New Al Qaeda Stronghold in Mali

[Flesh Thorn]

MOPTI, Mali – Deep inside caves, in remote desert bases, in the escarpments and cliff faces of northern Mali, Islamic fighters are burrowing into the earth, erecting a formidable set of defenses to protect what has essentially become Al Qaeda's new country.

They have used the bulldozers, earth movers and Caterpillar machines left behind by fleeing construction crews to dig what residents and local officials describe as an elaborate network of tunnels, trenches, shafts and ramparts. In just one case, inside a cave large enough to drive trucks into, they have stored up to 100 drums of gasoline, guaranteeing their fuel supply in the face of a foreign intervention, according to experts.

Northern Mali is now the biggest territory held by Al Qaeda and its allies. And as the world hesitates, delaying a military intervention, the extremists who seized control of the area earlier this year are preparing for a war they boast will be worse than the decade-old struggle in Afghanistan.

"Al-Qaeda never owned Afghanistan," said former United Nations diplomat Robert Fowler, a Canadian kidnapped and held for 130 days by Al Qaeda's local chapter, whose fighters now control the main cities in the north. "They do own northern Mali."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/31 ... z2GeHIslHp

[Jim]

And so the struggle continues.

[rgrokelley]

I'm beginning to wonder about my past. I climbed mountains in Pakistan, operating out of Abottabad. Later, turned into Al Qaeda stronghold. So, later on I operated out of Mopti and Segou. Spent more time there than in Fort Bragg for about four years. Now it is an Al Qaeda stronghold.

You know, if Sanford, NC becomes an Al Qaeda stronghold, I'm going to think I'm a mole, with memory issues.

[RangerX]

And to think, roughly two years ago I interviewed for a temp job detail there to develop a tourism/recreation guide.

I remember you asking 'bout it at the time.

This year one of Santa's stops on the NORAD tracking site was Timbuktu. My kids know that the 'Real' Santa uses stealth and is untrackable, so they asked if the 'Real' Santa would actually stop in Timbuktu, a memorable name that kids have fun saying. I told them "Hell no, Santa is too smart to stop in that shithole. Or most of Africa for that matter." My wife gave me the glare, but she knows I'm right.

Any time I encounter some smug douchewaffle Euro-weenie hatin' on our imperial ways, I only have to point to Africa. I don't think there is a single country in the EU without African blood/shit on their hands.