You want power? You can have it

A follow up on the recent military theft of power in Mali that overthrew the democratically elected president Amadou Toumani Touré (ATT)...

If you'll recall, the coup leaders insisted their action was solely motivated by the desire to stop the insurgency in the north of the country and to preserve Mali's territorial integrity. So what was one of the first acts committed by soldiers following the consolidation of the coup? The looting of the presidential palace.

Not that the country's territorial integrity has fared much better. The army has lost control of several key towns since the coup, most recently Kidal. The major northern town of Gao is also under assault.

The ruling junta calls itself the Committee for the Restoration of Democracy, a beautiful Orwellian name, since it was they who disestablished democracy in the first place.

Even as the French government formally condemned the coup, it was common knowledge that Paris had been considered ATT too lax in fighting against the Islamist insurgency. This has fueled speculation that the French may have had some role in the regime change. While there seems to be little concrete evidence to that effect, the long history of La Françafrique nourishes such suspicions.

Black Looks blog offers a fresh perspective on the events.