Why Islamic terror in Mali bodes very ill for Europe

sgberman.com ^ | 11/20/2015 | Steve Berman

[lifeofgrace]

Overnight, Islamic terrorists took 170 hostages at a hotel in Mali.  Why would Islamic terrorists take hostages in Mali?  Most Americans don’t even know what continent Mali is on (Africa), or where it is in Africa (I admit, I had to look on a map).  What’s special about Mali?  Turns out, quite a bit.

Mali is former French colony, now an Islamic state.  It’s a poor—very, very poor land-locked country.  Let’s unpack all the history and current entanglements and see where it leads.

Going back into history, from the Left’s viewpoint, those Western Christian colonialists who try to spread their filthy Western values to “savages” in other places—you know, the Crusaders that President Obama keeps bringing up—they took the magical empire of Mali and incorporated it into their filthy empire.  So to them, the hostage-taking is just payback (like every other terror attack).

According to Wikipedia (it’s all I had time to Google), the Mali Empire at one time had a “flourishing of mathematics, astronomy, literature, and art.”  This was in the year 1300.  Since then, it has slid down a sort of corruption-laced malaise into abject poverty.

France seized Mali sometime in the 1880’s as part of their strategy to build an empire controlling all the caravan routes through north Africa from the Niger River to the Nile.

Contrary to the Left’s “Crusader” narrative, in the 1880’s, the French Republic was certainly not Christian (having thrown that elephant from its back in the French Revolution and subsequent Napoleonic periods).  Nope: France was after a pure power play, a feeding-frenzy in Africa, along with Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Portugal, Italy, Russia and Spain.  The United States never participated in this continental rape; in the late 1800’s, we had our own problems.

Mali gained its independence in 1960, about the time the rest of Europe’s colonial domination of Africa fell apart.  In 1991, a coup led to Mali to become a “democracy,” based on Sharia law.  Yes, that’s a contradiction, but make no mistake: Mali is an Islamic state, but by French standards, a "tame" one.

The last time Islamists attempted a coup in Mali, the French military stepped in like an angry stepdad (under cover of a U.N. Security Council resolution) with their fighter jets and infantry and put things right.

This attack is a clear signal to the French.  ISIS attacks Paris, the French attack ISIS, and ISIS attacks Mali, which is largely controlled by French interests.  The guests and staff at the Radisson probably speak French (as they do in many central African nations).

So, today, the Malian military stormed the hotel and freed some of the hostages taken by terrorists, who shouted "Allahu Akbar” as they took over the Radisson Blu hotel.  (An aside: it’s likely the Malian military is also made up of Muslims.)

The message: it’s open season on the French.  And soon it will be open season on the Germans, British, and the rest of the E.U.  Islamists like Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a terrorist since the 1970’s and one of the leaders of the 2013 coup attempt in Mali, are still around, biding their time, and eager to work with ISIS, which is the terrorist haven of their dreams—the SPECTRE they’ve been waiting for all these years.  Belmokhtar fled to Libya in 2013, and now hangs out somewhere in Algeria or Chad.

This whole situation brings to mind former Libyan “maximum leader” Muammar Gaddafi’s pronouncement in 2006: “We have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe—without swords, without guns, without conquest—will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.”

ISIS isn’t satisfied with a “few decades.”  They are a cancer on three continents, and spreading rapidly to the rest of the world, and they are making Africa their new lever to overthrow its former European masters.

Sadly, all out war will soon descend upon Europe once again.

[surroundedbyblue]

Well with Hollande’s recent announcement that he’s accepting 30,000 refugees and that “life must go on” less than a week after the Paris attacks, it seems the Euroweenies are either willfully obtuse or hopelessly stupid. Either way, they get what they deserve. Same with the U.S. I’ve met more people this week in support of these Syrian refugees coming to America than not. How can people be so blind, so dumb, and so foolish?? And they still support Obama!!

[silverleaf]

The French were just about to move some of their Mali troops to Syria or related anti terror ops, and the UN or EU was going to send Irish troops to Mali to replace them

What a world of peace and tolerance, eh Mr Hollande?
God help the people in the hotel, it could be anywhere, any time

[Verginius Rufus]

Mali used to be the French Sudan, part of French West Africa. Those who don't keep up with current events may not realize that the French Sudan changed its name to Mali (convenient for avoiding confusion with the other Sudan).

I wasn't aware that Russia ever had any colonies in Africa.

[lifeofgrace]

I wasn't aware that Russia ever had any colonies in Africa.

In 1889, Russia occupied Sagalio, now known as Djibouti. It didn't go well, and lasted about 2 months before the Tsar disavowed it and so ended Russia's foray into Africa.

[Verginius Rufus]

Thanks. I was unaware of that venture.