More strife on the World's Stage - Summertime coup

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Another coup d'etat in Niger, again.

Dept of Defense Deputy Press Sec Sabrina Singh speaks clear words: "Niger is a partner. And we don't wanna see that partnership go. We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into bases there, trained with the military there. We really wanna see a peaceful resolution."

Source (starting at 9:35)


"Invested hundreds of millions in military bases" how is that contributing to the development of the country?

That’s cold realism, the reality of any foreign policy when facing a challenge. Forget the rhetoric fig leaf about values, prosperity & democracy. At the end of the day, in any country, only interests matter, short term interests.



Niger has had coups in 1974, 1996, 1999, 2010, 2021, and now 2023, and that doesn't include all the 'attempted' coups. However, in the new age between the factions within the Pentagon, State Dept & White House talking heads the definition of "coup d'etat" remains ambiguous.

This is the US drone base in Agadez, Niger...


It cost $110 million to build and is reportedly the largest drone base in the world, and the largest construction project led by the US Air Force. More than a 1,000 American troops are stationed there. Course, $110 million dollars is just a rounding error in the Pentagon budget.

This is how the State Dept rolls when they talk about democracy.

We have 6 bases in Niger according to Nick Turse (article below). We spend up to $30M annual to run that drone base and still manage to get robbed in broad daylight by bandits. Just like in the movies.

Less Than a Mile From Drone Base, Bandits Stole Bags of U.S. Tax Dollars in Broad Daylight

“The Americans have drones, they have planes, they have sophisticated equipment,” a Nigerien activist told The Intercept. “But it’s not helping.”

AGADEZ, Niger — Officially, Base Aerienne 201, located in this town on the southern fringe of the Sahara desert, is not a U.S. military outpost. In reality, Air Base 201 — known locally as “Base Americaine” — is the linchpin of the U.S. military’s archipelago of bases in North and West Africa and a key part of America’s wide-ranging intelligence, surveillance, and security efforts in the region.

Built at a price tag of $110 million and maintained to the tune of $20 to $30 million each year, AB 201 serves as a Sahelian surveillance hub that’s home to Space Force personnel involved in high-tech satellite communications, Joint Special Operations Air Detachment facilities, and a fleet of drones — including armed MQ-9 Reapers — that scour the surrounding region day and night for terrorist activity. A high-security haven, Air Base 201 sits within a 25-kilometer “base security zone” and is protected by fences, barriers, upgraded air-conditioned guard towers with custom-made firing ports, and military working dogs.

The trappings of security can, however, be illusory. Late last year, in the shadow of this bastion of American techno-militarism, four men in a pickup truck carried out a daylight armed robbery of defense contractors from the base and drove off with roughly $40,000 in U.S. taxpayer money. U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, did not report on or publicly acknowledge the theft from Australian-based Austability, a subcontractor apparently working with U.S. defense giant Amentum.

“It is troubling that an affiliate of a major U.S. contractor is unable to provide basic security, even for payroll funds, while traveling near a major U.S. base,” wrote William Hartung, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and a defense contracting expert. “It is indicative either of lax security procedures or an especially dangerous environment close to a sensitive U.S. facility — or both.”

Neither AFRICOM nor U.S. Air Forces Africa provided answers to questions about the robbery prior to publication. “We have nothing further to add,” Timothy S. Pietrack, the deputy chief of AFRICOM Public Affairs, told The Intercept.

On November 3, 2022, Nigerien private contractors carrying the payroll of fellow Nigeriens working at Base Aerienne 201 drove a silver van through the Tadress neighborhood near the western edge of the base, not far from a shisha café and a field where local youths play soccer. Less than a mile from the base entrance, they were overtaken by a tan pickup truck filled with three or four men. A gunman in the bed fired an M-80, a Chinese copy of the venerable Soviet PKM machine gun, according to a U.S. contractor working at the base; the other bandits were reportedly armed with AK-47 assault rifles. A few shots later, the attackers had stolen two bags containing about 24 million West African CFA francs, or $40,000.

...
Fidjaji, the religious leader, is skeptical of U.S. aims in Niger and America’s commitment to enhancing security in Agadez and beyond. “It’s really serious that they got robbed right outside the base,” he said, noting increased insecurity not only in the badlands north of the outpost, but even in town. “If the bandits had an RPG and aimed it at the base, then I’m sure the Americans would have seen it and reacted,” he explained, using the shorthand for a rocket-propelled grenade. “The Americans have sophisticated tools. Drones are flying overhead every day and every night. But there are guys circulating in the streets around here with weapons. Why is that?”

...[more at the link]

LOL. Amentum is actually DynCorp. Amentum acquired DynCorp International in late 2020. They have a horrific record on the geopolitical stage for decades of Int'l scandals, involved in all kinds of dirty covert Ops including dealings with Jeff Epstein and that whole pedo network. New company name, slate wiped clean and the beat goes on.

Very brief summary of DynCorp's shady History:

- Sex / human trafficking in Bosnia
- DynCorp involvement in CIA rendition program
- Over-billing/ Defrauding the US government
- DynCorp abuse in Columbia / chemical spraying in drug eradication
- Kunduz Dancing Boy incident in Afghanistan
- DynCorp supplied/trained UN Peacekeepers
- Big Oil - Halliburton/KBR/DynCorp

You gotta be joking...

The US can’t use its $110 million drone base in Niger

The U.S. military is unable to fly drones from a base in Niger because the country’s airspace has been closed after a coup overthrew the government in late July, a U.S. official said.
...

The base serves as a critical intelligence and surveillance hub for the U.S. military’s efforts to combat violent extremism in North and West Africa, said Jocelyn Trainer, an expert on sub-Saharan Africa with the Center for a New American Security think tank in Washington, D.C.

“With a limited U.S. base presence in Africa – restricted to Djibouti and Niger – losing access to Base Aerienne 201[Niger Air Base 201] would be a detrimental blow to U.S. and African joint efforts to counter violent extremist groups connected to the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda operating in the area,” Trainer told Task & Purpose. “This setback coincides with France diminishing its presence in the region. A reduced U.S. and French presence could create space for Wagner, or other actors, to fill a security vacuum.”

It is too early to determine how the closure of Niger’s airspace will affect U.S. military operations in Africa, a second U.S. official told Task & Purpose.

“This is a region that’s already on the downslide,” Roggio said. “The jihadist threat has metastasized in the region from both al-Qaida and the Islamic State. The ability to observe and react to these groups has decreased significantly with the loss of Mali, and this is yet another blow. If the airspace remains closed, the impact of this incalculable – bit it certainly isn’t positive.”

New US Ambassador to Niger Will Arrive in Country This Week

Washington — The new U.S. ambassador to Niger, Kathleen FitzGibbon, will arrive in Niamey following a coup last month, the State Department said on Wednesday, in a signal of Washington's continued engagement with the situation.

A U.S. official said she is expected to arrive in Niger later this week. The Senate confirmed FitzGibbon, a career foreign service officer, as U.S. ambassador late last month just after the coup, nearly a year after she was nominated.

Oh lord, supreme neocon swamp creature Victoria Nuland...

France furious with US over Niger – Le Figaro

The presence of the 'Maidan midwife,' US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, in post-coup Niger has enraged Washington's NATO ally, France, Le Figaro reported over the weekend, citing a source within the French Foreign Ministry.

The US “did the exact opposite of what we thought they would do,” the French daily reported, based on the diplomat’s comments. “With allies like these, we do not need enemies,” it added. Paris has been insisting on the reinstatement of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum ever since a new military government came to power in Niger in a coup in late July.

The French government was also ready to support the use of force by West African nations for that purpose, as it upheld the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in its decision to mobilize reserve forces in the wake of the ousting.

By sending Nuland to Niger, the US demonstrated it was ready to talk to the coup leaders instead, Le Figaro said. “For [French President] Emmanuel Macron, the credibility of France, particularly in terms of discourse on democracy, was at stake. For the Americans, even if they are also concerned about a rapid return to constitutional order, the priority is the stability of the region,” the paper’s source within the foreign ministry said.

Americans simply want “to keep their bases” in the region above all else, the diplomat said, adding that Washington “will not hesitate” to drop a demand for what he called “constitutional legality” to achieve this goal.

Now, Paris fears that Washington could reach an agreement with Niger’s military government behind France’s back.

...
Nuland visited Niger last Monday. During the talks, she warned the new military government against striking any deals with the Russian private military company Wagner and urged them to restore the Washington-friendly status quo.

How's that NATO unity workin out for ya?

France needs Niger's uranium.

There's a $13 billion pipeline project planned to go through Niger from Nigeria-Morocco.

Europe needs that pipeline now that someone blew up Nordstream.

There's plenty of interests in Niger, none have to do with democracy.

Putin discusses Niger coup with Malian leader

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Mali's interim leader, Assimi Goita, on Tuesday concerning the coup in Niger, which has sparked outside threats to restore democratic order by force.


During the phone call, Putin called for a peaceful resolution to the political crisis, both the Kremlin and Goita confirmed in separate statements on Tuesday.

“The parties specifically focused on the current situation in the Sahara-Sahel region and emphasized, in particular, the importance of settling the situation in the Republic of Niger solely through peaceful political and diplomatic means,” the Kremlin stated.

Niger’s elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, has been held captive with his family by the new military government since he was deposed on July 26.

Leaders of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have assembled a standby military force for possible use against Niger's new rulers, whom the bloc insists are defying diplomatic efforts to free and reinstate the ousted president.


Niger’s former colonial ruler, France, along with the US, both of which have suspended certain development aid programs to the African country, have expressed their support for ECOWAS's actions.
Moscow has repeatedly advised against foreign involvement, with the Russian Foreign Ministry warning on Friday that any such action would exacerbate the crisis in the Sahel region, where jihadist violence has displaced millions.

Anti-French sentiment has grown in Niger since the coup last month, with supporters of the military rulers waving Russian flags at rallies and calling for France to withdraw over allegations of interference.

"There are two main threats facing the NATO Alliance, terrorism and Russia, and I think those are topics of interest to our partners across Africa as it relates both to Russia’s activities on the African continent and what Africa – what Russia is doing in Ukraine as it relates to this grain deal. And then, of course, on the subject of terrorism, terrorism is something that all of us are grappling with – our friends in Africa, but also NATO member states are increasingly looking for ways to deter terrorist attacks, prevent terrorist attacks, respond to terrorist attacks, and we can build off of shared experiences and tools that all of us have created at the national level and share them through these partnerships." - US AMB Julianne Smith to NATO > State Dept Press Briefing

The currency coffers of terrorism because Russia big bad wolf. So-called terrorism or more about mining resources?

Here are the 10 poorest countries in the world (Purchasing Power Parity  gross national income):

    Burundi: $840
    Central African Republic: $1,020
    Dr Congo: $1,280
    Somalia: $1,360
    Mozambique: $1,410
    Niger: $1,510
    Liberia: $1,620
    Chad: $1,640
    Afghanistan: $1,690
    Malawi: $1,700
Poorest Countries in the World 2023


Meanwhile, The Africa Malaria Task Force (AMTF) met July 17-21, in Accra, Ghana. More than 70 representatives from 15 African partner nation met with other international scientists to discuss Anopheles stephensi, an emerging mosquito species and malaria threat. I thought Bill Gates eradicated malaria with new vax, or was that polio? Oh, new strain, nvm. smh.

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