When the past is also the future. In olden days, European empires in order to expand and enrich their kingdoms, would also send pirates around the globe. These sordid hooligans/gangs, ransack and pillage entire populations, then amass bounty (gold, precious gems…) to be carried back to their kingdoms. Therefore, the Hollywood movie Pirates of the Caribbean by Johnny Depp cinematographically and entertainingly depicts such events. 

The documentary gives a rare and in-depth account of the Russian terrorist gangs so called mercenaries. I recently spent close to a year in Mali, and it is astonishing to what degree one can observe the veracity of the statements in the documentary. Indeed, in a not so distant conversation, an acquaintance there was reassuring me that the Malian government has nothing to do with the Wagner group, and that they are only in alliance with the Russian president.See below attached, the image of Putin drawn on a public transportation I took while driven by the chauffeur. It says Putin puts Mali first (lol).

And, he went on to say that, it is only their western detractors that come up with such cooked up ideas. I had heard that comment from others as well. When I would mention the daily cost to the Malian government, as opposed to, far as I am aware, the free of charge presence of the French government (the BARCAN Force - already left a month or so ago), as well as the United Nations, the MUNISNA (just right now being ordered to leave the country after a decade - of inefficiency according reports by the Malian representatives at the UN), they would respond that freedom and liberation have no price.- Touché.

Indeed, as stated in the documentary, I have always been aware of the fact that disinformation was extraordinarily ripe and having a serious impact on the mindset of the populations there. Unfortunately, that handiwork through the social media in particular WhatsApp is spreading from one nation to the other. So I will not as much dare, or waste my time, sharing this very eye-opening and interesting documentary with any of them, because whence disinformation has taken hold, it is very difficult to uproot, sadly. For instance, in Niger, it is the population, not the politicians, who demanded a regime, change in favor of a military government that would do as in Mali, and invite the Russians in their fight against Islamic terrorists.

And just as the documentary depicts, in Mali they are very proud that now they Malian army is having genuine assistance. They have the helicopters, the armaments and the drones to boot. Whereas, the French were using their own equipment leaving of the Malian army wondering what they were doing there or up to. There used to be regular periodic attacks on the Malian army, a favorite and close uncle of mine in the military was killed during one such ambush.

Now they’re national pride in the progress against insurrectionists. The Wagner mercenaries do not have regard for international rules of war, and so they teach the national army their tac tics which instill the “fear of god” into the enemy, and so they win. The other military groups are bound by rules and regulations, for instance the UN peace keeping forces cannot directly engage in combat, it so under the circumstances it will be seen as ineffective or useless (so they were asked to immediately!)

After so many long years of atrocities on innocent villages by this insurrectionists. They have not seen progress, quite to the contrary, they claimed that they were making things worse by being meddlesome. And apparently, in Mali it has been a while since we have not heard of such massacres of entire villages by Islamic terrorists on any media. Is it that Wagner‘s gang is so ruthless that they are having results, or is the information being suppressed?

Interestingly, when I had visited Mali a little over two decades ago, there were rumors about Russians who were stopped at the airport by the authorities. Supposedly, they were taking one of their compatriots’ body back home. However, it had turned out to be a coffin full to the brim with gold. Though this was pre-Wagner, I seem to the only one who recollects the purported event or perhaps that has no significance at this time.