In Niger, where medical supplies are in short supply, more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers are effectively being held hostage, and the government, which is under military control, is demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops, and the Biden administration is refusing to return U.S. troops after the deployment ends. He is caught between the two. According to a report authored by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and obtained exclusively by Breitbart News.
The report also accuses Biden administration officials of trying to hide the situation from lawmakers, troops on the ground and their families anxiously awaiting their return.
“Our military is currently sitting on a powder keg due to political indecision at the top of the State Department and the Pentagon. The military junta is in charge, and the military junta hates our presence. , who see us as disingenuous and predatory, and this situation seems to be setting the stage for a catastrophic diplomatic breakdown like the one we saw during the 2012 attack on Benghazi. “The United States is already running low on supplies needed to save lives, such as blood and medicine,” Gates’ report said.
“They are, in effect, hostages to an indecisive commander-in-chief,” the report said.
At a Congressional hearing Tuesday, Gaetz criticized military leaders for leaving U.S. troops in danger without supplies.
🚨 The U.S. State Department has engaged in a deliberate cover-up about the status of U.S. troops in Niger, leaving our troops at risk.
My office conducted an investigation into this cover-up and learned that Niger’s military requested help. pic.twitter.com/RvYS7L5tvb
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) April 17, 2024
The report is based on interviews with troops currently stationed in Niger, who reached out to Gates after failing to receive support from the Pentagon and State Department.
The military personnel are currently deployed to Air Base 101 (AB101) in Niamey, Niger’s capital, as part of the 768th Wing.th The Expeditionary Air Base Squadron (768 EABS) is comprised of active duty, reserve, Air National Guard Airmen, Army Special Forces, and contract support units. The 101st Air Base has approximately 450 employees. Until its occupation by the military, the base was a major U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) base for the terrorist group Al Qaeda and the West African Islamic State group Boko Haram. , Ansar. It was also a base for U.S. military advisors supporting Niger’s military.
The US military presence became threatened after the military regime known as the National Council for the Defense of the Fatherland (CNSP) declared it had occupied the country on July 26, 2023.
Just a few months ago, Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised Niger as a “model of resilience, a model of democracy, a model of cooperation.” According to the report, the junta decided to sign a military agreement with the US in March 2024 after a series of meetings between the government and Assistant Secretary of State Molly Fee and US Africa Command (AFRICOM) commander Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley. declared its abandonment. .
“This breakdown in diplomatic arrangements has put our military personnel in the middle of a standoff between an incompetent State Department and US-trained coup forces in Nigeria. has been completely shut down, preventing deliveries of mail, essential medical supplies, blood to replenish blood banks (which have expiration dates and must be constantly replaced), equipment, and repair supplies from the United States. including everyday supplies,” the report said.
“Transfers of military personnel have been suspended, leaving our forces stranded with no sign of relief or replacement personnel returning.” [aren’t] He was allowed to enter Niger,” he added.
niger report by Christina Wong On Scribd
The report said U.S. contractors who maintain U.S. military bases are also barred from entering the country, and the situation is worsening as existing contractors leave as their visas expire. Additionally, Niger prohibits other allies in the country from providing relief or logistical support to U.S. forces. “There is no end in sight,” the report said.
The report pointed out that the U.S. military is in a precarious situation, with the government demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops and local residents increasingly questioning “why the U.S. is here.” He also pointed out that tensions with the United States have increased since France’s withdrawal, and the United States has become the West’s main counterweight.
Perhaps most concerning is the lack of medical supplies. AB101’s blood bank regularly expires and requires regular replenishment, but it is not rotated for use in the event of mass casualties or medical emergencies, the report said. Additionally, military personnel who need medications for acute or chronic problems are facing depleted prescriptions with no prospect of resupply, the report said. Malaria treatment drugs are also in short supply.
As one senior AB101 official put it: [Expeditionary Air Base Squadron], each person has an average of 23 days’ worth of medication left. The minimum amount is 7 tablets and the maximum is 80 tablets. In Role 1 (Medical) he has 1800 tablets in stock, equivalent to 9 days’ supply if each EABS member is given the same number of tablets. One thing to consider is that it is illegal to share prescription drugs, even if they are of the same type. ”
Gates’ report noted that just last month, a senior defense official appeared to downplay the seriousness of the situation.
Celeste Ann Wallander, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security testified He told Congress in March that the junta’s demand for a U.S. military withdrawal “actually sends quite a mixed message.”
“They declared that [Status of Forces Agreement] become inoperable, [but] “They assured us that our troops are protected and that they will not take any action that would put them at risk,” she said.
Additionally, Gaetz’s report said the Biden administration is concealing the true number of U.S. troops in Niger.
On December 7, 2023, the administration claimed in a report to Congress that there were “approximately 648 military personnel” in Niger. But the report said the number remains “close to 1,100 Department of Defense personnel” between Niger’s two bases, AB101 and 201st Air Force Base (AB201) on the outskirts of Niger’s city of Agadez. Ta.
The report also found that the Biden administration’s response was “disjointed,” with the Pentagon and State Department “not on the same page,” and that Africa Command and Air Forces Europe, Air Forces Europe, and Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) He also mentioned blaming other departments. , agency, command.
“On the other hand, there is no consensus on the overall picture of the cohesive information. There is no planning happening to understand that. And no clear guidance or next steps have been issued on AB101 or AB201. “Ground force commanders and their staffs therefore face complete uncertainty about what will happen next,” the report said.
The report said Ambassador Kathleen Fitzgibbon and Senior Defense Official and Defense Attaché (SDO/DATT) Col. Nora Nelson Richter covered up failures in diplomatic approaches and suppressed intelligence assessments. .
The report said Nelson Richter was one of the “key figures who deliberately lied about diplomatic realities.”
The report also found that while U.S. taxpayers continue to fund the U.S. military presence in Niger at nearly $1 million a month, service members are unable to work and sit virtually idle. It also reveals other worrying issues, such as: This amount includes food and water for military personnel that does not meet U.S. standards for edible or drinkable use.
The report said AB101 service members were concerned about the “extreme shortage of personal hygiene supplies in the camp, with only a few days or weeks’ supply left in the camp of over 400 people.”
To add insult to injury, an unidentified “neighboring adversary” believed to be Russian troops has been given “unfettered access” to Niger.
“Our near-peer adversaries gain unfettered access to Niger while our State Department misrepresents the truth and intentionally obscures our intelligence experts’ assessments of the region in order to maintain facade.” ,” the report states.
“We don’t track if there are people in Niger who don’t get their medicine or their mail, but we will follow up after that,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said under questioning Tuesday. Gates.
“We’re getting reports of drugs running out in May,” Gates countered.
“And you know why we don’t know that? Because it’s a cover-up. Because the U.S. Embassy in Niger is covering it up, much to Secretary Blinken’s embarrassment. “Because I went there in March and said this is central to our Africa strategy…I’ll be watching to see what breaks out as a second Benghazi,” he added.
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