[meteorite-list] Deteriorating Situation in Mali

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2013 10:31:45 -0500
Message-ID: <CAKBPJW8PpqQMp0SHpfjGTdC1EFhbG8G9XCuDWM=+mB7SYqN0ng_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi List,

Some of the events going on in the Saharan Desert bear watching by the
meteorite world.

First, fundamentalist Islamists have seized control of northern Mali
and ancient city of Timbuktu. I respect Islam and Muslims, but these
fundamentalists are affiliated with Al-Qaeda and they have enforced
Sharia law on the residents of northern Mali and Timbuktu. Worse,
these militants are heavily-armed with black market weapons from the
fall of the Gaddafi regime in Libya.

Why should meteorite collectors/dealers/hunters care?

The fundamentalists are violent enemies of science and they have no
tolerance for other religions or traditions. Much of Mali and
Timbuktu is Sufi and the Sufi traditions are considered heretical to
many fundamentalists. As we sit here discussing this, militants are
destroying cultural heritage sites and wiping out anything that
doesn't agree with their version of Sharia law. Remember what the
Taliban did to the Buddhas of Bamiyan? Expect more of the same in
Timbuktu.

The violence has the potential to spread to the neighboring countries
of Niger, Burkina Faso, Algeria, and Mauritania. These are all
places that are familiar to the collectors of NWA meteorites. The
strewnfields of Bassikounou, Gao, and many others are now too
dangerous for outsiders. If you have been thinking about a meteorite
hunting expedition to Mali or Niger, you may want to seriously rethink
that idea now.

In the last year, we have witnessed one war that is destroying one of
the most ancient landscapes on Earth - Syria. Syria is being reduced
to rubble, and now the famous city of Timbuktu is going to suffer the
same fate - either from the fundamentalist militants or from the
French military efforts to expel them.

Let us all take a minute and stop what we are doing. Regardless of
your faith, pray for the residents of the Sahara and that this
violence will stop. The Saharan Desert is one of the most beautiful
(yet desolate) places on Earth and this conflict has the potential to
spread like a cancer to consume much of the land of desert meteorites.

Best regards and happier huntings,

MikeG

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Received on Thu 17 Jan 2013 10:31:45 AM PST