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Showing Original Post only (View all)Russ Feingold: Conflict in Mali shows US needs greater engagement in Africa [View all]
While I am pleased at reports of US cooperation with France to stop Islamist extremists Mali and run them out of Timbuktu, I remain concerned about the interrelated, widespread threat of terror in the region. America cannot afford to treat it as compartmentalized country-by-country issue.
By Russ Feingold / January 31, 2013
Stanford, Calif.
Many Americans have heard of the city called Timbuktu. Many have probably even used the expression from here to Timbuktu, as a cliché to explain that something is very, very far away. Until recently, not many Americans would have answered quickly or even correctly when asked where the city is, or what country it is in. But front-page news events over the past weeks and months may have changed Americans awareness of the famous city of Timbuktu, and the northern African country of Mali.
And its an awareness they cannot afford to lose. Preventing attacks on our soil and against Americans all over the world demands that we pay attention to developments in Mali, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan and other key sometimes volatile countries in northern Africa. And there are many other nations and regions that could threaten our security.
While I am pleased at reports of US military and intelligence cooperation with France and other countries to aid the efforts to stop these extremists from their path of destruction in Mali, I remain as concerned as I was following a trip I made to northern African in 2005. Combating such a widespread, interrelated threat requires cooperation to proactively address and prevent terror. America cannot afford to address this national security priority as if it were a compartmentalized country-by-country threat.
In 2005, as a US senator from Wisconsin and ranking member of the African Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I visited Mali and wrote about my visit in this publication. At the time, I wrote that, if we want a less threatening future, we Americans need to get in the game, increase our diplomatic presence, listen to the people on the ground, and combine widespread, quick-impact development projects with long-term investments in fighting corruption and promoting the rule of law.
More: http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/0131/Conflict-in-Mali-shows-US-needs-greater-engagement-in-Africa
By Russ Feingold / January 31, 2013
Stanford, Calif.
Many Americans have heard of the city called Timbuktu. Many have probably even used the expression from here to Timbuktu, as a cliché to explain that something is very, very far away. Until recently, not many Americans would have answered quickly or even correctly when asked where the city is, or what country it is in. But front-page news events over the past weeks and months may have changed Americans awareness of the famous city of Timbuktu, and the northern African country of Mali.
And its an awareness they cannot afford to lose. Preventing attacks on our soil and against Americans all over the world demands that we pay attention to developments in Mali, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan and other key sometimes volatile countries in northern Africa. And there are many other nations and regions that could threaten our security.
While I am pleased at reports of US military and intelligence cooperation with France and other countries to aid the efforts to stop these extremists from their path of destruction in Mali, I remain as concerned as I was following a trip I made to northern African in 2005. Combating such a widespread, interrelated threat requires cooperation to proactively address and prevent terror. America cannot afford to address this national security priority as if it were a compartmentalized country-by-country threat.
In 2005, as a US senator from Wisconsin and ranking member of the African Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I visited Mali and wrote about my visit in this publication. At the time, I wrote that, if we want a less threatening future, we Americans need to get in the game, increase our diplomatic presence, listen to the people on the ground, and combine widespread, quick-impact development projects with long-term investments in fighting corruption and promoting the rule of law.
More: http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/0131/Conflict-in-Mali-shows-US-needs-greater-engagement-in-Africa
Russ Feingold - Leading from the front in world affairs - how I miss having him in the Senate.
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Russ Feingold: Conflict in Mali shows US needs greater engagement in Africa [View all]
ellisonz
Jan 2013
OP
"engagement"? Does the last paragraph in this excerpt include the possibility of drones ifnecessary?
patrice
Jan 2013
#1
If we are arming these, perhaps/perhaps not, freedom fighters, directly or indirectly, why should
patrice
Jan 2013
#7
Peace is not served by people being attacked and killed, even if we are just the innocent bystanders
patrice
Jan 2013
#19
Thanks for the info. I bet that "business" model is not that uncommon & pretty marketable outside of
patrice
Jan 2013
#28
Remembering what looked recently an awful lot like test-marketing to me: Kony 2012. nt
patrice
Jan 2013
#8
dear Russ, don your uniform, pack yer bags, and drag your own butt over there to fight ok? nt
msongs
Jan 2013
#13
We DO use and GET USED in return. Is that inevitable, or is that more obsolete paradigm stuff
patrice
Jan 2013
#25
I think there is GREAT potential to get used if we're the "policemen of the world" & then there are
patrice
Jan 2013
#29
Getting involved in civil wars has worked so well in....Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Afghanistan,......
Tierra_y_Libertad
Jan 2013
#17