Progressive Politics

The fastest-growing branch of Al Qaeda today is in West Africa. Earlier this week, former rock star Iyad Ag Ghali and his followers, known as JNIM, launched a massive uprising in the African nation of Mali, capturing several cities, killing Defense Minister Sadio Camara, and threatening Bamako, the capital. This lightning offensive by Al Qaeda had an unlikely source of support: Ukrainian-trained drone pilots.

Technically, Ukraine was not and is not directly supporting Al Qaeda. The movement for an independent Azawad, which is older than JNIM, has actually fought against the Islamist organization. But right now, Ukraine's Tuareg proxies are helping Al Qaeda capture and hold territory in Africa, using the same tactics that Ukraine had honed fighting Russia. It is a strange, unexpected case of foreign policy blowback.

The dilemma over Ukrainian support for Azawad echoes some other uncomfortable moments in U.S. foreign policy. In the 1980s, the U.S. supported Cambodian anticommunists led by former Prince Norodom Sihanouk and former Prime Minister Son Sann—who happened to be allied with the recently overthrown Khmer Rouge. Although the U.S. government "scrupulously avoided" contact with the Khmer Rouge itself, Sihanouk laughed to journalists that "the devils, they are there with Sihanouk and Son Sann."