Bamako, Mali

HOW would the United States government react if a huge section of its territory were occupied by terrorists and drug traffickers who raped women and forced them to marry? If children were conscripted and deprived of their education? If citizens had their hands and feet cut off? That is precisely what has happened to the once peaceful and democratic nation of Mali.

Life in northern Mali before the rebels and Islamic extremists arrived was calm; we lived together harmoniously in a community of various languages and backgrounds, including people of Tuareg, Sonraï, Bambara and Peul ethnicities. Coexistence of different ethnic groups in a secular society has long been a fundamental value in Mali, and our cultural diversity enriched us.

In 2004, I became the first woman to be elected mayor of a town in northern Mali. It wasn’t easy in this ultraconservative region. We built a community center to encourage the economic self-sufficiency of women, who accounted for more than half the town’s population of about 16,000. Despite many difficulties, the initiation of development projects created a real sense of hope among the population. Even if the economy was slow to take off, it was progress. Now it is all in shambles.

Jihadist criminal groups like Ansar Dine and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, working with drug traffickers and armed separatists, are threatening democratic institutions, national unity and secularism in Mali.

Our democracy, achieved through great struggle, has shown its weaknesses. Poorly handled rebellions, a failure to decentralize political power and an influx of armed men and drug traffickers during and after the 2011 war in Libya have all contributed to our present crisis.

In the spring of 2011, a group of secular Tuareg separatists, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, grew stronger when its fighters returned from nearby Libya with heavy weapons to liberate northern Mali, which they call Azawad. The movement formed a military alliance of convenience with jihadists in the region. Together, they quickly routed the Malian Army, but simmering mistrust and bitter disagreements eventually led to a split, with the jihadists gaining the upper hand. The collapse of our military in the north left us in an appalling situation: a country without an army to protect its citizens.

I was forced to flee the town I govern earlier this year when jihadists and separatists took over. Goundam, like other northern towns, was left foundering in total chaos: there was no government, no schools, no libraries, no electricity and no freedom for our citizens.

The rebels and extremists looted our health center’s stores of medicine and equipment. Not even our personal belongings were spared. Women were driven from the community center, where they had been working to earn a living — and all of this was supposedly in the name of establishing Shariah.

Lawless and godless men — who hide behind Shariah and demands for Tuareg independence — are now beating and raping women and conscripting children to fight their “holy” war.

And the greatest tragedy is that people are starting to get used to it. Isolated from public life, women can no longer dress as they wish or freely go about their business. Children no longer attend school. In short, our development efforts have been destroyed.

Immediately reclaiming northern Mali from violent extremists must become a priority. And it can’t be done without international help, especially from key powers like America and France. The United Nations, the European Union, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States must all do their part to resolve the crisis before it becomes a greater threat.

After recovering its lost territory, Mali needs help in organizing free, transparent and credible elections to choose representatives who are elected by — and not imposed upon — the citizens. We also need help reconstituting a national army, accelerating political decentralization, strengthening civil society groups and making economic development a fundamental part of re-establishing security.

I was staggered to hear the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, express his fear in a report last month that a humanitarian disaster might result from military intervention in Mali. The disaster is already upon us. Could there be any disaster more grave than the one we’re already living?

President Obama must not allow northern Mali to become a hotbed of terrorists and drug traffickers that poses a danger to the entire world.

The United States has intervened in less dire situations. I call upon its conscience. Please help us get our families out of their wretched distress. We are innocent victims. We cannot do it alone.

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