US facing back-to-back setbacks in crucial part of the world: WaPo
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As the formerly colonized nations boot out their colonizers, Russia and China are welcomed to the Sahel region.
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Supporters of Niger's ruling junta gather for a protest called to fight for the country's freedom and push back against foreign interference, in Niamey, Niger on August 3, 2023. (AP)
The Washington Post wrote on Wednesday that at the end of last week, the United States notified the leadership in Niger that it would honor its request to withdraw US forces from the country, adding that reports emerged indicating that authorities in Chad had sent a letter earlier this month to the US defense attaché stationed there, ordering the United States to cease activities at a base that accommodates French troops.
According to the report, the possible withdrawal of a contingent of US Special Forces stationed in Chad would represent another setback for Western hegemony in the Sahel.
In Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, successive coups have toppled the governments. These coups have been accompanied by resentment toward France, the former colonial power, and a shift toward seeking support from Russia and China. That said, the report explains that the current government in Niger has decisively steered the impoverished nation away from Western influence, expelling French troops and moving toward reducing the significant US presence in the country's desert regions.
“The agreement will spell the end of a US troop presence that totaled more than 1,000 and throw into question the status of a $110 million US air base that is only six years old,” the report detailed.
'Africa is one place where the US is losing'
The report referenced the Le Monde newspaper, which outlined the events leading up to the deployment of approximately 100 African Corps officers, which had maintained a widespread and opaque presence across Africa before its dissolution late last year.
“Their official mission was to train Niger’s army, particularly in the use of a Russian-supplied anti-aircraft defense system,” the French newspaper noted, adding that “three months earlier, Niger’s PM had flown to Tehran to outline plans for closer cooperation with Iran, without providing any details of the nature of the envisioned contracts. This was a clear cause for concern for Western countries, particularly the US.”
The Wall Street Journal was more blunt in its editorial, saying, “In the new era of great power competition, Africa is one place where the US is losing.”
Chinese, Russian approval in West Africa
In the report, The Washington Post details that the country’s junta announced that a Chinese state oil company had made an advance $400 million payment for crude purchases from Niger’s Agadem field. The deal, structured with further interest payments to the Chinese company, would help Niger’s cash-strapped government reckon with mounting domestic debts, according to the report.
Mentioned in the report, some Nigeriens were quoted in the capital of Niamey after years of overweening French interest saying, “Why is it a problem for the Americans and France that the Russians are helping us?” Abdoulaye Oussein, 51, said. “I think we’re free to make our own choices.”
The report included a new poll from Gallup that recorded strong approval for Russia and China in many parts of the Sahel. “Last year, China recorded its highest approval rating in Africa in over a decade,” Julie Ray, managing editor for world news at Gallup, said. “It picked up substantial support in countries in Western Africa — which helped nudge it ahead of the US by two percentage points.”
