Gunmen killed four guests at a Mali luxury resort popular with Western expatriates just outside the capital Bamako, authorities said on Monday, and one other guest is still missing.
heartbreaking.
Also, and I say this because I think it’s relevant: this isn’t really a “luxury resort.” The Radisson Blu (which was attacked in 2015) was a luxury hotel. This place had rooms for ~US$50/night and you could go use the pool for ~US$10 for the day.
Why is this relevant? Because it’s not just high-level diplomats and business people who went to the Campement, it was people like me, it was well-off Malians who wanted to get away from the busyness of Bamako, it was students and NGO workers and (before they evacuated) Peace Corps Volunteers wanting a little (relative) luxury for a change.
Was. Because as of yesterday this place doesn’t exist anymore and I doubt it will reopen.
Because (most likely) a bunch of Al-Qaeda fuckers who aren’t even from Mali and their asshole allies and the kids who joined up because they get paid or because they’ve been convinced this is how to be a good Muslim or a good person or to be powerful... they are tearing the country apart. Malian soldiers got killed in the north again today. The UN mission in Mali is the most dangerous peacekeeping mission in the world. And, AND, it’s the last week of Ramadan. If you’re more familiar with Christian holidays, think just before Christmas. (no it’s not a perfect metaphor, but it’ll do).
And I’m not going to say “why isn’t anybody talking about this” while linking a fucking Reuters article, but. Say a prayer for Mali, if you do that kind of thing. Learn more about what’s happening (I can find links, if you want, but... not right now). Resist the urge to make this conflict into a simple narrative about colonialism and imperialism. Resist the urge to make it simple at all. Support the UN. Criticize it when it fucks up, but support the good it does. Look up #TouchePasMaConstitution. Read Bridges from Bamako. Or google Salif Keita or Toumani Diabaté or Ali Farka Toure or i4africa.org and listen to generations of culture and music and stories. That’s Mali. That’s the Mali Al Qaeda and their friends want to destroy. Listen, and pass it on, and help keep it alive.
