Russian troops have entered a military base in Niger that houses US military personnel, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a senior US defense official.
The official said that the Russian troops were at Airbase 101 in Niger’s capital Niamey but were using a separate hangar and were not mingling with US troops. “(The situation) is not great but in the short-term manageable,” the official said.
CNN later reported that Russian troops have been operating out of the base for at least several weeks.
The news comes after the US said it would agree to a request from Niger’s military-led government to leave the country, but the US continues to drag its feet on the withdrawal. Niger said it severed its military relationship in March after US officials lectured their Nigerien counterparts about their growing ties with Russia.
Last month, a whistleblower told Congress that the US refusal to withdraw from Niger was putting US troops in danger. The whistleblower, a senior Air Force leader, said that US officials were suppressing intelligence to maintain a “facade” of good relations between the US and Niger.
Niger’s government took power after a July 2023 coup that ousted former President Mohamed Bazoum and has already expelled French forces.
Allowing Russian troops to enter Airbase 101 could be a pressure tactic from Niger’s government to get the US to withdraw. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on April 19 that the US agreed to leave, but the following week, Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Adm. Christopher Grady claimed that no final decision had been made.
The US has a major drone base in Niger, known as Airbase 201, in the city of Agadez that cost over $100 million. Airbase 201 serves as a hub for US operations in the region, and the US doesn’t want to give it up.
About 1,100 US military personnel are in Niger, and the whistleblower said that they have been unable to go home when their deployment was scheduled to end since Niger is not allowing their relief into the country.
This is highly awkward. It’s like moving into an apartment unit the same time as the old tenant is being evicted.
What is your beef with the US government? Do you have a story or just a maniacal interest in supporting anyone that opposes us?
“What is your beef with the US government?”
I can’t speak for Analyser, but my beef is military misadventures in: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Niger, Colombia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Granada, Vietnam, ect., ect., ect., ad nauseum.
“a maniacal interest in supporting anyone that opposes us?”
Who is “us”? Opposing imperialism transcends individual hegemons. Supporting the removal of U.S. troops from Niger does not imply support for the Russian presence. Either way, the leadership of Niger has called for the eviction of the American troops in their country, and we should respect that wish.
It’s pointless to explain yourself because he doesn’t care.
I don’t think we should stay in Niger, but I do think we should sabotage the Russians on the way out.
Why? What moral calculus justifies this course of action? We should be talking to the Russians not sabotaging them. We should be cooperating, not fighting a proxy war in Africa.
You don’t negotiate with a liar and madman that doesn’t respect the rule of law or international rulese based order that kept peace for 70 years. He’s a nuclear terrorist.
Who is the mad man? Was it a sane man that withdrew the U.S. from the ABM treaty (George W. Bush)? Was it a sane man that withdrew the U.S. from the INF treaty and the Open Skies treaty (Mr. Trump)? Was it a sane man that refused to allow Ukraine to make peace with Russia (twice), instead wasted billions of American taxpayer money (Mr. Biden)? Was is a sane man that sanctioned Iraq, which lead to the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children?
And that would be the standard answer to use when ignoring the 30 years of provocations that made this “madmen” want to conquer the world. This same madman who would look like a moderate republican if he was in the US senate and compared to people like Tom Cotton.
Well no doubt Tom Cotton is an agent of the US military industrical complex as is Lindsey Graham and countless others. What should concern you is the Democratic party, who is now the bigger war party and used to represent the opposite since WWII.
Then Putin would be a moderate democrat. My point was, Putin is no more a madmen than either of the US two major party’s congressional madmen. Or any of our presidents in my lifetime from either party. But when in doubt the ‘Putin wants to take over the world’ nonsense comes up whenever provocations that started this war are brought up. And those provocations didn’t start in 2014. They started immediately after the cold war “ended”.
Yeah, we just invade countries and redraw maps all the time. Where?
Is this supposed to be a joke? Have you taken your meds?
I’m clean out, I’m on the fringe, and I’m about to self combust. Why do you have any for sale?
I suppose if the Warsaw Pact had expanded to our borders after The USSR had said “not one inch westward” we would have found out. But as is, we just go in and do regime changes and destroy other countries infrastructure’s and call it the war on terror.
We did encroach too much, and many scholars and diplomats warned of the danger of it. The thing is, this appears to be above our elected office officials. Why were the neocons making our policy under the Obama/Biden administration? That’s got to be answered before we know what needs to change.
I think we pushed things too far, and that Kagan and his crony btch Nuland have their mitts all over our war operations over seas including Ukraine. But I do not see what we’ve done as an equivalence to what Putin is doing in Ukraine. Diplomacy, is the answer to all of this, but it appears, diplomacy is dead and we are now in a shell game of who blinks first with Nuclear war.
Sorry, can’t edit on Disqus. What I see the need for is a new global agreement and restructuring of NATO and the UN. China and Russia have to have equal representation and rights and be a party to new agreements and resolutions. Otherwise, a major conflict and ugly war that might end humanity, is on the horizon. It’s coming, and coming fast.
What I find fascinating about my country is that people are so steadfast and tribal with their poltical party. And yet…Abe Lincoln was a Republican and that party ended slavery. Nixon, who they hate to a bone, would be a democrat if he ran now based on his politics. The current GOP would be some fringe lunatic party that couldn’t muster a majority.
Look up Victorie Nuland’s husband sometime. And you will see he’s an elitist Neocon. That’s who led the effort to start war in Ukraine, WHEN OBAMA WAS PRESIDENT. That, to me, shows you who is NOT running the country. The POTUS.
Talking about Biden of course?
Yeah, Biden, send me the quote where he’s threatened to use nuclear weapons. Putin, is the only person on earth other than Kim Jun dong un doing it.
Don’t you think we have sabotage the Russians already? The Soviet Union dissolved to become Russia once again. The Cold War, at that time, came to a close. Russia wanted to become a part of the Western Alliance, be an equal partner. WE, the “indispensable nation”, told Russia to pound sand. Next, WE abrogated the agreement to not move NATO “one inch East”. Bill Clinton was the trigger man for the movement, gathering nations willing to put nuclear weapons on the border with Russia. We know that you are not so stupid as to not know of the provocations against Russia, the coup in Ukraine in 2014, the shelling of the Donbas by Azov Battalion backed Kiev, killing 14,000 Russian speaking Ukraine citizens over a period of 8 years, eventually forcing Russia to invade, invoking the (useful to the U.S.) responsibility to protect edict. When Russia celebrated the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Germany, not one U.S. representative attended. Not one. You talk about sabotage. Russia has been sabotaged. By the way, are you another mental appendage of jake, Tim Burns, Don Julio? Sure seems like it.
What’s your beef with someone who has a different opinion than you?
Depends on if that different opinion is from a war monger who supports eternal war to steal other people’s national resources.
I have no problem with you or your opinion, just curous what motivates you to hate the country you live die and pay taxes in this much. I’m not a fan, but know a bigger POS when I see one. Russian and China are proving sometimes you it takes some bad men to be the toughest in a bad world. We live in a bad world.
We live in a bad world.
Largely due to the US Empire.
Love the Republic.. Hate the Empire.
I don’t hate the US. My country was founded on separation of church and state plus avoidance of foreign wars. Now we are engaged in genocide to cleanse a religious state of the wrong religion and involved in a war against Russia, Iran, China, Cuba, Venezuela and the heart of Africa.
Some founders of our country believed periodic revolutions would be needed for times like these.
Supporting genocide is strong, but we are complicit though our arms sales. So, should we just hand the middle east over to Iran, Chinese and Russia and leave Isreal to be conquered by Muslims terrorists? Which is your vision?
Go back in time, allow Russia to become and equal partner, trade for oil and other resources that belong to other countries, rather than taking. Stop playing “king of the hill”, killing millions world wide. My country is blessed with many resources, and does not have to flex its muscles, constantly harassing other countries, promoting regime changes, bombing them, sanctioning them. I am 80 , and have seen a lot, read a lot, thought a lot. This country, blessed as it has been is victim of the virus of narcissism, thinking we are better than others. Israel has that same virus. It is no wonder that we support, without question, what it has done to the Palestinians, and continues to do, to our detriment. What to do? I don’t know. Voting is not the answer. Perhaps a nuke hitting D.C. might change things. To late then………
Yeah the sanctions got out of hand and were over used and abused. I don’t deny that. I don’t like what we did in Ukraine in 2013/14 inciting unrest and suppoting a coupe, I knew nothing but blood would come out of it. But even our elected officials don’t seem to control it if I”m being honest. More like a band of bandit Neocons and deep state that even presidents are afraid to cross after JFK. For good reason, they may not live long if they do.
I am going to agree with this. The only answer that saves humanity and the planet from complete devastation is diplomacy. It takes 2 to tango, as they say, or in this case, 3. The US and Russian/China who are conspiring against us.
No one is conspiring against the US. Many countries are engaging in diplomatic solidarity to defend themselves from a system attempting to grow faster and faster to infinity on a finite planet.
A person can love their country at the same time disliking that country. I find what my country has done to be very distasteful, brutal to other countries and to its own citizens.
I don’t like 80% of what our government does, it does not make me want to celebrate Putin and Xi as heroe’s and saviors of humanity.
And how did you conclude I hate my country? Your conjectures are showing.
I don’t know you. I only know I see you posting your displeasure with almost everything we do and supporting the actions of our enemies. Which of course, can change by the hour. I have been a very outspoken critic of our goverment for almost my entire life. Yet, when I see the world as a whole, I do not see better actors in China, Russia or Iran. I see chaos, deceipt, greed and malfeasance.
The only honest and true response was “I don’t know.” You can delete your other conjectures after that.
No, I think I won’t delete them, thanks.
I”m really sorry you were a born ass hole.
What is my beef with the US government ? , well it could take a very long time to tell you .
LOL
My beef with the US government is it has been at war for my entire life and sends heavily armed military police to beat up non-violent young students who disagree with eternal war in far away places.
A day will come when the police go home to protect their neighborhoods from seemingly profitable foreign entanglements engineered by banksters and media executives.
Ah I see, and Iran, Russia and China, they have pure motives and honest police?
Whataboutism.
Yeah, just saying, we can pretend we live in an idealists world, but the reality is we live in a world of gangsters and thugs and the biggest baddest thugs generally win. Diplomocy and the rule of law are dead. And I blame 99% of that on Russian and China and their lawless, greedy ruthless leaders.
You need some book learning instead of more brainwashing.
He/she knows the score. A simple troll, with nothing else to do with his/her life but troll, irritate.
You know, you may be right, seeing as both have 1,000’s of military bases doting over world. /s
Right. How dare Russia and China put their borders near US bases.
The government of Niger thinks so.
What is your beef with the US government?
It has no legitimacy
Just do what I do: block Jackie Chiles… LOL See those three dots up at the right of his post. Click on that, select “Block User.” You’ll never see his comments again.
I find blocking people is taking the easy way out.
Because the old tenant contract is up but doesn’t want to leave. So the rental for the new tenant has started. The lease is his and he can demand you leave or call the cops and remove your belongings. In somme jurisdictions, a lawyer and/or his eviction letter also needs to be present
I think this is how Niger politely asks someone to take a hint and leave already.
As everyone knows, US army is fighting the international terrorism in Africa. Russians are doing the same. Maybe we should celebrate this encounter the same as we celebrated the encounter at Elbe river in 1945.
International terrorism ? , all trained and financed by the USA.
Other fake western democracies also fund bad actors.
ISIS is the child of what we created to fight Russia in Afghanistan. Al-queda. We created it. We finance it. It has operated in Syria against the Syrian government. Some have called it our foreign legion. ISIS-K was involved in the theater massacre in Moscow. That action came not long after Victoria “cookies” Nuland said Russia was going to receive a “little surprise”.
American citizens could happily do this even though the US government cannot.
“Allowing Russian troops to enter Airbase 101 could be a pressure tactic from Niger’s government to get the US to withdraw.”
Couldn’t get anymore clearer than that…! What part of GTFO US doesn’t understand…?
Same message Iraq has for us. GTFO NOW!
Woah