
When the Muslim Brotherhood are feted with a State Dinner, will that be enough to convince?

Originally posted by dizzie56
All I have to say is when in the hell are we going to stop training foreign troops?

Don't you mean foreign terrorists?

reply to post by DarknStormy

Are we even sure anymore of the difference?

We ally ourselves with the Muslim Brotherhood, the National Intelligence Chief denies they are terrorists.
We arm Libyan rebels who turn out to be Qaeda affiliates.
We negotiate behind the scenes and without MSM exposure with Taliban who then kill Americans and other forces seling to sevure Afghanistan from their despotism.
We send billions to Palistanis who hide and provide intelligence to bin Laden and terrorists.

This administration could not formulate a more effective method to undermine our influence and peaceful democracies in the Middle East and North Africa.

Originally posted by jdub297
reply to post by badgerprints

 

Almost?

Do we need any more proof?
When the Muslim Brotherhood are feted with a State Dinner, will that be enough to convince?

I guess ATS missed this. I hesitated to post. I guess I should have.

www.investigativeproject.org...

Egyptian Magazine: Muslim Brotherhood Infiltrates Obama Administration
by John Rossomando • Jan 3, 2013 at 1:10 pm



An Egyptian magazine claims that six American Islamist activists who work with the Obama administration are Muslim Brotherhood operatives who enjoy strong influence over U.S. policy.

The Dec. 22 story published in Egypt's Rose El-Youssef magazine (read an IPT translation here) suggests the six turned the White House "from a position hostile to Islamic groups and organizations in the world to the largest and most important supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood."

The story is largely unsourced, but its publication is considered significant in raising the issue to Egyptian readers.

The six named people include: Arif Alikhan, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for policy development; Mohammed Elibiary, a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council; Rashad Hussain, the U.S. special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference; Salam al-Marayati, co-founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC); Imam Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); and Eboo Patel, a member of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships.

Alikhan is a founder of the World Islamic Organization, which the magazine identifies as a Brotherhood "subsidiary." It suggests that Alikhan was responsible for the "file of Islamic states" in the White House and that he provides the direct link between the Obama administration and the Arab Spring revolutions of 2011.

Elibiary, who has endorsed the ideas of radical Muslim Brotherhood luminary Sayyid Qutb, may have leaked secret materials contained in Department of Homeland Security databases, according to the magazine. He, however, denies having any connection with the Brotherhood.

(snip)

Magid heads ISNA, which was founded by Brotherhood members, was appointed by Obama in 2011 as an adviser to the Department of Homeland Security. The magazine says that has also given speeches and conferences on American Middle East policy at the State Department and offered advice to the FBI.

(bold emphasis mine)