US Troops Expelled from Niger
Another Brandon win. US has been running drone operations out of this base since 2018 or so.
red.
@redstreamnet
Niger's transitional government is kicking the US military out of their country, declaring the presence "illegal." US Department of Defense civilian staff will also be expelled. The move comes just six months after the French army was sent packing by Niger's military authorities, who took power in a coup last summer.
Announcing Niger's decision, Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane hit back at US allegations that Niger may give Iran secret access to its uranium mines. He said it is "common knowledge" that Niger's uranium is "totally controlled by France."
Abdaramane also recalled that such lies were used to justify the illegal 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, whereby fake documents were presented as supposed evidence that the then Nigerien president had supplied uranium to Saddam Hussein. Niger is the seventh largest producer of uranium in the world. This radioactive metal is mainly used for nuclear energy, along with cancer therapy, propelling naval vessels, and nuclear arms.
The US claim about a secret Niamey-Tehran uranium agreement was made during a visit by US officials to Niamey last week, which Abdaramane said violated diplomatic protocol.
Niger's move is a massive blow to the US which built its largest and most expensive drone base in US history in the Nigerien city of Agadez. "Nigerien drone base 201" has a 6,200 ft runway and was built for $110 million. It was critical for the US' secretive drone wars and expanded military presence in Africa. Still, it was built in violation of the Nigerien constitution, which requires parliamentary approval for defense treaties, but that did not happen with the base.
Developments in Niger have worsened Western paranoia that as Africa increasingly stands up to US and European imperialism, Russia's influence on the continent will grow.
“The Trump Doctrine is ‘We’re America, Bitch.’ That’s the Trump Doctrine.”
"He is free to evade reality, he is free to unfocus his mind and stumble blindly down any road he pleases, but not free to avoid the abyss he refuses to see."
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Originally Posted by chuckman
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