The coup in Mali arises partly from the blowback following the NATO destruction of Libya, part of the counter revolution against the Arab Spring, and from the train and equip activities AFRICOM has been conducting in Mali for much of this century. Train and equip laid the groundwork; the return from the ruins of Libya of militant and well armed Tuareg rebels provided the trigger. I wrote about the AFRICOM threat to Malian democracy back in 2009, US Policy Versus Democracy In Mali. The picture below is just one piece of the ongoing train and equip activities. There are a couple more pictures at the end of this post. Read the earlier post for more detail. When your only significant investment in a country is military train and equip, you are prepping that country for military government.
BAMAKO, Mali - U.S. Army Master Sergeant Robert Price stands with Malian soldiers he helped train as he is congratulated by Malian Minister of Defense Natie Pleah during a Counter Terrorism Train and Equip (CTTE) transfer of equipment ceremony in Bamako, October 20, 2009. Price, a logistics NCO with Special Operations Command Africa's Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trans Sahara, supervised maintenance and supply accountability training provided to Malian soldiers for tactical vehicles and communications equipment transferred to Malian units. Under the U.S. State Department's Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism Program (TSCTP), U.S. Africa Command's Operation Enduring Freedom-Trans Sahara (OEF-TS) Counter Terrorism Train and Equip initiative provided 37 brand-new Toyota Land Cruiser pickup trucks and high-tech communications equipment that will allow Malian military units to move, transport and communicate across vast expanses of open desert in the northern region of the country. In addition, replacement parts, clothing, individual equipment and other supplies will be provided in the next few weeks as part of a U.S. government capacity-building equipment transfer totaling more than $5 million. The CTTE program is designed to develop stronger military-to-military relationships while underscoring U.S. support for partner nation sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. (Photo by Max R. Blumenfeld, JSOTF-TS PAO)
Based on the accounts so far, it appears the coup may not even have been planned, it may have been spontaneous, arising from an argument between the military and the government at a meeting to discuss the handling of the Tuareg rebellion in the north. However, the groundwork for a coup was all in place, including the education of its leader:
Mali’s Tuareg rebels advance as world condemns coup
The green-beret mid-ranking captain, [Captain Amadou Sanogo] who speaks with a raspy voice, also revealed he had spent much time at training programmes in the United States, in Georgia and at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia.
He said he was trained under a US scholarship as an English instructor
And from another source:
Sanogo, who said he had received “training from U.S. Marines and intelligence”, said, he would not remain in power but refused to give a timeframe for restoring civilian rule.
The New York Times tells us more about Sanogo’s US education 2004-2012, including at Fort Benning’s Coup School:
Mali and the United States have had close military ties in recent years as part of American counterterrorism programs. According to the State Department, Captain Sanogo attended an English-language instructor course at the Defense Language Institute, a special school for international military students at Lackland Air Force Base, Tex., from August 2004 to February 2005.
Nearly three years later, in December 2007, Captain Sanogo returned to the United States, this time for more English language classes at Lackland before attending the Army’s entry-level course for intelligence officers at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., instruction that he completed in July 2008.
Finally, Captain Sanogo attended the Army’s prestigious infantry officer basic training course at Fort Benning, Ga., from August 2010 to December 2010.
Stars and Stripes gives us more detail on the ongoing train and equip activities with Mali, Leader of Mali coup received officer training from AFRICOM, under U.S.-funded International Military Education and Training (IMET) programs, confirmed by the Africa Command and the State Department.
The U.S. military has supported the Mali military extensively over the past decade, and the country has become a significant partner in the U.S. efforts to curb North Africa’s shadowy al-Qaida affiliate, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM.
In addition to its involvement in the International Military Education and Training program, Mali has also participated in the Trans Sahara Counter Terrorism Partnership, which is intended to strengthen bilateral military ties with the U.S. and supports counterterrorism coordination across the region’s different militaries. Mali also recently hosted U.S. soldiers in a joint logistical exercise named Atlas Accord 12.
“We have regularly had small teams traveling in and out of Mali to conduct specific training that has been requested by the Malian government and military,” said Nicole Dalrymple, a spokeswoman for the Africa Command, known as Africom, in an emailed response to questions.
Most of the world was quick to condemn the coup:
Nigeria, others, deplore coup in Mali
NIGERIA yesterday joined others to condemn “in strong terms” reports that Malian rebel soldiers had taken over control of the country from the democratically elected government of President Amadou Toumani Toure.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who expressed displeasure and dismay over the action, described the move as “an apparent setback to the consolidation of democracy in Mali in particular and the African continent in general.”
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for calm and for grievances to be settled democratically. The African Union said it was “deeply concerned by the reprehensible acts currently being perpetrated by some elements of the Malian army”.
The African Union (AU) said the “act of rebellion” was a “significant setback for Mali”.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said it was deeply disturbed by the raging mutiny in Mali and has warned mutineers to hands off attempts to take over power via unconstitutional means.
The US may be hedging its bets. From the Washington Post:
The coup is a major setback for Mali, a landlocked nation of 15.4 million which is dirt-poor but fiercely proud of its democratic credentials. The current president, a former parachutist in the army, came to power himself in a 1991 coup. He surprised the world when he handed power to civilians, becoming known as “The Soldier of Democracy.” A decade later, he won the 2002 election and was re-elected in 2007. There was never any question that Toure — known by his initials ATT — would step down at the end of his term next month.
…
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said officials were meeting to discuss whether to cut off the $137 million in annual U.S. assistance..
A client military government seems to be the US preferred form of governance for African countries. It will be interesting to see how the US proceeds.
Here are some other stories on the coup:
Coup in Mali, the rats and dogs discussion continues
Tuareg rebels take Mali town, threaten 3 more
African Union Suspends Mali, Hears President Toure Safe
For more background information with particularly informative links, you can read these earlier posts:
US Policy Versus Democracy In Mali
Lied Into the War On Terror In the Sahara
New York Times catapults the propganda for AFRICOM
Inherent contradictions of AFRICOM – lies and illusions
GAO Report On AFRICOM, Where AFRICOM Is Active
Stable and secure in AFRICOM speak does not mean stable and secure for the people of Africa. It means stable and secure for US energy and resource needs and US policy objectives.
MALI - Malian commandos advance with a member of the U.S. 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) during training rehearsals May 13, 2009, at a military training area north of Bamako, Mali. Building on specialized skills previously acquired during joint exercises such as Flintlock, which is Special Operations Command-Africa's premier Special Operations Forces exercise in the Trans-Saharan region, the "Warrior-Ambassadors" of the 3rd SFG (A) were continuing their Africa-focused security forces assistance mission to enhance African Partner Nation capabilities to help achieve regional cooperation and security. The 3rd SFG (A) is based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. (Photo by Max R. Blumenfeld, JSOTF-TS PAO)
Military training near Bamako, US. Mali, & Senegal 2008
Crossed Crocodiles 
March 24, 2012 at 2:11 pm
I don’t think there’s much evidence of US “hedging its bets” on this coup, which the White House and State Dept. have soundly condemned. If the US preferred “client military governments” in the region it could easily have cultivated them in the Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria, or Niger since the 1990s, but it did not do so. American military and development aid to Mali has already been suspended, with only humanitarian aid remaining intact for now. It would be wrong-headed to view Captain Sanogo as representing some kind of American agenda in Mali.
March 25, 2012 at 8:28 am
Not so fast, Mr. Bruce Whitehouse!
We need you to comment on this first:
‘The US government has condemned the coup in Mali, but as RT points out “is not planning to reconsider its $140-million aid program to Mali in 2012.” Sounds a bit like Honduras, doesn’t it? Remember the US government crocodile tears over the overthrow of President Zelaya, not long after Zelaya decided to join Hugo Chavez’s ALBA, the “Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America.”‘ [See: ‘Plan AFRICOM’? Mali Coup Leader US-Trained « LewRockwell.com Blog http://bit.ly%5D
It does look like not much has changed since Kwame Nkrumah wrote in Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of imperialism, Kwame Nkrumah, 1965, that:
‘To an extent that is only beginning to be perceived, this shadow government is shaping the lives of 190,000,000 Americans. An informed citizen might come to suspect that the foreign policy of the United States often works publicly in one direction and secretly through the Invisible Government in just the opposite direction.
‘This Invisible Government is a relatively new institution. It came into being as a result of two related factors: the rise of the United States after World War II to a position of pre-eminent world power, and the challenge to that power by Soviet Communism…
‘By 1964 the intelligence network had grown into a massive hidden apparatus, secretly employing about 200,000 persons and spending billions of dollars a year. [The Invisible Government, David Wise and Thomas B. Ross, Random House, New York, 1964.]
Here, from the very citadel of neo-colonialism, is a description of the apparatus which now directs all other Western intelligence set-ups either by persuasion or by force. Results were achieved in Algeria during the April 1961 plot of anti-de Gaulle generals; as also in Guatemala, Iraq, Iran, Suez and the famous U-2 spy intrusion of Soviet air space which wrecked the approaching Summit, then in West Germany and again in East Germany in the riots of 1953, in Hungary’s abortive crisis of 1959, Poland’s of September 1956, and in Korea, Burma, Formosa, Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam; they are evident in the trouble in Congo (Leopoldville) which began with Lumumba’s murder, and continues till now; in events in Cuba, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, and in other places too numerous to catalogue completely.
And with what aim have these innumerable incidents occurred? The general objective has been mentioned: to achieve colonialism in fact while preaching independence.” [See: Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of imperialism by Kwame Nkrumah http://bit.ly/i6AnzR%5D
‘Plan AFRICOM’? Mali Coup Leader US-Trained
Posted by Daniel McAdams on March 24, 2012 07:18 AM
Shocking as it may seem, Mali’s coup leader, Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, had been given US military and intelligence training by the US Africa Command, through the US State Department-sponsored International Military Education and Training program.
The narrative is that Tuareg fighters returning from fighting for Gaddafi in Libya were stirring up trouble in Mali and the elected government of President Amadou Toumani Toure was not aggressive enough in combating the rebels in the north. Being a good patriot, Sanogo’s soldiers took matters into their own hands.
Proving that Sanogo was paying attention during his State Department-funded training, he named his movement to overthrow the legitimately-elected government of Mali the “National Committee for the Return of Democracy and the Restoration of the State.” Democracy is what we say it is. You return to democracy by overthrowing democracy. To understand the logic, it may be necessary to take US State Department-funded “demokra-speak” lessons.
The Washington Post reports another interesting AFRICOM link:
The Africa Command had planned to hold a major regional military exercise in Mali last month but canceled because of Mali’s struggles to contain a Tuareg insurgency in the northern part of the country. The exercise, called Flintlock 2012, was supposed to bring together security forces from West Africa, Europe and the United States to coordinate counterterrorism missions.
The US government has condemned the coup in Mali, but as RT points out “is not planning to reconsider its $140-million aid program to Mali in 2012.” Sounds a bit like Honduras, doesn’t it? Remember the US government crocodile tears over the overthrow of President Zelaya, not long after Zelaya decided to join Hugo Chavez’s ALBA, the “Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America.”
I cannot help but wonder how much of this “democratic coup” can be explained by the very interesting lengthy study, “AFRICOM Report: Combating Chinese Economic Encroachment in Central Africa”. (h/t LandDestroyer)
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March 25, 2012 at 10:13 am
Don’t trust the RT source; the US govt is already reviewing its aid to Mali, and may cut it by half (removing support for military aid). See http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iT9WjSG9xiBk7ZTivyUT4q6NLGGQ?docId=CNG.427b62027f68f3e88b314615095183fc.171
March 24, 2012 at 8:17 pm
The Obama white house and Clinton state dep’t. “condemned” the coup against Zelaya in Honduras, before recognizing the coup leaders after sham elections and strengthening military and intelligence support. The condemnation is meaningless.
Toure was set to step down after elections in April, leading to the chilling prospect of a muslim country actually choosing its own leaders in free elections (which Mali used to have, along with a relatively free press). Now who would be threatened by such a prospect?
Pentagon: All U.S. Elite Commandos in Mali ‘Accounted For’
“As recently as last month, U.S. special operations troops were in Mali. Elite commandos from the 19th Special Forces Group, based in Utah, worked with Malian and other African militaries on missions where supplies are dropped into hostile areas from the air. A photo on an U.S. Army website shows a U.S. soldier observing Malian troops…
Washington sends Mali about $170 billion a year in assistance, funds that go to everything from agriculture development to military training for counterterrorism work, according to State Department and USAID budget documents.”
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/dotmil/2012/03/23/pentagon-all-us-elite-commandos-in-mali-accounted-for
You really think they had no idea this was coming?
March 25, 2012 at 4:46 pm
I am keeping an open mind as to US prior knowledge or involvement in the coup. I would not think the US would want to be associated with this lot. Although somewhat better educated, Sanogo reminds me of Samuel Doe in his cluelessness and unreadiness to govern. Of course Doe was a US client.
As to condemning or deploring, I think the real issue is follow the money. Honduras provides a highly relevant model. It is now a nightmare of political murder and repression supported and enabled by the US administration. And the Obama administration has just endorsed the military crackdowns in Egypt as not a human rights problem by sending military aid:
Once Imperiled, U.S. Aid to Egypt Is Restored http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/24/world/middleeast/once-imperiled-united-states-aid-to-egypt-is-restored.html
I understand the reasoning here, but it does not speak well of the United States.
If the US cuts off military aid to Mali, includlng all the programs funded through the Pentagon, and the State Department’s ACOTA program and others, then I’ll take the condemning seriously. Cutting half the aid, if in fact that happens, is just an interim symbolic gesture to be followed by restoring it all and resuming train and equip business as usual.
A comment whose source I can’t remember suggested that Mali’s military were unhappy with Touré because his policies were insufficiently genocidal regarding the Tuaregs. Which relates to the issue raised by Alexandra at Libya 360:
Considering NATO’s assault on Libya and the murderous and repressive actions of NATO’s “freedom fighters”, especially to other Africans, not to mention their documented ties to al Qaeda, as well as a decade of lies used to establish the GWOT in the Sahara, I find this credible.
RT like all news organizations has its own agenda. It also publishes a lot of important stories that are deliberately ignored by US corporate media and does some good research and reporting. The US does not really have news anymore. I joke with some friends about how in Russia they used to listen to VOA to get real news. Now in the US we have to listen to Russian Television to get real news.
March 26, 2012 at 2:28 pm
Thank you xcroc for sharing this article and for your very informative blog.
From today’s Guardian:
“At the moment, any military aid has been paused,” said a spokesperson for the US embassy in Bamako, adding that the move was temporary.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/26/us-pauses-mali-military-aid-coup?newsfeed=true
And from an ABC news brief on Feb. 20. Not direct evidence of foreknowledge, but anecdotal evidence that it would be hard for them to have no indication given the working relationship re: “counter-terrorism”.
Mali
Feb. 20 – U.S. Forces Search For an Al Qaeda Leader
A force of 25 American military experts, most likely from the FBI, have recently arrived to the city of Timbuktu north of the country to search for an al Qaeda leader who is believed to be in the desert area between Mali and Algeria, government sources in Mali told Al Hayat newspaper. (Al Hayat)
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/Investigation/Insider_DTR_040220.html
March 26, 2012 at 1:10 pm
@brucewhitehouse,
Please, take note, it is not only RT making that claim.The following is from the Associated Press: US holds off on cutting Mali aid despite coup | UTSanDiego.com http://bit.ly/HbXUUi
The U.S. is holding off on suspending military aid to Mali despite this week’s coup by government soldiers.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says humanitarian aid makes up more than half of the $137 million in annual U.S. assistance to the African country. That money won’t be affected.
Nuland says the rest is military aid, which could be halted if democracy isn’t restored.
But she cautioned Friday that officials are holding back from taking that step while a West African mission seeks to end the crisis by restoring Mali’s democratic government.
May 27, 2012 at 12:40 pm
I just received this video and thought I would share it with Crossed Crocodiles: AFRICOM Expands Mission In Africa
“Published on May 27, 2012 by TheRealNews
Maurice Carney: A U.S.-based unit has been selected as the Army’s first “regionally aligned” brigade, and by next year its soldiers could begin conducting operations in Africa.”