- A top US general is visiting Africa to discuss maintaining the American presence in West Africa following Niger’s decision to pull out American forces in favour of Russia.
- Air Force Gen. CQ Brown discussed exploring opportunities with existing partners in West Africa to transfer capabilities already deployed in Niger.
- The US has begun talks with countries such as Benin, Ivory Coast and Ghana for the possible deployment of military assets.
The top US general is on a rare visit to Africa, where he will discuss ways to maintain the American presence in West Africa following Niger’s decision to send American troops back. U.S. military This is a major blow to Washington, in favor of partnership with Russia.
Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters before arriving in Botswana on Monday for a meeting of African defense chiefs that he was going to talk to a number of partners in the region.
“I see some opportunities. And there are countries in West Africa that we’re already working with,” Brown told reporters traveling with him.
US troops to completely withdraw from Niger by mid-September: Pentagon
He said furthering these ties “allows us to use the capabilities we have in Niger in other places as well.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Charles Q. Brown Jr. attend a meeting of NATO defense ministers at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, June 13, 2024. (Reuters/Johanna Geron/File Photo)
Brown declined to say which countries were being considered. But a US official told Reuters that President Joe Biden’s The administration has held preliminary talks with countries including Benin, Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Still, the U.S. military is not expected to repeat its powerful counterterrorism operations in Niger in the near future. In particular, its exit means losing Air Base 201, which the U.S. built near Agadez in central Niger at a cost of more than $100 million.
Before Niger’s military coup last year, the base was key in the U.S. and Niger’s joint fight against insurgents who have killed thousands and displaced millions.
US to withdraw troops from Chad and Niger after African countries question counter-terrorism role
A second US official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said not to expect another major US base or a large-scale relocation of American troops from Niger.
“We don’t expect any major military build-up or announcement of any significant new bases anywhere,” the second official said.
Political upheaval
The changing political landscape in western and central Africa poses a dilemma for the United States. The region has seen eight coups in the past four years, including in Niger and its neighbors Burkina Faso and Mali.
The junta ruling many of these countries is now less willing to work with Western nations, including the United States – whose military is legally barred from supporting governments that seize power through coups. They are increasingly looking to Russia, which faces no such constraints.
“The United States has solid partners in the region,” said Catherine Njuki of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“And now that the U.S. has been pulled out of Niger, I think the political question the State Department and the Defense Department are asking is: Are we losing our allies in the region? Are things changing so fast that we can’t keep up?”
Another US official acknowledged that the US military was taking stock of the rapid changes taking place.
“We are now introspecting and thinking about what our revised targets should be,” the official said.
It is still unclear to what extent the US’s revised goals will enable it to tackle the threat posed by Islamist groups spreading across the arid, impoverished Sahel region.
“The terrorist threat is a matter of concern,” the second official said.
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So far, U.S. officials say the American withdrawal from Niger is progressing on schedule, ahead of a Sept. 15 deadline, and only 600 troops remain at Air Base 101, located next to Diori Hamani International Airport in the capital, Niamey.
Following the US exit, Russia has deployed several military forces to the same base, where they are conducting training activities. US officials say American and Russian troops have no contact with each other.
Brown expressed hope that even after this America He said there could be a way to maintain some sort of security relationship with Niger in the future, given the investment made over the years in military ties.
“We have an embassy there, so we still have a relationship. And so I don’t know if the door is completely closed,” Brown said. “And so if in the future, if there is an opportunity to rebuild the relationship, to reinvigorate it, we will work with the rest of the USG (U.S. government) to figure out how to do that.”
