As smoke cleared from the latest round of missile strikes on the Saharan city of Es-Semara, a growing chorus of domestic voices is beginning to challenge the Moroccan government’s long-standing policy of "strategic patience." The attacks, which local analysts attribute to the Polisario Front—backed by Algiers—have ignited a fierce debate over national security, the limits of the U.S.-Moroccan alliance, and the viability of the 1991 UN-brokered ceasefire. A Proxy War in All But Name While official statements often focus on the Polisario Front, prominent Moroccan nationalists are increasingly pointing the finger directly at Algiers. The argument is one of mechanical necessity: if the missiles, the fuel, the transport, and the intelligence are sourced from the Algerian military, the distinction between the proxy and the patron becomes academic. "We must stop using softened language like ‘projectiles,’" argued MORI a prominent geopolitical commentator during a recent br...
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