When American-Trained Soldiers Butchered Canadian-Trained Soldiers

Dateline Mali.

If you want to know how screwed up the civil war in Mali truly is look no further than the cast of characters.   Everything began falling apart when the popularly-elected president was ousted by a military coup.

"In years past, U.S. Special Operations Command frequently sent commandos to the West African country in order to train Malian troops. But the U.S. government announced that relationship ended in March of last year, after the very Malian army officers the U.S. trained toppled the democratically elected government, which began a chain of woes that led to the Islamists’ capture of the north."

But Mali's president,  Amadou Toumani Toure, was protected by an elite presidential guard made up of paratroopers trained by members of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR), from CFB Petawawa in Ontario, in 2011 during the unit’s visits to Mali.

The paratroop unit not only provided security for the country’s president, Amadou Toumani Toure, but was also involved in fighting an al-Qaeda-linked group that operated from bases in northern Mali. The CSOR troops did not accompany the Malians into combat.

In previous interviews, Canadian military leaders noted that the paratroopers were selected for training after a rigorous review of the unit’s human-rights record by Foreign Affairs officials.

After Toure was deposed, the Canadian-trained presidential guard launched a counter-coup to restore the president to power.   Their efforts failed and butchery ensued.

Details of the fate of those in the presidential unit have emerged over the past several months. At least 40 soldiers were believed captured by Capt. Sanago’s forces.

A report by a human-rights group says some of those soldiers captured were forced at gunpoint to have sex with each other. “Fabric was stuffed in their mouths before the abuse to stifle their screams,” the report from Human Rights Watch stated. Others were beaten.

 Witnesses said around 20 of the soldiers were seen after the coup being led away, never to be found again.

So today Canada is being called upon to support the American-trained butchers who deposed their duly-elected president and slaughtered the Canadian-train guard who remained loyal to him.  In what kind of world does that make any sense?