'Everyone will fight:' International forces join Mali offensive

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
1/23/2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

France, Chad and U.S. pool military resources to drive out insurgents

Forces from Chad have advanced towards the Malian border as an African troop deployment and a U.S. military airlift added to the growing international support for French operations against Islamist insurgents occupying the north of Mali.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Experienced in desert operations, Chadian troops moved north from the Niger capital Niamey on the road to Ouallam, 60 miles from the Malian border, where Nigerian troops are stationed.

France has urged a swift deployment of the planned U.N.-mandated African force to back up its 2,150 soldiers already there. France launched air strikes in Mali over a week ago to halt a surprise Islamist offensive toward the capital of Bamako. The number of French troops could be boosted to more than 3,000 in the coming days and weeks.

The military intervention is intended to prevent northern Mali from becoming a launch pad for international attacks by al-Qaeda and its local allies in North and West Africa. Fears of this increased sharply after a hostage-taking raid by Islamist militants last week on a gas plant in Algeria.

A dreaded entry into Mali from Niger by part of the African force would widen the front of operations against the Islamist alliance in the north that groups al-Qaida's North African wing AQIM and the Malian militant groups Ansar Dine and MUJWA.

French and Malian armored columns earlier this week moved into the towns of Diabaly and Douentza in central Mali. Diabaly is only 220 miles north of Bamako, while Douentza is 500 miles away from the riverside capital.

Visiting Nigerian President Mahamadou Issoufou condemned the Islamist alliance. An imam, or Muslim cleric, said prayers for the troops in Ouallam.

"We are going to war. A war imposed on us by traffickers of all kinds, an unjust war, from which the peaceful citizens of northern Mali are suffering terribly," Issoufou told the forces. "I am confident in your burning desire for victory."

France says troops will remain in Mali until they have dislodged the Islamist fighters from the north and fair elections can be held once again in its former colony.

The United States has started transporting French soldiers and equipment to Mali from the Istres air base in southern France. Washington completed the fifth of an estimated 30 flights in an airlift expected to run for about a week.

A U.S. military cargo plane was seen landing at the international airport and offload about 40 French soldiers, jeeps, and other equipment.

In addition, Britain, Belgium, Canada and Denmark were already transporting French material to Mali.

� 2013, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Mali, France, Chad, military support, United States, insurgents

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1 - 2 of 2 Comments

Paul-Emile Leray
3 months ago
As one past contender for the Republican party said during one of the debates prior to the past US election; Jesus was far too intelligent to run for public office.

Most world leaders and their ministers have university degrees. And yet, 2000 or so years after Jesus walked this planet; this is the state of the world? Just as insane as ever! If it is not the club and rocks, it is the slingshot, or the guns and bombs, missiles; in the ongoing 'us versus them' struggles.

See the parallels present between tribal mentalities, team sports, partisan politics, one soft drink company against the other, and so forth. Why are some able to be totally focussed on goals with pure motive, with no tribal like "us versus them" competition for the sake of competition mentalities; while so many seem to require a real or perceived "enemy" to have some sort of meaning to their existences?

The boogie man, in most cases, is where? Inside our ownselves. First, conquer the self. And then, there will be such interior peace that no desire to fight with one's fellow man will become reality actualized to higher degrees of perfection.

Many of these alpha male peacocking maniacs ought to try some silent meditation and contemplation, some ZEN or YOGA or DEEP NASAL belly breathing! Imagine how productive all these economies would be if all that energy was channeled into good work instead of perpetual mud-slinging?

What the hell is wrong with people? If it's not jumping one another over dead inflated pigskin, or smashing one another into boards on an ice rink, or boxing and hammering at each other's heads inside a boxing ring, or again betting on bantam roosters fighting one another; once again, launching rockets into one another's back-yards; yet again, to send missiles or bullets from one place to another; to then again draw up some peace accord or conventional agreement; to then again start all over again; have people not enough intelligence to LEARN the lessons to be learned from HIS-STORY?

EVERYONE tells their side they are the good guys; while the great big boogey-men are somewhere out there. The wolf is not always at the door, he is often right inside your ownselves!

The planet of the apes! And the one with the biggest club and most coconuts decides the rules! And then? The testoterone filled maniacs destroy one another, after they've learned how to eat their enemies while dressed in tuxedos with a fork and knife while comparing their Ivy League so called educations!

Rotten political ideological insane maniacs! Your genetic downlines will be viewing you as having been insane with all your wars. Meanwhile, the bankers and policy makers are too nuts to realize that 2 to 5 or so layers DEEPER the acorns, roots, underneath the surface level are the reasons as to why the trunk, branches, twigs, and leaves are often what? CROOKED and filled with political magpies!

The magna cum laude types are often not so magnanimous. True? True. Therefore, were they educated in the sense of "educare" or instructed in the sense of "how to eat your perceived or real enemy with a fork and knife dressed in a tuxedo"? (paraphrased quote from a great Jesuit writer).

Here is a bigger challenge requiring 'courage' instead of 'bravery' for all you alpha male peacocking political testosterone-filled power and control hungry money-loving self- promoting savages of all skin colors and stripes; FOCUS on a common goal of what?

WORLD PEACE, since the meaning of life is to simply continue the work of Jesus and assist him in restoring the kingdom of God (which is good) here on planet earth. How can you have peace when people are starving?

It is actually NOT difficult to have peace. Stop fighting if you want peace. Grow out your middle economic class. No wars allowed. Grow the middle class.

Those who start wars? (severe economic penalties; including to the west and America/Britain and so forth)

Why is it o.k. for certain CULT-URES to have weapons and others not?

Try surpassing your ownselves instead of always running full steam ahead while looking over your shoulder to see what your neighbor is doing. If he isn't bothering you, leave him alone!

And no, dialogue isn't always the answer either because most people DEBATE and do not REASON in proper faith and reason with both balanced synchronistically while rooted in TRUTH. Most people are too impatient, ignorant, stupid, improperly educated, indifferent, careless, intolerant, lack the discipline, courage, fortitude, or whatever else; including sincerity of heart and pure motives; to even try with sincerity.

AWARENESS. (including of your ownselves)

2000 years since Jesus walked the planet; further back when we consider Socrates, Plato, Aristotle; and this is the state of the world? This nonsense? And you people call yourselves educated?

No.

Instructed, yes.

Educated?

No. Definitely not.

Educare does NOT produce CHAOS to these degrees for centuries and centuries.

Go higher, deeper, wider, and then THROUGH.

Truth in politics? Never. In business? Never. In partisan politics? Not likely. In banking? No. In nationalism? No. In the east coast/west coast mentality? Nope. Skin colors? No. More gender equality studies at universities? No. More peace studies at universities? You have had 2000 YEARS to learn about peace and you request more research grants for peace studies?

It's about time a lot of people start waking up before they experience the lobster dance in the pot boiling there themselves!

Dolphins dialogue and communicate with one another better than humans. Ants work together better in teams than humans. Ducks have more organizational skills than humans. Bees design better than architects.

Humans? We may be on top of the food chain, but is it because we are truly more intelligent or simply the most vicious as a species?

Why did God put existence into existence? Why did he create anything? Notice he likes to create, yet wars are inherently destructive. Why do humans insist on forever wrangling and fighting?

Is the collective consciousness of the greater whole on that level of insanity? If so, it is likely safer inside a prison cell than out in society and CULT-URE. (the biggest cult of all is indeed culture; Abraham Maslov was right about that) Therefore? Culture is important. Therefore? Influence properly. How? Christianity and the Catholic Church.

The richest people in parts of Asia send their kids to Catholic schools. The Emperor's wife went to a Catholic school! It's about time more people realize this.

Leaders often like inserting DIVISION amongst tribes. Why? When tribes are fighting with other tribes, the leaders themselves are safe from all the tribes fighting since the tribes are too busy fighting amongst themselves. Meanwhile? Meanwhile, the fat cats are eating food and drinking wine often in peace.

Hey! That sounds a little like why games were often promoted in ancient Roman Empire times. Let's feed some Christians to the lions, some thought, to focus the HERD on the slaughter inside the Coliseum so they don't focus on who? US, the POLITICAL LEADERS!

Even politics itself is TRIBAL in nature, for after all what is partisan politics other than TRIBAL?

Meanwhile the psychiatrists (who are nuts themselves, often) give medication (for pharmaceutical profits) to the SANE ONES.

The last thing these maniacs need is viagra! (or guns, bullets, bombs, whiskey)

Come to think of it, perhaps jumping one another over dead inflated pigskin isn't such a bad idea after all....better than shooting one another!

How about one great big world level boxing match? Then? The crowd gets to lock up everyone inside the ring and then blow up the stadium after the crowd has what? Left the insane asylum.

The 2nd reason as to why Jesus was crucified was political. Of course! The truth is usually met with violent opposition towards those who possess it since truth usually upsets the status quo. Therefore? When sanity speaks, insanity (the majority) ridicules it.

Weren't many American soldiers in certain past wars killed by American manufactured bullets? That really makes a lot of sense, doesn't it!

What a pile of GOONS.

If this is what universities are producing, take your degrees and burn them!

It's a good thing the human life-span is what it is; at least nobody escapes from becoming a future analyst of dandelion root structures from perspectives of 6 feet under ground surface level.

If people truly understood how precious life is, instead of WASTING so much energy fighting, they would be FOCUSSED on more noble goals and missions.

If it's not some British SAVAGE (Henry VIIITH) or German maniac (Hitler) or French IDIOT (Napoleon) or Italian SAVAGE (Mussulini) or again some Asian maniac (Tojo Hideki) or once again some ridiculous South American GOON; some Russian roboticized ideological idiot (Stalin); an African tribal LOON; a white skinned savage (buying and selling slaves in America); some Indian Chief who has brain-washed his TRIBE; there seems to forever be a pile of nutbells somewhere and humans are evolving?

Really? From the stick, to the sling-shot, to the missile, to the drone. And that's progress? Tech progress. Anything else? Just because we can does not presuppose we should. Being able to do something does not mean we ought to necessarily do it.

You want peace? Be peaceful and stop fighting wars. There. No PhD required. End of story. Simple. No research grants necessary. If you wish for peace, be a man of peace.

And no, a peaceful society would NOT put people out of work. It would simply mean many would have to transition towards other work instead of throwing rockets into one another's back-yards!

Meanwhile, in N.Korea the leader likes to spread his peacock feathers every now and again. (as they do in Europe and North America)

It's defined as HELP if some people do certain things; but TERROR if other people do the exact same thing.

Oh, the political ideologues sure like to play around with words and using terms defined by who? Themselves. According to which standards? Their own.

Play nice in the sandbox, great big boys and girls in suits and skirts, there are plenty of toys for everyone. Plus, the cake inside the house holds enough chocolate for everyone.

Children can get along. Meanwhile, the war mongering adults are apparently educating the children on "how to live". Go figure. I still haven't figured that one out.

How about this? Everyone between 6 to 12 years of age; then again between 75-125 years in age; gets to govern the world. Would that work?

And? Those who START a war are jailed for life. (including European and N.American political leaders) No exceptions.

And if a future British king starts a war? Jail him, before he does what King Henry VIIIth did. After all, had someone locked up Hitler how many millions of lives would have been saved?And no, white skin is NOT superior to any other color. I'm white. Did Jesus have white skin? How about Buddha? St. John, St. Augustine; white skin or not?

If top level governors, bankers, political leaders, societal leaders, can't govern; let someone else lead and jail the leaders for life if necessary. Their PRIDE would then become re-aligned to then possibly become HUMBLE.

We are all IDIOTS when compared to God. The more a person grows and knows, the more he or she ought to be humble since answers always lead to further questions or SOLUTIONS. If there are no further questions or solutions to problems then do those claiming to have the answers truly have the answers? Aha! Perhaps they are then SOPHISTS appearing to be wise while not possessing the reality? (like political leaders)

When and why is the next major market crash coming, and where, and on what levels? Be precise, to the exact quarterly window. And some claim they can predict the future?

Unless one can predict things like future weather disasters, earthquakes, floods, etc, etc, that all have an impact on the markets; the predictions are FLAWED.

Spin the textbook learned lines elsewhere, not to me.

If life insurance policies can't insure me against death, they are then what to me? USELESS.

Is peace possible? Yes. No doubt.

Paul-Emile Leray
Lilian
3 months ago
"Visiting Nigerian President Mahamadou Issoufou condemned the Islamist alliance." What? Nigerian President is Goodluck Jonathan!

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