A quick look at US Africa Command’s failed intervention in Mali reminds us of the devastating effects militarization can bring to African nations.

#AFRICOM2012, Stop the real threat to Uganda

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“For students of African history, the notion that African democracy, stability and good governance will result from more deadly arms and more powerful soldiers is the stuff of satire; and yet this is precisely the grounds on which AFRICOM functions.”

“In Mali, US money, training and rhetoric created an unbalanced situation where increasingly powerful military men with outsized ambition swagger around in one of the world’s poorest nations. There is little to suggest that militarization will ease any of Africa’s political and social problems.”

“To the tune of millions, US forces have provided special operations, drug traffickig and counterterrorism training in the large West African nation. Today’s Mali of the shattered democracy and roving rebel groups is a troubling picture of an AFRICOM partner state.”

”By its own standard, AFRICOM’s mission in Mali has failed.”

SOURCE: Pambazuka