By John Amponsah

Why was a British general having a closed door meeting with our president and the Ghanaian military? Why were they discussing among other topics the DRC (as was reported) when the current focus is on Mali? What has the DRC got to do with Mali? Why do we even have to consider British transport of Ghanaian troops (numbered at 120) when the administration of the late president Mills purchased two C-295 military transport aircraft delivered before he passed away (each capable of transporting about 70 troops) or is the British transport offer a smokescreen to allow the discussion of a more sinister agenda? Can someone at the GAF answer this?

What were the original events that triggered the recent conflict in Mali, which has now ensnared Ghana and host of other West African nations, and what are the reasons behind these trigger events? What really is “Al-Qaeda” and how did this group come about? What are the strategic advantages and the natural resources that NATO nations spearheaded by their axis powers (America-Britain-France) will gain from their current military invasion of Africa?

These and many more are the questions I wish to bring to the attention of the reader. It is time once more to dig deeper than the surface level. The main thesis of this article is that Ghana and the wider West African nations have inadvertently courted big trouble because of the recent happenings in Mali and are being played as pawns by the very ones who are now in West Africa offering us a helping hand. I intend to explain what I mean by this.

Africa is in deep trouble and Ghana will likely not escape this trouble in the long run. The trouble in Mali signals the beginning of a much wider series of conflicts that could easily engulf other nations, plunging more and more of the continent into turmoil. Some forces external to Africa are bringing chaos to our continent, so that out of that chaos, a new order, their order, will emerge. The chaos will take the form of many wars in different parts of the continent which are seemingly unconnected on the surface level but at the root level have common influences.

I ask the reader to be patient and to examine my entire case before forming a final opinion. This article contains some ideas and some information which some may find difficult to digest but which in my view reflect the reality of the world today.

SYNOPSIS OF THE SITUATION AT THE SURFACE LEVEL

At the surface level, the situation seems straightforward: Tuareg fighters backed by Islamist extremists and with superior Gaddafi-given weapons attacked the sovereignty of Mali and quickly gained the upper hand against a weak, disorganised and disunited Malian army. At first the Tuaregs were content with forming a separate nation (called Azawad) but soon after, the more extreme viewed Islamic fighters many of whom are foreign to Africa took over, turning rather to conquest of not only the rest of Mali but all of Africa, Europe and the world (according to one of their leaders). With quick organized action and with better weapons, Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) and Ansar Dine allied with Tuareg forces advanced into areas held by the Malian army, forcing the appointed Malian government to request military assistance from former colonial master France, asking ECOWAS also to join in.

By virtue of being ECOWAS members, the black nations of West Africa (Ghana included) were compelled to join an ethnic conflict although the constituent ECOWAS nations are financially broke and are militarily not very organized as a bloc. France quickly deployed its war machinery ahead of ECOWAS and with superior technology on the ground, in the air and in space, this “former” colonial power, backed logistically and in other ways by other NATO members, began a fierce bombing campaign killing both innocent bystanders and the targeted Tuareg and Al-Qaeda fighters. Yet these losses (especially the civilian ones) were seen as necessary “collateral damage” because France’s cause was just! The Tuareg and their allies were pushed out of Timbuktu and Gao – these Islamist fighters withdrew, seemingly melting away from the European offensive (more swiftly than one might have expected) and into northern strongholds as well as into the into the population. Western and even African media piled massive praise on France, and it seems the Malians were overjoyed (the black populations of Mande and others, at least), saying “vivre la France!” Everybody seemed happy, as portrayed primarily by western media. Francois Hollande entered Mali like a modern day Napoleon (the UK telegraph described him as, “like a modern day Roman Emperor”) visiting a conquered land. The appointed Malian president walked behind Hollande at the airport. In the midst of all this, the French president announced that France will stay in Mali for as long as is necessary.

So what then is the problem, if there is one? All seems to be in order. The terrorists have been sent packing and the sovereignty of Mali is all but restored. Most are celebrating this victory, many in our own country even calling for more Ghanaian and other African soldiers to be sent to fight in Mali.

Is all really well though? Here and there, one finds uneasy individuals, resenting the role being played by the “former” colonial master and its Euro-American (NATO) allies but at the same time lamenting the incapacity of Mali to defend its sovereignty independent of outside help, even from the too militarily weak and insufficiently unified ECOWAS, and certainly from the Euro-American former slavers and colonizers, hmm...

If perhaps all that seems wrong here is a case of a few bruised African egos then that is not a big deal – there isn’t much on the scale of the “big trouble” I wish to point out.

There is much to be concerned about, however, and those Ghanaians and Africans cynical of the role the Euro-American (NATO) forces are playing in this conflict are absolutely justified in feeling this, in my opinion. These individuals are perhaps missing some crucial elements of the entire scenario needed to better inform their minds beyond gut feeling, of the enormity of what faces us as a nation and as a continent of black people.

To this group, I say: you are one of the main reasons why I chose to write this article. It is my intent to present a case for what I believe to be the true intention behind recent events we have witnessed in African and in the Middle East and not just that but also to present likely or possible future consequences and scenarios of the events we are witnessing today. So stay tuned! The late American author and poet Henry David Thoreau once said, “There are a thousand striking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root!” Today, we will be examining some of the root causes of events we witness in our world.

Once again, Ghana, together with her sister West African nations have been played as pawns, in effect forced to support a conflict, the origin of which can be traced to interfering influences by intelligence (alphabet agencies) and military agents of the Euro-American nations and their partner corporations (architectural/construction, financial, mercenary etc units) who have turned war into big business, and all of which are doing the bidding of even more powerful and shadowy forces that coordinate the economic, military and political power circles of these western nations.

AL-QAEDA THIS, AL-QAEDA THAT. WHO REALLY ARE“AL-QAEDA”!?!

Who really constitutes the group “Al-Qaeda”? These days, it seems to be a confusing classification. The original Al-Qaeda was formed by Jihad fighters who were fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. The Taliban together with Al-Qaeda were receiving tons of funds from Euro-American influential powers. The CIA was directly responsible for the creation of Al-Qaeda, when it worked with Pakistan's ISI (Inter-services Intelligence). This is well documented. After the Soviets left Afghanistan, the Taliban together with their Al-Qaeda fighters had control of Afghanistan. They still had their weapons. They then decided to do things their way, but then (and still to this day) they were still funded by the Wahabi/Salafi (a Sunni Muslim sect) financial power houses of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE. Enter the likes of Osama Bin Laden, a man who was originally trained as an Al-Qaeda operative by Pakistani intelligence, working in tandem with the Euro-American CIA. For the record, “Al-Qaeda” was and still is a CIA asset!

There is more! Abdelhakim Belhaj, a big figure in Libya who was a member of the former Libya Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG, an acknowledged Al-Qaeda affiliated group) now working in Libya as proxies for the Euro-Americans (NATO) is a product of the Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. I have already pointed this out in an earlier article. Today, he is given the air or respectability (even by left wing western newspapers) because he did the master’s bidding. LIFG were the main proxy force that fought Gaddafi, supplied by CIA/DGSE/MI6 and given massive funds, weapons, western air support, Special Forces and space satellite support! Al-Qaeda, doing the bidding of NATO!

There is more! Mokhtar Belmokhtar, bona-fide Al-Qaeda fighter (the Al-Qaeda guy whose group claimed responsibility for the recent Algerian hostage scenario) also plied his trade in Afghanistan, at a time when the Euro-Americans were still supporting the Mujahadeen fighters (Taliban & Al-Qaeda) against the Soviets! Are we to believe that he is no longer being seen as an asset? These groups (AQIM, Ansar Dine) are funded by the Salafi/Wahabi Sunni groups of the Gulf region which have already been compromised by the West and are their pawns as vassal states. Yet it is made to seem as if Belmokhtar and his group are fighting against the Euro-Americans (NATO), do you see the sleight of hand here?

Ancient lands that once held great empires and in medieval times saw the arrival of the Islamic Rashidun (Arabian peninsula), Umayyad (Syria), Abbasid (Iraq/Baghdad), Fatimid (Tunisia) Caliphates and later Ayyubid (Egypt) and Ottoman (Turkish) empires have been or are being conquered again today by the Euro-American NATO forces as they build their “New World Order”. Iran is the only one left truly holding out. To this, they are adding North and West Africa, lands which once held great African (Ghana, Mali, Songhai) and Berber realms (Morrocan Almoravid & Almohade etc). From here, they will go after Asia and Latin America!

Let us continue the story. In the midst of all this, Islamist extremists are also being manipulated. LIFG has been contracted as a mercenary group, fighting alongside more Al-Qaeda (CIA/DGSE etc trained “Free Syria Army”) against Assad. As I have also said in a previous article, Syria plays a crucial geo-political role in world events today. The fall of Syria will be followed by Lebanon and will leave Iran standing alone. Iran will then be attacked. Once Iran falls, the conquest of the Middle East (and Africa) will be complete and next will be Latin America and Asia. The main force standing in the way of the Al-Qaeda ridden Free Syrian Army and their NATO (including Turkey and Israel who recently proposed to support this Sunni backed fighting force) is Russia. Putin’s action supporting the resistance being put up by Assad in Syria is the linchpin in that region, preventing complete meltdown. Syria has a former soviet base (at Tartus) and is still geo-politically and strategically very important. If Syria falls, start preparing more and more for full scale World War III!

So let us get this right. Basically it is okay to support Al-Qaeda in Libya and in Syria but not in Algeria and in Mali? This does not make any sense! This would however make sense if one side (Algeria/Mali Islamists) is being supported covertly. These days, when you read news articles about Mali, you may read the word “Al-Qaeda” several times over, together with tags like “jihadist”, “Islamist”, “rebels” and so on. Yet when we were reading about the Libyan and Syrian Al-Qaeda linked fighters, we saw tags such as “resistance fighter” and “opposition”. It is the same old trick from past times e.g. Hitler was supported by the same group of financers who supported his European opponents. Also the same financers supported both Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington during the Waterloo campaign. The bought and paid for mainstream western media fails to address this and does the opposite, and fortunately for them most fall for it.

To sum up this section, the key here is to realize from now on that whenever you hear“ Al-Qaeda”, you should think of a western asset controlled indirectly through Wahabi/Salafi influences (Saudi, Qatar, UAE; realms already taken over by the west) when playing “against” the west and by western military/intelligence/financial aid when playing “with/for” the west. Two sides of the same coin. This is used to create sleight-of-hand events on the world stage to further western geo-political, strategic and resource grabbing interests.

ENTER THE WESTERN POWERS AND THE“LUCIFERAN HIERARCHY”

The same invasion formula that was used in Libya is now being used in Syria by the Euro-American NATO powers. By these powers, I mean the powerful royal and/or wealthy families, powerful corporate individuals/groups and their secret societies and the forces behind some of these secret societies; I mean the real powers, not the presidents and the prime ministers, who come and go and who are actually on the game board. I am talking about those who actually move the pieces on the game board. These “hidden hands” who control the shadowy, hawkish ones behind the presidents and prime ministers of some powerful nations are a hierarchy of “Luciferan forces” (figuratively and quite literally as well) some of which are physical and some of which are non-physical. The bible talks about Lucifer, the “light bringer”. I suppose you can say that these forces have their particular version of “light”. These awesome forces are extremely powerful, well organized and definitely cannot and should not be taken for granted. Part of their plan for the region is to take over Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya Somalia, Sudan and Syria. They have succeeded with 3 countries, are actively working against Lebanon and Syria and have not so distant future plans for Iran and Sudan. So if things go their way, you can expect to soon see full scale war in Iran and in Sudan. Their operations are executed by the leaders in NATO countries, coordinated by the “shadowy, hawkish, influential ones in the background” and overseen by the “hidden hands” themselves. That is all I wish to say about these powers at the present time.

BACK TO AFRICA – WHAT NATO NATIONS HOPE TO GAIN

When the Arab Spring began, Western Intelligence Agencies ultimately being directed by the real powers (those above I described, who control the pieces on the game board) saw their chance to perpetually destabilize Africa and the Middle East, to bring their version of order out of the chaos. CIA, DGSE and MI6 agents were sent to Benghazi to organize the Al-Qaeda linked terrorists (oh, sorry, “resistance/freedom/opposition” LIFG fighters) against Gaddafi. Gaddafi then told the world that Al-Qaeda was behind the whole thing, whereupon the bought and paid for Euro-American mainstream western media derided him, and many believed it, including a lot of intelligent people.

By removing Gaddafi, the entire African continent entered a stream of possible destabilization events (same thing will happen if/when Syria falls). Tuareg fighters who got armed by Libya then attacked Mali. Now you have Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and Ansar Dine being funded by Euro-American (NATO) Wahabi/Salafi allies (vassal states) Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE etc. Evidence of this is currently with the Malian military, after the French retook Timbuktu.

So the entire scenario is a mess, however it all started with Euro-Americans destabilising Libya with their intelligence agencies, Special Forces and real Al-Qaeda fighters (LIFG). Gaddafi then armed his supporters, which included the nationalistic Tuareg. This is what gave the Tuareg those arms, and led them to once again revive hopes of creating their ancient homeland, “Azawad”, subsequently attacking Mali etc. This is why in this article I blame the Euro-Americans for Mali’s problems, and more of the same to come. They want destabilization in North Africa (Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria), West Africa (Mali), North East Africa (Sudan soon), East Africa (Somalia), Central Africa (DRC) and eventually Southern Africa (Zimbabwe). Mugabe, prepare! They will be coming for you! If things go their way, South Africa will likely suffer increasing pressure to switch allegiance from BRICS to Euro-American NATO alliance.

So, what is NATO’s end game? What is in it for them, and why go through all this trouble?

(1) Geo-strategic advantage – if the Euro-Americans (NATO) succeed in re-colonizing Africa and the Middle East, they will have a large swath of real estate and will be in control of the land mass between themselves and the Asians. The Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea will all be out of limits to powerful Asian countries. In addition to this, NATO will be in a strong position to access Indian and Pacific Oceans. The Americans are already doing this but will feel more secure if they have Africa and the Middle East as colonies. Ultimately, the NATO led forces want to conquer the entire world.

(2) Natural resources – lots of it! Mali comes after South Africa and Ghana in Gold resources. Niger has uranium. Guinea has copper (currently a Chinese operation, but for how long?). Oil and natural gas abound in various nations (Libya, Algeria, Nigeria, Ghana, Syria). The DRC is just a treasure trove of so many resources – the country is a real natural resource economy. NATO countries led by the USA have been manipulating events in that country since the early nineties and as a result that region has seen the worst in death and human misery since WWII. The suffering that has occurred there makes the Rwandan genocide seem minor in comparison. Further into Africa, Sudan has oil.

(3) NATO countries are looking to use their version if military imperialism to eliminate BRICS (especially Chinese and Indian) influence in Africa.

FUTURE POSSIBILITIES AND DIRECTIONS

Given the current situation, what can one expect in the future? It all depends on which factors come into play. At the moment, the UN veto-wielding nations are split, with the Euro-American powers (NATO) on one side doing their thing using their military might to forward their agenda in Africa, while Russia and China seem quiet about this. Below are few future possibilities:

(1) The Euro-Americans will continue to use their military might to re-conquer Africa in order to gain natural resource and strategic advantage over Asia in general and China and Russia in particular. Africa will once again become physically colonized, littered with Euro-American (mostly US AFRICOM) bases, monitored with drones and surveillance equipment. This is the possibility which is actually manifesting right this moment. Goodbye true African unity!

(2) BRICS will wake up and realize that if Africa falls completely to the NATO nations, it will be strategically disadvantageous to them. Africa and the Middle East are highly strategic locations on this planet. If NATO completes option (1) above, the chances of maintaining a multi-polar world will decrease to near zero and BRICS nations will be sequestered. There are economic and military power vacuums in Africa. China rose up to the economic vacuum challenge, however none of the BRICS nations has recently done anything about the military vacuum challenge. So NATO is overrunning Africa with its military machine. It is in the interest of BRICS nations to remain competitive in Africa. In option (2), BRICS nations may decide to change their policy by having an aggressive and competitive military policy in Africa, updating and modernizing African armies in areas with significant BRICS economic investments. This will necessarily initiate a new Cold War type situation on the African continent, however if the BRICS nations play their cards right, things need not turn hot. The NATO nations live for war and will welcome that. The African people will be the ones to suffer. What needs to be put in place is a counter-balance to NATO military power.

Russia is a powerful nation which managed to defend itself against Hitler during WWII. The battles at Leningrad and Stalingrad attest to this. Russia however on its own is no match for NATO, not even in a defensive capacity. Same can be said of China on its own. But together and with allies, these can balance NATO. China has the personnel, Russia has the technology. Modernize Africa not only economically but militarily as well. There is a risk of counter-colonization here however Africa is better to you as a partner than as a dependent. A stronger Africa will reinforce a stable multi-polar world. If you sit back and be quiet about Africa while NATO runs amok (like you did when NATO overrun Gaddafi), you will soon lose your influence on the continent.

(3) Both options (1) and (2) are really two evils for Africa (perhaps one is the lesser evil) but because as a people and as a continent we are (black Africa especially) economically and militarily weaker than other blocs, they take advantage of us. NATO is not altruistic and neither does it practice a live-and-let-live policy. Given the chance, they will manipulate, divide and conquer. This is too bad! It is a sick aspect of our collective human nature. China will do no less, even if done in a different way. Option (3) is for Africa and African nations to realize the “smelly stuff” they have gotten themselves into and wise up! It would be great if we could only just nicely ask the more powerful blocs not to manipulate us and our continent and to please leave us in peace if they choose not to help us. But it does not work like that. So as Africans, we need to get talking in order to figure a way out of this. This option is in my view the most open one.

(4) There is a possible fourth option, the “e factor” but being such an unpredictable wild card, one can only speculate about what effect this option could possibly have on us Africans, if it were to ever be activated in our region. If the reader does not know what I am referring to here then please do not bother too much with it.

(5) There is also the chance that there are options that I have missed out or have not considered here.

So fellow country men and women! There is a potentially wider conflict brewing. Often, we focus on our small country Ghana, an artificially created entity based on Euro-American whims, and we try to forget about the rest of the continent, as if it is foreign to us. Yea, we even see other black Africans from other “nations” as foreigners. But the time has come to look not only at our artificially created boundaries but to also to be aware of what is happening around us. The conflict in Mali has great potential to lead into several different directions that will inevitably affect us. We have already been drawn into it. It is my hope that this article will reach those who are meant to read it, which includes all open minded and discerning individuals.