 AP Photo The U.S. government has invested heavily in counterterrorism programs in the region, spending more than $1 billion since 2005 to train security forces, secure borders, promote democracy, reduce poverty and spread propaganda. The strategy was portrayed as a sobering lesson from the costly invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The goal of stabilizing weak African countries was to keep al-Qaeda out and obviate the need to send U.S. combat forces into the Sahara. Despite those efforts, Belmokhtar’s group and a hazy array of other jihadist factions and rebellious tribesmen seized control of northern Mali last year. In March, a U.S.-trained Malian officer carried out a coup, further plunging the country into chaos. TAGGED: West Africa, North Africa, Mali, Algeria, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Counterterrorism, Africa, United StatesRECOMMENDED ARTICLES| The need to evolve a stable political system in Mali is a daunting task as is the rebooting of the economy. More widely, powers from outside the region seem only now to be waking up to the danger posed by AQIM. The French action... more ›› |
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| The threat from Al Qaeda-linked terrorists is continuously evolving as they seek new safe havens from which to recruit, train and conduct operations against Americans and our interests. They are attracted to areas of weak... more ›› |
| Make no mistake about it -- the last thing that the poverty-stricken nations of sub-Saharan Africa ever needed was a violent, oil-rich, deluded nutjob like Gaddafi interfering in their affairs. For anyone who purports to give a... more ›› |
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