mali-coup-leader-was-us-trained-but-africom-says-counterterrorism-training-still-vital

Saddam Hussein was a US tool also ---

Mali suffers from significant issues with how the country is structured. The Bambara population in the south receive the vast majority of financial assistance and the northern tribes, particularly the Taureg, don't tend to recognize Bamako's authority. Normally the United States doesn't care about that, but the leader of the Tuareg rebel group, Ansar Al Din, has deep ties to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. In 2017, AAD merged with several regional Islamist groups to form JNIM, which maintains freedom of movement over an area larger than the size of Texas and has thousands of members and supporters.

JNIM, under the Tuareg leader, is directly supported by Al Qaeda messaging. Mali has a lot of problems, but we're starting to care more and more because it threatens to create an African-esque model similar to the Afghan Taliban with AQ being safe harbored. For reference, earlier this year French military forces killed the Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Emir in northern Mali; this Emir was the highest ranking African in AQ's leadership structure and a senior leader and influencer for the group. AQIM and JNIM have raised millions of dollars in kidnap for ransom plots, and if JNIM and AQIM are part of big AQ and making millions of dollars, you can rest assured they're using that to support the global AQ franchise.

The issue and reasons for their revolts was a long time coming, and comes as no surprise since they had an overthrow about 9 years ago, which ultimately lead to the French kicking off Op SERVAL, and restoring a government. The region is ripe for coups, with their southern neighbor, Burkina Faso, having set a record for coups and attempted coups. Until the Bamako government actually deals with issues that are causing economic and physical security to be restored, anyone in charge will struggle.