Experts and former defense officials told the Daily Caller News Foundation that U.S. troops in the African nation of Niger should be evacuated quickly given the chaotic situation there.
More than 1,000 U.S. troops currently stationed in Niger will begin evacuating in the coming months at the request of the junta-backed regime, officials say, as the Niger region continues to descend into chaos under a military coup-backed regime. The announcement was made on Friday and Saturday. Experts told DCNF that the withdrawal should be carried out quickly because U.S. forces are at risk from the growing threat of a hostile government and population. (Related: Pentagon quietly withdraws plans to train with military from countries accused of coups and gross rights violations)
“If they don’t want to see another Benghazi or another Mogadishu, they have to go,” Michael Dimino, a senior fellow at Defense Priorities and a former CIA official, told DCNF, He spoke while referring to the incident. Somalia was attacked and killed by armed groups in 2012 and 1993. They made it very clear. ”
“What the State Department didn’t understand about them was that they were cold-blooded people. What about the new government in Niger? They don’t care. They don’t want the United States involved in their country.” Dimino told DCNF. “For months, there has been denialism, saying, ‘This can be saved, this is fixed.’ Denialism has kept us on the back foot, and something very terrible could happen at any moment. That is terrible.”
Demonstrators react to a man holding a placard calling on U.S. soldiers to leave Niger without negotiations during a demonstration in Niamey, April 13, 2024. (Photo courtesy of -/AFP, Getty Images)
The United States has maintained a military presence in Niger since 2013 to conduct counterterrorism operations and prevent the spread of jihadist terrorism in the broader Sahel region. Niger is home to a major U.S. air base, and the U.S. government has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into training and equipping the country’s military over the past decade.
The region was already in a troubled state, but rapidly declined in mid-2023 after Niger’s military staged a coup and overthrew the democratically elected president. General Abdulrahmane Chiani, who led the coup, received some of his military training at a Pentagon-backed university. (Related: Congressman Matt Gaetz releases report alleging cover-up of US troops stranded overseas)
The military now supports its own government in Niger, which rejected an “illegal” US presence in March and accepted Russian troops for security. In recent weeks, the Biden administration has tried and failed to: persuade Niger’s military government has allowed U.S. troops to remain in the region, culminating in an announcement over the weekend that U.S. troops would be withdrawn.
Experts said the Biden administration made a mistake in not withdrawing U.S. troops from Niger sooner, especially amid the growing threat to U.S. forces from regional armed groups and rebel groups. protests Infections have occurred across Niger in recent weeks. rear A withdrawal announcement was made and hundreds of people demanded an immediate withdrawal of troops.
“While the withdrawal from Niger was less of a ‘decision’ than an order to leave the ruling military regime, it was a welcome development for U.S. national security,” Davis told DCNF. He said the initial deployment was “problematic.” ” is unfair. “Virtually every operation in Africa, from Somalia to Niger, has no real value to the United States.”
Top Shot – Supporters of Niger’s National Council for Homeland Security (CNSP) protest outside a Niger-French air base in Niamey on September 2, 2023, demanding the withdrawal of French troops from Niger. Inside, Nigerien soldiers stand guard. (Photo credit: -/AFP via Getty Images)
Several military whistleblowers on the ground in Niger said: come forward And he argued that the Biden administration is deliberately downplaying the reality of the situation. Whistleblowers say U.S. military and diplomatic planes are not allowed into the country by the junta, and the U.S. military’s access to food, medicine and equipment is increasingly restricted.
“Since the coup, we have not been able to conduct overflights and have been unable to bring food, medicine and other supplies in and out,” Dimino told DCNF. “The situation has become so dire that the only question is whether we can stay without American forces being overwhelmed…Our interests in the Sahel demand the sacrifice of our men and women. I don’t think it’s that big.”
“When foreign troops are stationed in a country, even with government permission, there is always a risk of such a scenario occurring. Because they agree with the government about keeping troops in the U.S. military,” Defense Priorities policy director Benjamin Friedman told DCNF. “So we’re seeing a kind of popular mobilization against the U.S. military that includes violence.”
The exact schedule for the withdrawal has not yet been set. Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder said at a news conference Tuesday that talks are ongoing and that a small delegation from U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) is scheduled to visit Niger in the near future for further discussions. admitted.
The State Department and the Department of Defense did not respond to requests for comment.
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