The Pentagon’s formal announcement to remove all 1, 000 British combatants from Niger will finish a crucial counter-terrorism activity and give Russia yet another triumph over the West in its struggle for American impact.
In the middle of April, the Niger junta made its ultimate decision to eliminate American troops, but the Biden administration spent months pretending that the purchases had not been given and that Niger’s leaders could not yet change their minds. The Biden team claimed it may take some time to finish the “orderly and concerned withdrawal” negotiations, even if the junta objected.
On Friday, yet, an unknown U. S. official told Politico that the Defense Department had previously instructed America’s one thousand troops in Niger to commence their departure procedures. The facts remain obscure, but, according to this standard, it seems likely that only U. S. military security staff will be in Niger by the end of the summer.
All other U.S. troops are allegedly relocating to “other locations within the region where they can also work” according to rumors. Niger was critical to U. S. and Western counter- violence efforts in the extremist- contaminated Sahel region, and British forces may also be evicted from Niger’s neighbor, Chad.
On August 3, 2023, supporters of Niger’s ruling junta assemble at the start of a protest to demand that the nation’s liberty and stop foreign interference in Niamey, Niger. ( AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File )
Republicans in Congress have criticized the Biden administration for leaving National forces with a foggy mission and future that are unsafe. In April, Rep. Matt Gaetz ( R- FL ) said U. S. soldiers in Niger were successfully “hostages of an uncertain commander- in- key”, President Joe Biden.
Gaetz added:
The Department of State and Department of Defense’s leadership at the top has caused our army to sit on a powder tank. The scenario seems to be setting the stage for a fatal political collapse, as we saw during the 2012 Benghazi assault, with a military coup in charge who detests our presence and views us as unserious and aggressive.
Soviet troops entered Airbase 101, the base where British troops are based in Niamey, on May 3, according to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. A senior security official acknowledged the Russians were” not great” and were avoiding contact with American forces by declaring they were living in a distinct hangar on the airport.
The Biden administration’s critics pointed out that the United States ‘ forces were already running out of supplies and medicine, which the Russians ‘ invasion of Niger made it even more difficult to stop.
The Russian presence is reportedly small, for the time being, about one hundred soldiers to America’s one thousand, but even a small force could engage in surveillance or provocations. Furthermore, some of the Russian force is apparently comprised of former Wagner Group mercenaries, a cohort not noted for its high level of discipline or restrained behavior.
The Niger regime’s assistant secretary of defense, Chris Maier, told CNN on Friday that discussions are being “drawed down to a level that the Nigeriens can live with” while maintaining a small counter-terrorism force.
Maier described the junta as “profound” in its determination to have American troops “depart, or at least go to very low numbers”. One of the biggest stumbling blocks appears to be the need for American aircraft to continue entering Niger even with a tiny holdout force.
According to an unnamed U.S. military official,” the hope of having a small number of troops remaining in the country is largely wishful thinking at this point” is contrary to Maier’s claims.
Maier had a second sigh of wishful thinking, hoping that Niger and their African client states would ask the U.S. to pay reparation for the Russians ‘ debacle:
They are now the dog that caught the car because some of these coup regimes have already decided to join the Russians. And if there are n’t results, then even the most sophisticated mis- and-disinformation will start to outweigh the facts over time, including many of the other aspects of governance.
Maier’s scenario is highly unlikely unless Western nations become more accustomed to military dictatorships, according to a report released by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in April.
According to the report, North Africa has increasingly developed into a” coup belt,” and military leaders are concerned that human rights violations and persistent demands for a return to civilian rule will be the result. Russian military assistance and Chinese aid are neither subject to any of these restrictions, leading to the arrival of “predatory actors” in the area and jihadi groups having a field day recruiting rebellious youth.
