Anticipating Obama's coming immigration push

(CBS News) MESA, Arizona - In his inaugural address Monday, President Obama touched only briefly on immigration reform. But in the next few weeks, he is expected to propose changes that would put millions of illegal immigrants on the path toward U.S. citizenship.

It could be one of the biggest challenges in his second term.

"We need this president to push as hard as he can, because Latinos care about immigration and the election showed it," said Erika Andiola, a well-known immigrant rights activist in Arizona. "Our families can no longer be separated."

Obama looks to past to set course for future
As GOP splinters, "purple" Texas on the horizon, Castro predicts
Rubio outlines immigration proposal

She crossed the border illegally from Mexico with her mother when she was 11 years old. She was asked what she would say to people who point out she entered illegally.

"Give us a chance to be in the country -- to give back to the country. I think a lot of us have a lot to contribute," Andiola said.

President Obama's deferred deportation program allows those who came illegally as children to work or study in the U.S.

"It would definitely be a dream come true if I was to become a citizen," Andiola said.

Erika Andiola, right, and her mother

/

CBS News

She recently lived every illegal immigrant's nightmare. Federal agents took her mother and brother from their home to be deported. Andiola jumped into activist mode. She posted a YouTube video about her experience.

Word went out on Twitter and Facebook.

"Just one organization was able to get 18,000 petitions in a matter of 12 hours.," Andiola said.

She even got members of Congress to call immigration authorities. Her brother and mother were released within 20 hours. Yet, Andiola points out, a record number of undocumented immigrants - almost 410,000 - were deported last year.

"This is why we need immigration reform," Andiola said. "I think it has to happen."

Hispanic political power helped release her mother -- helped elect a president -- and she's convinced it will forge a path to citizenship for millions like her and her mother.

Read More..

Obama's 2nd Term: Whose Time Is 'Our Time'?

Jan 21, 2013 12:50pm

Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

ANALYSIS By RICK KLEIN

President Obama used a brief pause in the partisan warfare that’s scarred his time in office to return to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, with his own declaration of urgency and a call to action that reflects shared sacrifice and responsibility.

This was no centrist conciliator. It was the speech of a committed, unapologetic progressive, an Obama doctrine for domestic policy that included concrete commitments in areas he made little progress on over his first four years. Above all, he was speaking to a changing America – the nation that propelled him to a second term, and whose voices he will need to channel to be effective over the next four years.

“My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together,” the president declared.

That word “together” appeared seven times in the president’s speech. He used the phrase, “we, the people” five times. Notably, the president said “our time” five times. It was a clear signal that Obama is not satisfied with the frustrations that marked his first term, and that he is cognizant of his opportunity at this moment.

And he sees those opportunities mainly to his left. Obama made a firm commitment to pursue climate-change legislation, in addition to immigration reform and gun control. In an era of budget-cutting, he delivered a rousing endorsement of the social safety net, including Medicare and Social Security.

Obama cited the civil-rights movement and listed Stonewall – the 1960s demonstrations over a police raid of a New York City gay bar that galvanized the gay-rights movement – alongside Seneca Falls and Selma. He also promised equality for “our gay brothers and sisters,” apparently becoming the first president to use the word “gay” in an inaugural address.

Obama’s defining challenge as president has been to deliver on the hope and promise he rode into office on in 2008. He may never hope to fulfill the expectations that surrounded his elevation. But speaking to the largest crowd he’s likely to ever appear before again, the president sounded both more optimistic and more committed to progress on his priorities than anything in our current political system would suggest is warranted.

“Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time, but it does require us to act in our time,” the president said.

For a president whose very inauguration speaks to the promise of America, but whose first term ended with so much frustration, it was a return to his roots. President Obama is cognizant of his role in history, though clearly not content with leaving it at that.

Read More..

Why Hollande must 'reset presidency'

John Gaffney says Francois Hollande, seen here at the Elysee Palace on January 11, 2013, needs to rethink his presidency.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• French President Francois Hollande and the country's Socialists are in a strong position


• Despite this, Hollande has made little progress since his election, says John Gaffney


• Gaffney: Hollande "like a stunned bunny in the headlights" of economic reality


• President must act now, and act decisively, to make France admired again, says Gaffney

Editor's note: John Gaffney is professor of politics and co-director of the Aston Centre for Europe, at the UK's Aston University.

(CNN) -- France is the fifth richest country in the world. It is the world's sixth largest exporter. It has the second largest diplomatic network in the world, after the US. It is a member of the UN Security Council. It is the most visited country in the world, welcoming 82 million visitors last year. It is a major nuclear power. It is the true founder of the European Union. And it is in a terrible mess.

Socialist Francois Hollande was elected president almost a year ago, ousting the deeply unpopular "Mr Bling," President Nicolas Sarkozy.

John Gaffney is professor of politics at Aston University in the UK.

France's Socialist left have never been so strong politically: They control the presidency, the government, both houses of parliament, the regions, and all the big towns and cities. And in his first eight months in office, Hollande has done virtually nothing. He is like a stunned bunny in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle called "Harsh Economic Reality."

Hollande has three fundamental problems. The first is that he doesn't have a plan. Tens of thousands of people are losing their jobs each week, and it is going to get worse and worse.

France faces a huge public spending crisis - in health, pensions, and now welfare, and a government debt of 90% of GDP. Not one single adequate measure has been put forward, nor even proposed in his eight months in office.

The second problem is that he lacks the political will to break the log-jams in French society: Making industry more competitive, reducing government spending. He cannot do these things because one of the constituencies he needs to take on -- the huge public sector -- is made up of the people who voted him into power.

He could take on the equally irresponsible banks -- they didn't vote for him -- but he risks sending the economy into a tailspin if he does.

And not only does he need to address the structural issues in France's economy and society, but he made the mistake of telling everyone he could solve the country's problems painlessly, or by taxing the super-rich, and he is not managing to do that either, so he is just taxing everyone else.

Now he faces the worst situation possible because no one believes a word he says. He delivered a robust New Year's message last week, watched by millions; yet 75% don't believe he can deliver on its promise.

In fact, the New Year's Eve wishes everyone in France did believe were the Churchillian tones of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her message was essentially the opposite of Hollande's bizarre optimism, which seems to involve little more than following the "Keep Calm and Carry On" mantra. But waiting for the upturn will find France unprepared and in a worse predicament than Spain or Italy, who are now busily restructuring their economies.

The third and fundamental problem Hollande has is that he does not understand the nature of the office he holds, the French Presidency of the Republic. If he did, he might find a way forward. In his New Year message he likened himself to a ship's captain. But he has to be one, not just say he is one. The office of French President is a highly complex mixture of the political and the symbolic. But it is fundamentally about leadership; that is leading not following, and taking the French with him.

Hollande urgently needs to reset his Presidency - and there are a few clear rules to do so:

He needs to take on the banks where necessary, take on the benefits system, the impediments to innovation and to setting up new businesses, take on the appalling situation of France's forgotten inner city misery; his need not be a hard-nosed liberal agenda.

No government in French history is in a better position to make France a more equal society while making it and its economy more efficient. He should focus on young people trying to set up their own business. Focus on small businesses generally. Drag France away from its drive to over regulate everything and throttle innovation. Tax the super-rich if necessary, as long as it contributes to the overall solution he is aiming for.

He also needs to get into step with Merkel and lead Europe with Germany, not pretend he is the spokesperson for the irresponsible spenders.

But above all, he should use the presidency in a more imaginative way: Begin an ongoing and exciting conversation with the French. No other office in the world, not even the presidency of the US, offers such scope for an intimacy between leader and population.

He should boldly use the referendum to build up and direct the conversation towards change and innovation. If the vested interests won't move, bring in the people. Use the referendum like de Gaulle did between 1958 and 1962, as a major political weapon to break the deadlocks in French political society.

In Europe and the wider world he has to make France admired again, as it once was. Inside France, he has to forget about not upsetting anyone. In fact, he should have a plan that upsets just about everybody. The French would love him for it.

So far it remains to be seen what impact his first major foreign policy challenge -- in Mali -- will have. As French forces, with the backing of the international community, go into the West African country to take on Islamist rebels, the coming weeks will tell us whether fate just gave to him the best or the worst opportunity to show the French, and the rest of the world, what he is made of.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Gaffney.

Read More..

SDA's Lim to launch online rally at 6pm

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Democratic Alliance's (SDA's) candidate for Punggol East, Mr Desmond Lim, will start his online rally at 6pm on Monday.

Mr Lim told reporters after meeting residents at Kangkar LRT Station in the morning that he will start with two video clips.

Each clip will be between seven and 10 minutes long.

Mr Lim said he will produce at least 10 clips during his by-election campaign.

The videos will be available on his Facebook page and can be downloaded to smartphones.

Mr Lim said his volunteers will approach residents during the walkabouts and ask them if they would like use Bluetooth to transfer the clips to their phones.

- CNA/al

Read More..

Obama ends oath with 'so help me God'

By Bill Mears, CNN Supreme Court Producer

updated 6:36 PM EST, Sun January 20, 2013

Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

Photos: Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

Photos: Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

Best of 2013 inauguration

<<

<

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

>

>>

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Obama used family Bible at Sunday's swearing-in; Will use two others on Monday


• 'So help me God' not required part of presidential oath, but has been said


• Legal challenge fell short before 2009 inauguration

Watch CNN's comprehensive coverage of President Barack Obama's second inauguration this weekend on CNN TV and follow online at CNN.com or via CNN's apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. Then, on Monday, follow our real-time Inauguration Day live blog at cnn.com/conversation. Need other reasons to watch inauguration coverage on CNN's platforms? Click here for our list.

Washington (CNN) -- At his request, President Barack Obama is ending his inaugural oath with: "So help me God."

Those four words are not legally or constitutionally required, unlike other federal oaths that invoke them as standard procedure.

Historians have wrangled over whether George Washington established precedent by adding the phrase on his own during his first Inaugural acceptance, but the Library of Congress website states he did.

Abraham Lincoln was reported to have said it spontaneously in 1861 and other presidents over the years have followed suit.

A Bible is traditionally used in administering the oath.

Opinion: Presidents should not swear in on a Bible

Obama took the official oath on Sunday at the White House with his left hand on the family Bible of his wife, Michelle.

At Monday's ceremonial swearing-in at the Capitol, he will use Bibles from Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.

Obama took the oath with the same Lincoln Bible in 2009 when he made history as the first African-American president.

The Constitution lays out the exact language to be used in the oath: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Four years ago, a California atheist, Michael Newdow, objected and went to federal court to prevent Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts from prompting the president-elect to repeat the "so help me God phrase."

Newdow, along with several non-religious groups, argued the words violate the constitutional ban on government "endorsement" of religion.

The high court ultimately rejected the lawsuit two years ago, and no such legal challenges are expected this time.

Lyndon Johnson's 1965 swearing-in marked a change from tradition.

His wife Claudia, known batter as Lady Bird, held the Bible, a job previously managed by the high court's clerk.

Spouses have since had the honor.

13 reasons to follow the inauguration on CNN's platforms and nowhere else

CNN's Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

Part of complete coverage on

2013 Presidential Inauguration

Snap a photo of yourself in the crowd and hop onto CNN iReport to tell us why you're there. You can also submit via Instagram by tagging your photo #cnn.

Everything you want to know about the who, what, when, why and how of the nation's 57th Presidential Inauguration ceremony, all organized in our interactive.

All the angles. Interviews and stories galore. Excellent photography. Check out how to follow the best of our coverage, on TV, CNN.com and mobile platforms.

updated 2:06 PM EST, Sun January 20, 2013

An American flag waves at the U.S. Capitol building on Sunday, January 20, as Washington prepares for President Barack Obama's second inauguration. CNN brings you the best images from Washington.

updated 12:38 PM EST, Sat January 19, 2013

President Barack Obama will join what is perhaps America's most exclusive club on Monday.

updated 4:07 PM EST, Sat January 19, 2013

If you're looking to rub elbows with celebrities in D.C. for the inauguration, you won't have to look too far.

updated 4:51 PM EST, Fri January 18, 2013

As Inauguration Day approaches, the question on everyone's lips is: What will the first lady be wearing?

Ahead of the inauguration, the nation is is also regrouping. What it does differently this time could indicate what America will emerge.

updated 12:40 PM EST, Sat January 19, 2013

Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin notes each inauguration is moving in its own way, but only a few produce moments that are truly memorable.

updated 4:39 PM EST, Fri January 18, 2013

At its essence, the presidential inaugural symbolizes American democracy's peaceful transition or extension of power.

updated 12:43 PM EST, Sat January 19, 2013

From Frank Sinatra to Aretha Franklin, here's a look back at the impact of musical performances at the inauguration.

The oath, the speech, the crowds, the celebrities, the balls. By the numbers, here's a look at presidential inaugurations.

updated 7:33 PM EST, Mon January 14, 2013

CNN's Brian Todd reports on the rehearsals and crowd-control measures being taken ahead of the inauguration.

updated 7:07 AM EST, Thu January 17, 2013

It's tempting to dismiss talk of Michelle Obama's wardrobe as frivolous, but her panache for mix-and-match takes it to the next level.

The official retail store for the 57th Inauguration celebrates with special memorabilia for visitors.

Read More..

MLK's "content of character" quote inspires debate

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

This sentence spoken by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has been quoted countless times as expressing one of America's bedrock values, its language almost sounding like a constitutional amendment on equality.

20 Photos

Martin Luther King Jr.

Play Video

Martin Luther King III talks his father's legacy

Play Video

King, Civil Rights Act remembered

Yet today, 50 years after King shared this vision during his most famous speech, there is considerable disagreement over what it means.

The quote is used to support opposing views on politics, affirmative action and programs intended to help the disadvantaged. Just as the words of the nation's founders are parsed for modern meanings on guns and abortion, so are King's words used in debates over the proper place of race in America.

As we mark the King holiday, what might he ask of us in a time when both the president and a disproportionate number of people in poverty are black? Would King have wanted us to completely ignore race in a "color-blind" society? To consider race as one of many factors about a person? And how do we discern character?

For at least two of King's children, the future envisioned by the father has yet to arrive.

"I don't think we can ignore race," says Martin Luther King III.

"What my father is asking is to create the climate where every American can realize his or her dreams," he says. "Now what does that mean when you have 50 million people living in poverty?"

Bernice King doubts her father would seek to ignore differences.

"When he talked about the beloved community, he talked about everyone bringing their gifts, their talents, their cultural experiences," she says. "We live in a society where we may have differences, of course, but we learn to celebrate these differences."

The meaning of King's monumental quote is more complex today than in 1963 because "the unconscious signals have changed," says the historian Taylor Branch, author of the acclaimed trilogy "America in the King Years."

Fifty years ago, bigotry was widely accepted. Today, Branch says, even though prejudice is widely denounced, many people unconsciously pre-judge others.

"Unfortunately race in American history has been one area in which Americans kid themselves and pretend to be fair-minded when they really are not," says Branch, whose new book is "The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement."

Branch believes that today, King would ask people of all backgrounds - not just whites - to deepen their patriotism by leaving their comfort zones, reaching across barriers and learning about different people.

"To remember that we all have to stretch ourselves to build the ties that bind a democracy, which really is the source of our strength," Branch says.

Bernice King says her father is asking us "to get to a place - we're obviously not there - but to get to a place where the first thing that we utilize as a measurement is not someone's external designation, but it really is trying to look beyond that into the substance of a person in making certain decisions, to rid ourselves of those kinds of prejudices and biases that we often bring to decisions that we make."

That takes a lot of "psychological work," she says, adding, "He's really challenging us."

For many conservatives, the modern meaning of King's quote is clear: Special consideration for one racial or ethnic group is a violation of the dream.

The quote is like the Declaration of Independence, says Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, a conservative think tank that studies race and ethnicity. In years past, he says, America may have needed to grow into the words, but today they must be obeyed to the letter.

"The Declaration of Independence says all men are created equal," Clegg says. "Nobody thinks it doesn't really mean what it says because Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. King gave a brilliant and moving quotation, and I think it says we should not be treating people differently on the basis of skin color."

Many others agree. King's quote has become a staple of conservative belief that "judged by the color of their skin" includes things such as unique appeals to certain voter groups, reserving government contracts for Hispanic-owned businesses, seeking more non-white corporate executives, or admitting black students to college with lower test scores.

In the latest issue of the Weekly Standard magazine, the quote appears in the lead of a book review titled "The Price Was High: Affirmative Action and the Betrayal of a Colorblind Society."

Considering race as a factor in affirmative action keeps the wounds of slavery and Jim Crow "sore and festering. It encourages beneficiaries to rely on ethnicity rather than self-improvement to get ahead," wrote the author, George Leef.

Last week, the RightWingNews.com blog included "The idea that everyone should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin" in a list of "25 People, Places and Things Liberals Love to Hate."

"Conservatives feel they have embraced that quote completely. They are the embodiment of that quote but get no credit for doing it," says the author of the article, John Hawkins. "Liberals like the idea of the quote because it's the most famous thing Martin Luther King said, but they left the principles behind the quote behind a long time ago."

1/2

Read More..

Sasha's View: 'Good Job, Daddy. You Didn't Mess Up'

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden today officially embarked on their second term, taking the Constitutionally mandated oath of office in two separate private ceremonies inside their homes.

Shortly before noon in the Blue Room of the White House, Obama raised his right hand, with his left on a family Bible, reciting the oath administrated by Chief Justice John Roberts. He was surrounded by immediate family members, including first lady Michelle Obama and daughters, Malia and Sasha.

As he hugged his wife and daughters, Sasha said, "Good job, Daddy."

"I did it," he said.

"You didn't mess up," she answered.

Biden was sworn in earlier today by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic to administer a presidential oath, in a ceremony at his official residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory. He was joined by more than 120 guests, including cabinet members, extended family and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden.

Because Jan. 20 -- the official date for a new presidential term -- falls on a Sunday this year, organizers delayed by one day the traditional public inauguration ceremony and parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Vice President Joe Biden Sworn in for 2nd Term Watch Video

Obama Sworn In for Second Term, Kicks off Inaugural Festivities Watch Video

Obama and Biden will each repeat the oath on Monday on the west front of the Capitol, surrounded by hundreds of dignitaries and members of Congress. An estimated 800,000 people are expected to gather on the National Mall to witness the moment and inaugural parade to follow.

The dual ceremonies in 2013 means Obama will become the second president in U.S. history to take the presidential oath four times. He was sworn in twice in 2008 out of an abundance of caution after Roberts flubbed the oath of office during the public administration. This year Roberts read from a script.

Franklin Roosevelt was also sworn in four times but, unlike Obama, he was elected four times.

This year will mark the seventh time a president has taken the oath on a Sunday and then again on Monday for ceremonial purposes. Reagan last took the oath on a Sunday in 1985.

Both Obama and Biden took the oath using a special family Bible. Obama used a text that belonged to Michelle Obama's grandmother LaVaughn Delores Robinson. Biden placed his hand on a 120-year-old book with a Celtic cross on the cover that has been passed down through Biden clan.

The official inaugural activities today also included moments of prayer and remembrance that marked the solemnity of the day.

Obama and Biden met at Arlington National Cemetery for a brief morning ceremony to place a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns, honoring military service members who served and sacrificed. The men stood shoulder to shoulder, bowing their heads as a bugler played "Taps."

Biden, who is Catholic, began the day with a private family mass at his residence. The president and first family attended church services at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historically black church and site of two pre-inaugural prayer services for former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore and their families.

The Obamas and Bidens plan to participate in a church service on Monday morning at St. John's Episcopal, across Lafayette Park from the White House. They will also attend a National Prayer Service on Tuesday at the National Cathedral.

Later on Sunday evening, the newly-inaugurated leaders will attend a candlelight reception at the National Building Museum. The president and vice president are expected to deliver brief remarks to their supporters.

Read More..

Why Africa backs French in Mali

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

French-led Mali offensive

<<

<

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

>

>>

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• French intervention in Mali could be turning point in relationship with Africa, writes Lansana Gberie


• France's meddling to bolster puppet regimes in the past has outraged Africans, he argues


• He says few in Africa would label the French action in Mali as 'neo-colonial mission creep'


• Lansana: 'Africa's weakness has been exposed by the might of a foreign power'

Editor's note: Dr. Lansana Gberie is a specialist on African peace and security issues. He is the author of "A Dirty War in West Africa: The RUF and the Destruction of Sierra Leone." He is from Sierra Leone and lives in New York.

(CNN) -- Operation Serval, France's swift military intervention to roll back advances made by Jihadist elements who had hijacked a separatist movement in northern Mali, could be a turning point in the ex-colonialist's relationship with Africa.

It is not, after all, every day that you hear a senior official of the African Union (AU) refer to a former European colonial power in Africa as "a brotherly nation," as Ambroise Niyonsaba, the African Union's special representative in Ivory Coast, described France on 14 January, while hailing the European nation's military strikes in Mali.

France's persistent meddling to bolster puppet regimes or unseat inconvenient ones was often the cause of much outrage among African leaders and intellectuals. But by robustly taking on the Islamist forces that for many months now have imposed a regime of terror in northern Mali, France is doing exactly what African governments would like to have done.

Lansana Gberie

This is because the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), Ansar Dine and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) are a far greater threat to many African states than they ever would be to France or Europe.

See also: What's behind Mali instability?

Moreover, the main underlying issues that led to this situation -- the separatist rebellion by Mali's Tuareg, under the banner of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), who seized the northern half of the country and declared it independent of Mali shortly after a most ill-timed military coup on 22 March 2012 -- is anathema to the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Successful separatism by an ethnic minority, it is believed, would only encourage the emergence of more separatist movements in a continent where many of the countries were cobbled together from disparate groups by Europeans not so long ago.

But the foreign Islamists who had been allies to the Tuaregs at the start of their rebellion had effectively sidelined the MNLA by July last year, and have since been exercising tomcatting powers over the peasants in the area, to whom the puritanical brand of Islam being promoted by the Islamists is alien.

ECOWAS, which is dominated by Nigeria -- formerly France's chief hegemonic foe in West Africa -- in August last year submitted a note verbale with a "strategic concept" to the U.N. Security Council, detailing plans for an intervention force to defeat the Islamists in Mali and reunify the country.

ECOWAS wanted the U.N. to bankroll the operation, which would include the deployment a 3,245-strong force -- to which Nigeria (694), Togo (581), Niger (541) and Senegal (350) would be the biggest contributors -- at a cost of $410 million a year. The note stated that the objective of the Islamists in northern Mali was to "create a safe haven" in that country from which to coordinate "continental terrorist networks, including AQIM, MUJAO, Boko Haram [in Nigeria] and Al-Shabaab [in Somalia]."

Despite compelling evidence of the threat the Islamists pose to international peace and security, the U.N. has not been able to agree on funding what essentially would be a military offensive. U.N. Security Council resolution 2085, passed on 20 December last year, only agreed to a voluntary contribution and the setting up of a trust fund, and requested the secretary-general "develop and refine options within 30 days" in this regard. The deadline should be 20 January.

See also: Six reasons events in Mali matter

It is partly because of this U.N. inaction that few in Africa would label the French action in Mali as another neo-colonial mission creep.

If the Islamists had been allowed to capture the very strategic town of Sevaré, as they seemed intent on doing, they would have captured the only airstrip in Mali (apart from the airport in Bamako) capable of handling heavy cargo planes, and they would have been poised to attack the more populated south of the country.

Africa's weakness has, once again, been exposed by the might of a foreign power.
Lansana Gberie

Those Africans who would be critical of the French are probably stunned to embarrassment: Africa's weakness has, once again, been exposed by the might of a foreign power.

Watch video: French troops welcomed in Mali

Africans, however, can perhaps take consolation in the fact that the current situation in Mali was partially created by the NATO action in Libya in 2010, which France spearheaded. A large number of the well-armed Islamists and Tuareg separatists had fought in the forces of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, and then left to join the MNLA in northern Mali after Gadhafi fell.

They brought with them advanced weapons, including shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles from Libya; and two new Jihadist terrorist groups active in northern Mali right now, Ansar Dine and MUJAO, were formed out of these forces.

Many African states had an ambivalent attitude towards Gadhafi, but few rejoiced when he was ousted and killed in the most squalid condition.

A number of African countries, Nigeria included, have started to deploy troops in Mali alongside the French, and ECOWAS has stated the objective as the complete liberation of the north from the Islamists.

The Islamists are clearly not a pushover; though they number between 2,000 and 3,000 they are battle-hardened and fanatically driven, and will likely hold on for some time to come.

The question now is: what happens after, as is almost certain, France begins to wind down its forces, leaving the African troops in Mali?

Nigeria, which almost single-handedly funded previous ECOWAS interventions (in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s, costing billions of dollars and hundreds of Nigerian troops), has been reluctant to fund such expensive missions since it became democratic.

See also: Nigerians waiting for 'African Spring'

Its civilian regimes have to be more accountable to their citizens than the military regimes of the 1990s, and Nigeria has pressing domestic challenges. Foreign military intervention is no longer popular in the country, though the links between the northern Mali Islamists and the destructive Boko Haram could be used as a strategic justification for intervention in Mali.

The funding issue, however, will become more and more urgent in the coming weeks and months, and the U.N. must find a sustainable solution beyond a call for voluntary contributions by member states.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Lansana Gberie.

Read More..

10 Japanese unaccounted for in Algeria crisis

TOKYO: A Japanese engineering firm said Sunday that 10 Japanese and seven foreign workers remained unaccounted for at an Algerian gas plant that was seized by Islamist militants.

JGC Corp. said it had confirmed the safety of 61 of 78 workers after Algerian troops stormed the remote gas plant Saturday to end the hostage crisis that killed 23 foreigners and Algerians.

"We have newly confirmed the safety of 41 of our workers but the safety of the remaining 10 Japanese and seven foreign workers is yet to be confirmed," JGC spokesman Takeshi Endo told reporters.

- AFP/ck

Read More..

Algerian standoff ends; 23 hostages dead

(CBS News) LONDON - Four days after it started, the standoff between Algerian forces and al Qaeda-linked militants in the Sahara Desert is over. Algerian special forces stormed a remote natural gas complex where hundreds of workers had been held captive. Algerian officials say 23 hostages are dead, including one American. About 32 militants are reported to have been killed.

Some of the hostages were able to escape from the gas plant before Algerian special forces launched their final assault.

State media reported that a number of foreign hostages survived, including at least two Americans. But in the chaos, it's not yet possible to get the exact figures.

At least one American dead in Algerian hostage crisis
America's newest enemy: Moktar Belmoktar

Who are the terrorists that Islamic militants want freed?

U.S. military aircraft evacuated some survivors to a NATO airbase in Sicily.

Pictures of the siege show gunmen rounding up hostages. One BP worker said terrorists told him: "'You have nothing to do with this. You are Algerians and Muslims. We only want the foreigners.'"

BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said 14 of its 18 foreign employees at the plant were safe.

"We are not able to confirm the circumstances of four of our employees," he said. "Tragically, we gravely feel that we will be seeing fatalities from this group."

Algerian troops discovered a cache of heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, and grenades. Hostages said the explosives were wired around their necks.

Local media have have identified Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri as the leader of the attack. He's a lieutenant of Moktar Belmoktar, head of an al Qaeda-linked group based in North Africa.

The Algerian state oil company running the plant said the attackers had the entire refinery booby-trapped and that it would be days before the clearing-out process is complete.

Read More..