Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 3
This time, he’s bailing on a key drone base in Niger. Thr Russkies will be likely taking over:
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240420-us-agr...
The long-expected move effectively marks a new regional gain for Russia, which has ramped up its focus on Africa and backed military regimes in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso.
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell accepted the call to remove troops in a meeting in Washington with the prime minister of the junta, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, US officials told AFP on condition of anonymity.
…
Niger was long a linchpin in the US and French strategy to combat jihadists in West Africa. The United States built a base in the desert city of Agadez at the cost of $100 million to fly a fleet of drones.The wins. Can’t you see them piling up?
For those who don’t know, that base was used to target ISIS.
No. of Recommendations: 9
Dope1: The wins. Can’t you see them piling up?
For those who don’t know, that base was used to target ISIS.
And, for the most part, it was a failure.
After the 2016 election in Niger, it began to produce its own militants and its military a significant number of human rights abuses. At a certain point you have to ask yourself, is spending $30 million a year to maintain an ineffective base just throwing good money after bad?
We -- and France -- had killed some jihadist leaders in the region but removing those targets did not fundamentally disrupt the insurgencies.
Add in the increasing difficulty of determining who were the bad guys and who were the good guys, and as France discovered, pretty soon you're striking a wedding party believing the targets were terrorists.
Oops.
Plus, Niger’s government has been the most recent to fall to a coup, in July 2023.
Which further complicates matters: there are restrictions in the region on U.S. assistance to junta-run countries.
And then there's a Congress with a significant number of members who refuse to even consider overseas counterterrorism spending.
For these and other reasons, the U.S. has decided to cut its losses by exploring new drone bases in three nearby coastal countries: Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Benin.
No. of Recommendations: 3
This is the type of post from Commonone that astounds me. I think my google foo is above average, but I have no way of finding out the background on this type of event quickly. And it seems CO does it rapidly. It's beyond my ability and I admire it. That's one of the reasons I'm here.
No. of Recommendations: 2
This is the type of post from Commonone that astounds me. I think my google foo is above average, but I have no way of finding out the background on this type of event quickly. And it seems CO does it rapidly. It's beyond my ability and I admire it. - lapsody
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I agree, even though his impressive skills are housed in a liberal wrapper...
No. of Recommendations: 2
LOl. ChatNPC went to ChatGPT and that pointed out an article from Alex Thurston that he cribbed all his talking points from. What ChatNPC forgot (along with his suck up)…was to look at a map. Amd consider what happens when the Russians take over the airbase and start harassing US drones which would have to fly considerably farther to see any jihadi activity.
No. of Recommendations: 0
I agree, even though his impressive skills are housed in a liberal wrapper...
But too often without links verifying his replies.
No. of Recommendations: 4
That's one of the reasons I'm here.
Me, too. We get a lot deeper dives, and more quickly, than you can find elsewhere. Or in the Xwitter-verse. Several posters seem to compile info from multiple sources, and assemble it all into one coherent post. I think my google-fu is above average, but I can't usually do it that fast.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Aaaaaand as predicted:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russian-milit...In a visible symbol of the decline of American influence in Niger, Russian troops have now moved into an installation near where American troops Niger has ordered to leave still remain.
According to Reuters, the base in question, Airbase 101, is near Diori Hamani International Airport in the capital of Niamey.
Weeks ago, Niger ordered U.S. troops to leave the country. The Biden administration has not yet pulled out its forces, which has led to accusations of ineptitude from Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin downplayed any expectation of friction between U.S. and Russian troops, according to CBS News.
"The Russians are in a separate compound and don't have access to U.S. forces or access to our equipment,” he said.
