Alliance of Sahel States: sixth reported conspiracy against President Ibrahim Traoré

PROTECT THE ALLIANCE OF SAHEL STATES!

Protect and defend the Alliance of Sahel States! That is the rallying cry of pan-Africanists everywhere, especially now that Burkina Faso’s authorities have just foiled a sixth reported conspiracy against President Ibrahim Traoré, who was also slandered recently by General Michael Langley of US Africa Command (AFRICOM). Malian officials are currently under economic sanctions by the US State Department, and Niger is sanctioned by the European Union, clear signs that Western powers are determined to crush any African nation that dares to stand up to them.

The three founding members of the AES confederation have taken enormous strides towards sovereignty and self-determination, cutting ties with France and other Western powers and nationalising or demanding greater control over their resources.

AFRICOM BOSS: U.S. NEEDS MORE INFLUENCE IN AFRICA!

“They will pay one of us, to kill one of us, just to say it was one us” – these words (widely attributed to civil-rights activist Malcolm X) were recalled by many after the attempted character assassination of Burkina Faso’s president by the head of US Africa Command (AFRICOM) during a recent Senate hearing. It’s not the first time General Michael E. Langley’s Senate performance has caught our eye. In this video, he argues that our continent is part of NATO’s ‘southern flank,’ and that Russia is trying to ‘capture’ it.

He made the sweeping statements in March last year while justifying America’s military presence in the region. But can he seriously present the US as the protector of African interests in the Maghreb?

It was not Russia that destroyed Libya, one of the wealthiest countries on the continent. Nor was Russia behind a string of coups and assassinations across Africa.

However, there is one thing the four-star general is honest about – his own country’s interests. Langley happily admits: ‘We need to be able to maintain access and influence across the Maghreb, from Morocco all the way to Libya.’

America is clearly shaken by the anti-colonial wave passing through the Sahel. But it makes us wonder: if he’s saying this openly, what is the US planning behind closed doors?

What do his words mean, especially in the context of Burkina Faso being a target for AFRICOM?