It’s been more than three months since a coup occurred in Niger in July 2023, and since then a lot has happened. Anti-French sentiments which already began in Mali spread to Niger which led to diplomatic rows between the Niger military government and the French government. This friction started with France strongly condemning the coup, refusing to acknowledge the military government of Niger, and let’s not forget backing a planned military intervention by ECOWAS although it ended up not becoming a reality. It finally ended with the Niger government kicking all the French troops out and although Niger is still under sanctions from the international community, the West has finally accepted that the military government is here to stay at least until they agree to transition into a civilian one. However, while French troops have begun to withdraw from Niger, the military of the United States is still functioning despite the fact that when the first coup first occurred there were speculations that the US was planning to withdraw from the country. In fact a US official confirmed this earlier in August that the US troops might be withdrawing from Niger because it had become obvious that the military government of Niger was not leaving. He said that as many as half of the 1,100 troops stationed in Niger could be pulled from the country and the removal of some troops from Niger could start in the coming weeks.

But then it’s been more than two months since this official made this statement but the US troops of about 1,100 are still in Niger, functioning and carrying out their missions. The question is Why? Why is the US military still operating in Niger? You may be wondering why this question is important because you probably think that the reason why the US military is still in Niger is because they want to fight terrorism just like they always say right? But this question needs to be asked because some revelations have come to light that show that even some US lawmakers and American citizens are wondering what the US military is doing in Niger? So, if some US lawmakers and citizens of the US are asking this question, it is pertinent that Africans too ask this question because something deeper is going on and the answer to this question will definitely blow your mind. Stay with us as we delve into the shocking reason why the US military is still in Niger.

In 2002, a few months after the nine-eleven terrorist attack, the Bush administration launched a little-known counterterrorism program called ‘The Pan Sahel Initiative.’ Now guess what this initiative was for? According to them, it was created to work with the militaries of African countries and assist their capacities to crack down on terrorist groups in the region. The US felt that the vast deserts in African countries were potential areas where terrorist groups could thrive and launch attacks. The reason for all this is that the US wanted to prevent any sort of terrorist attacks against their country following the nine-eleven attack. But the question is was there any terrorist threat against the US from any of the African countries? The big answer is NO.

Now, even though during this period, there was a marked increase in jihadi activity in the Sahel region of which Niger is a part of, these terrorists never posed any real threat to the United States with all its military might. The only threats they posed were to West and North African countries. These terrorists had no hidden agenda towards the United States and neither do they currently do. Fast forward to 2007, when the US created a unified military command center for Africa, known as AFRICOM, which is currently responsible for all U. S. military involvement in 53 African countries. AFRICOM is another topic that should be discussed but for today, with the establishment of AFRICOM, the US presence in Africa has increased dramatically over the years. When the 2012 Mali conflict broke out, the United States deployed soldiers to neighboring Niger in a bid to suppress rebel groups and provide intelligence support. This looks supportive right?

But the shocking facts have shown that the more the US military expanded not just in Niger but also the African continent the more terrorist attacks increased. According to AFRICOM, there are currently approximately 1,200 US military personnel in all of West Africa, with the majority of them in Niger. But, despite such a huge presence of foreign military forces who supposedly are stationed there to fight terrorism, security angst has confirmed that the insurgency there is escalating at an alarming rate. According to the United Nations, terrorist attacks in parts of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso spiked in 2019 by five times the 2016 rate, leading to more than 4,000 deaths. For instance, in just one incident last year, more than 70 soldiers were killed in an ambush by suspected Islamist militants at a military post in western Niger. Now, does this situation make any sense? The US says it’s in Niger to help fight terrorism but since they came, nothing has changed instead, the problem has increased. Like Mariama Bayard said, “U.S. soldiers are creating a perfect condition for the Sahel to blow up.” So, if they aren’t fighting terrorism what are they doing in Niger?

When the coup first occurred, the US alongside France and the international community condemned the coup and called for a quick restoration of democratic rule. But this is where things began to be different between the reaction of France and the US. While France recognized the situation in Niger as a coup and then sided with the regional bloc, ECOWAS, for a possible military intervention the U.S. reaction was quite different. According to an official at the time, the U.S. did not recognize the situation as a coup which would have required them to cut foreign and military assistance to Niger. Instead, they saw it as a takeover that occurred as a result of internal domestic dispute between Bazoum and the head of the presidential guard, Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani, who was appointed by the previous president and believed he was going to be dismissed. And so, their policy towards Niger was different. No sanctions were imposed by the U.S. and according to a senior official, the Pentagon was engaging in “strategic patience as we monitor the situation and see how it resolves itself,” That means their efforts were focused on diplomacy to restore democratic rule.

However, as we said earlier, an official from the United States revealed that there were plans to withdraw US troops from Niger but one striking thing he said that you should take note of is this. He said that the Pentagon’s goal is to maintain a military presence in Niger “for as long as possible,” Did you hear that? The U.S. wants to maintain a military presence for as long as possible. The big question is why? Certainly, the U.S. would say that the reason for the military presence in Niger and other parts of Africa is to help fight anti-terrorist attacks. But, that’s not true because how is it possible that with all the U.S. intelligence, equipment, and machinery they have not been able to defeat terrorists who do not have the same sophisticated weapons as they do for years? It doesn’t even make any sense. The truth is if they wanted to truly end the terrorist attacks they would have done so already but the shocking truth is that ending the terrorist attacks is not part of their plan even though they use that as a front to maintain their military presence.

The truth is if they do end terrorism in the Sahel region, there would be no need for them to continue to maintain a military base in the region which they need. We will come back to this later but fast forward to October 10th after France has been told to leave Niger and the first batch of the French army has started to withdraw. On this day, the US made a decision and officially declared that a coup occurred in Niger which led them to cut more than $500 million in assistance to Niger. But that’s not even the issue. The issue is that according to the official statement, the coup toppled a democratic government which they saw as a defense against Russia. In simple terms, the coup removed their puppet.

The US Department official spokesman Matthew Miller stated that “Any resumption of US assistance will require action by the National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland to usher in democratic governance in a quick and credible timeframe,” This means they would only resume the aid to Niger if the military government restored democratic governance. Recall that prior to this time, the US and France together with the international community had been putting pressure on the military government of Niger to restore the deposed President but they refused. And so, the reason the US gave for why it decided to cut aid to Niger is that they have exhausted all available avenues to restore democracy.

The official added that the coup leaders, under their own rules when declaring an emergency, have to restore civilian and democratic rule within 90 to 120 days. But, as time has passed, it’s become clear that the CNSP officials we’ve been dealing with did not want to abide by these constitutional guidelines, and so the US decided to call it a coup and cut off aid. Well, this is their official statement but we do not believe it because why did it take them so long to call the coup a coup? In our opinion, it’s all part of their strategy. The US might say that they cut off aid to Niger because they condemn coups and respect democratic government but based on history, the US has supported coups in different countries around the world countless times. Some of which they even helped to orchestrate, and all in the name of protecting their interest. They did it in Cuba in 1993, in Iran, in 1953, in Guatemala in 1954, and in Congo from 1960 to 1965, just to name a few.

In Congo, the U.S. through the CIA helped to assassinate Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of Congo, and supported Mobutu’s coup to take over the Republic of the Congo in the name of preventing the spread of communism. Mobutu became a dictator who ruled the country until 1997 but the US never called him a dictator. Instead, he was an ally and the US was his chief patron who provided him with about $2 billion in foreign assistance. So, you see it couldn’t possibly be that the US took some time before they called the situation in Niger a coup just because they were trying to restore democratic rule. The fact is if the military government proved itself ready to be a puppet to the US they wouldn’t have called it a coup. They would have come up with something to justify why the coup happened. So, in our opinion, the US did not only try to restore their former puppet during those times they refused to acknowledge the coup in Niger, they also tried to gain another puppet in the military government but they did not succeed hence the reason for cutting aid to Niger.

Now, you would think that cutting off aid to Niger would result in making it difficult for the US military to continue to operate but no, it has been reported that the U.S. officials r struck a deal with the Niger coup leaders that has allowed the 1,100 American soldiers deployed in the country to return to their regular intelligence and surveillance work. Now, we come back to the question of why the US military is still operating in Niger. What happened on October 26th gives us the answer.

On October 26th, the US made a decision that showed their true colors. A senator in the US, Republican Senator Rand Paul sponsored a bill that would have mandated the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Niger but on Thursday October 26th, the US senate overwhelmingly rejected the bill. The measure was rejected by 86-11. According to Senator Ben Cardin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, if Americans withdraw it could leave a vacuum that could be filled by Russia or its partner Wagner mercenaries. Did you hear that? He didn’t say anything about fighting terrorism. It’s all about the US self interest. The US is not in Niger to fight terrorists. They don’t even care about it or else they would have ended it. The US military is still in Niger because of number one, Russia. The US considers Russia as a very big threat that they do not want to have any influence in Niger and Africa as a whole.So, remaining in Niger is important to stop any Russian influence in the country. Secondly, the US has a base in Agadez, Niger which it uses for surveillance missions and to gather intelligence not just on terrorist attacks but intelligence across Africa. In simple terms, the base is a perfect place to spy on the African continent.

The base known as the Niger Air Base 201 is an expansive drone base and is the second largest US base in Africa after its permanent base in Djibouti. Built and financed by the U.S, the base has been operational with high-tech satellite communication systems since 2019. The US invested $110 million in construction and $30 million annually for maintenance. The base functions as a primary intelligence and surveillance center for the Sahel region. From this base, they can get all the information either political or economic from African countries and make decisions that will protect the American interest. it’s these military bases that the US has all over Africa that enables them to gather information and plan covert missions which sometimes end up in the assassination of formidable African leaders. So, you see it’s all about the U.S interest.

All this is confirmed by the U.S. Senator Paul Rand who previously raised questions about the secretive nature of the U.S. presence in Niger. As he noted in a recent letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, it remains unclear what authority underpins the operations, which must be authorized legally by an act of Congress. Isn’t it suspicious that Congress, America’s lawmakers do not even know exactly what the US military is doing in Niger? Some questions need to be asked and answers demanded.

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