Military Coup in Mali

[Left Coast]

Recent comments have been made on the site that our political discussions are too US-centric.

In that spirit, I thought I'd call attention to situation that seems truly dire happening in Africa. The presidential administration has literally been deposed in a military coup. The military coup leaders are saying they are going to set up some sort of transitional preaident until another permanent one is chosen (in an election, I assume?).

Mali coup leaders suggest 'transitional president'

I know very little about the political situation in that part of the world so I'd love to be educated by the those of you with more expertise on the matter on what's happening, what the history is, etc.

@Debater Slayer, you may have unique insight here, I'd love your contribution if you're around and know more.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Thanks for the info. Was this a popular coup or not wanted by the people?

 

[Cooky]

Recent comments have been made on the site that our political discussions are too US-centric.

In that spirit, I thought I'd call attention to situation that seems truly dire happening in Africa. The presidential administration has literally been deposed in a military coup. The military coup leaders are saying they are going to set up some sort of transitional preaident until another permanent one is chosen (in an election, I assume?).

Mali coup leaders suggest 'transitional president'


I know very little about the political situation in that part of the world so I'd love to be educated by the those of you with more expertise on the matter on what's happening, what the history is, etc.

@Debater Slayer, you may have unique insight here, I'd love your contribution if you're around and know more.

This is bad news...

The coup -- the latest upheaval in a cycle of turmoil lasting almost a decade -- follows months of mass anti-government protests and a worsening insurgency from Islamist militants north of the capital, Bamako

 

[JustGeorge]

I had to get ahold of my buddy from Mali and ask what this was all about...

Her statements on the topic was the general population had just had it with this guy, and the military went in and arrested him and his ministers. She said he was "eating all the money and leaving the population in (feces)".

She isn't optimistic about who they will put up next. Says they're all money hungry.

Guess politics are the same, no matter where you go.

 

[Cooky]

Regional delegation to visit Mali to try to reverse coup as junta, opposition close ranks

The coup, which has rocked a country already in the grip of a growing insurgency by Islamist militants and civil unrest, has been met with almost universal condemnation abroad.

 

[Cooky]

As a mood lightener, in troubled times :

 

[Valjean]

Even with popular coups, military governments, even "temporary" military governments, are authoritarian and have a bad human rights record, and tend to persist till another coup ousts them.

 

[Left Coast]

I had to get ahold of my buddy from Mali and ask what this was all about...

Her statements on the topic was the general population had just had it with this guy, and the military went in and arrested him and his ministers. She said he was "eating all the money and leaving the population in (feces)".

She isn't optimistic about who they will put up next. Says they're all money hungry.

Guess politics are the same, no matter where you go.

That's the impression I had. No good options, it seems. Makes our problems here look petty.

 

[JustGeorge]

When I asked why the other leaders in West Africa wanted this guy restored to power, her response was "because they're all doing the same things he is". I was afraid of that...

 

[Sunstone]

I seem to recall the United Nations has about 15,000 troops in Mali, though my memory isn't as good as it once was. So I'm wondering whether they will become involved in some way in this mess.

 

[Sunstone]

Guess politics are the same, no matter where you go.

I agree. The details can change, of course, but the themes remain the same.

 

[Sunstone]

That's the impression I had. No good options, it seems. Makes our problems here look petty.

True. We have it bad enough, but Mali has very little surplus wealth -- or anything -- to cushion its people against troubled times. I suspect this could easily turn into a humanitarian crisis, especially given that the Islamists are probably going to want to exploit the situation if they can.

 

[Sunstone]

When I asked why the other leaders in West Africa wanted this guy restored to power, her response was "because they're all doing the same things he is". I was afraid of that...

It's sickening how that works.

 

[PureX]

Mali has been a violent and contentious state for a long time. And the fighting often spills out onto or is aimed at their neighbors when it's not internal. I don't know the source of all this ongoing contention except that it's a male-dominated hierarchical culture. Testosterone is just not the best fuel for governance, it seems. Something much of humanity has yet to figure out.

 

[JustGeorge]

For all the political trouble it seems to have, my friend always had good stories about growing up there. She would get asked the weirdest questions...like are their giraffes running around in cites, and is violence common everyday.

We worked together for a good number of years, and I remember a co worker asking her about the violence. She said the only thing that had ever happened in her own personal circle was her house and the neighbor's house got robbed at gunpoint once(she wasn't home, but her dad was). I had to point out to the person questioning that that can happen anywhere; I myself was the victim of a home invasion with weapons.

The culture sounded much friendlier; she talked about how a thirsty person can go to any door and be given water, or people in restaurants would sit with a lone diner, to keep them company. Try that in the US, and you'll get the cops called. Mothers can breastfeed in the open; to gawk at a mother feeding a baby is completely taboo. People helped parents in public with unruly children, under the idea it takes a village to raise a child. Though there are obvious problems with prosperity in Mali, the picture she painted of it was never a grim place. It seemed like a place where there was more cooperation than what I was used to in the Midwestern US, and when the news or culture here started bothering me, I'd often start nagging her "when do we go back home?"

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

The culture sounded much friendlier; she talked about how a thirsty person can go to any door and be given water, or people in restaurants would sit with a lone diner, to keep them company. Try that in the US, and you'll get the cops called. Mothers can breastfeed in the open; to gawk at a mother feeding a baby is completely taboo. People helped parents in public with unruly children, under the idea it takes a village to raise a child. Though there are obvious problems with prosperity in Mali, the picture she painted of it was never a grim place. It seemed like a place where there was more cooperation than what I was used to in the Midwestern US, and when the news or culture here started bothering me, I'd often start nagging her "when do we go back home?"

Sounds very lovely. Yew, America has a much more individualistic culture where we are trained to be suspicious of each other, and is very prudish about the female breast.