The US can’t use its $110 million drone base in Niger

submitted by SmockSignalsDeft-Wing Rationalist from taskandpurpose.com

all 22 comments
sorted by:
new (suggested)
topinsightfulfun

[–]CaelianPost No Toasties 6 insightful - 4 fun6 insightful - 3 fun7 insightful - 4 fun -  (1 child)

Well, at least they still have the drone base at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW 😺

[–]SmockSignalsDeft-Wing Rationalist[S] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

For now...

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (19 children)

Known as “Nigerien Air Base 201,” the installation cost $110 million to build and it features a 6,200-foot runway for MQ-9 Reapers as well as manned aircraft. The U.S. military began conducting drone flights from the base in November 2019.

About 1,100 U.S. troops are currently deployed to Niger, according to the Defense Department. The country is an important partner in the U.S. military’s efforts to counter the Islamic State group and other terrorist organizations in Africa. In October 2017, four U.S. soldiers were killed near the Nigerien village of Tongo Tongo after being attacked by more than 100 ISIS fighters.

The base serves as a critical intelligence and surveillance hub for the U.S. military’s efforts to combat violent extremism in North and West Africa, said Jocelyn Trainer, an expert on sub-Saharan Africa with the Center for a New American Security think tank in Washington, D.C.

The think tank donors include all the usual suspects.

[–]SmockSignalsDeft-Wing Rationalist[S] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Over on Reddit I'm informing the users on r/PoliticalDiscussion just how damn involved the US is in Niger. Somehow they think it's mostly the French with a military presence, or are shilling that lol, or maybe not thinking about it much beyond how it was the French embassy that was stormed

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

This map in the lower quadrant shows all the foreign bases and known foreign presence throughout that region. France leads the pack with the US close behind; both are in Niger along with Germany and Italy.

[–]SmockSignalsDeft-Wing Rationalist[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ah the core NATO gangs all here

[–]risistill me 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

The think tank donors include all the usual suspects.

The shocker for me is

U.S. Department of Defense, Secretary of the Air Force Concepts Development and Management (SAF/CDM), Office of Commercial and Economic Analysis (OCEA)

and a number of other government offices.

A major donor? Our tax dollars?

The board of directors includes quite a few familiar faces as well. https://www.cnas.org/people?group=board-of-directors

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Oh my, yes.

[–]MeganDelacroix🤡🌎 detainee 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (13 children)

Hey, they returned the FTX money.

 

😐

 

I know we're all used to it, but really, it's kind of amazing that we have war policymakers being directly funded by war manufacturers and this is considered... completely normal.

Well, actually, it's not considered at all. It's not even worth mentioning.

But yeah, total mystery why Trump was the first president since Carter to not start a new war.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Just listening to this video interview with Max Blumenthal who says that Victoria Nuland was at the CNAS think tank during Trump's term. Figures.

He calls the think tanks a Potemkin village, they present themselves as independent analysts but they're public relations assets for the arms industry, big tech and the contractors.

Love Max, he doesn't mince words.

[–]MeganDelacroix🤡🌎 detainee 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

public relations assets for the arms industry

 

That's a great way to put it. I was dissatisfied with my own description; I thought I was wording it too strongly, but I see now the reason it felt off was because I wasn't wording it strongly enough.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

great way to put it

I thought so, too. It captures the real character of the relationship.

[–]risistill me 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Carter had considerably more provocation, including a nightly TV program that was begun specifically to criticize him (Nightline.)

Since so many wars were already underway when Trump took office, Trump had less reason to start any, as well as less provocation. However, I do credit him for committing the US to withdraw from Afghanistan during 2021. Biden went a few months over the deadline for withdrawal and it was a debacle, but that's a different issue.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (8 children)

Seriously. I look at the photo on the About page and see well-dressed technocrats but think about the banality of evil. Just with the think tanks and the NGOs, you have to wonder how many thousand cogs there are in this war machine.

[–]ageingrockstar 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I look at the photo on the About page and see well-dressed technocrats

It's available in higher res here :

https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/files.cnas.org/title/CNAS-2022-Staff-Photo-01.png

Creepy photo in my opinion. The women have obviously all been told to wear primary colours and no patterns (there only one 'offender', who's wearing a patterned skirt). And the number with long hair is disproportionate to the population. Similar to the women favouring strong red, the men favour the same colour for their ties, and also some ugly stripes. The man in the middle (wearing glasses) has a very badly fitting suit jacket. Out of all the men, I would credit two with being well-dressed - back row guy third from the left, guy sitting on the stool with the tartan? tie. Maybe a couple others. Hard for me to credit many of the women as being well dressed (probably because their options have been so constrained). The patterned skirt looks nice, although I can't see it too well. Maybe two or three others but most of them look 'frumpy' or have a 'Stepford wives' vibe.

And it was a mistake having the guy with too short trousers, red socks and unpolished shoes sitting down at the front. Should have hidden him up the back.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Love the analysis. Guess I need to learn to choose my words more carefully. After ruling out "professionally attired" I was too lazy to come up with a better term to describe them.

[–]ageingrockstar 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Sorry, I wasn't really meaning to pick you up on your wording. Just took it as an entry point to comment on the (creepy) photo.

[–]rundown9 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

The faces of the fools who think tactical nuclear war with Russia is possible, and winnable.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

It's mind-boggling and terrifying that these people are treated as thought leaders when self-absorbed pinheads would be a more apt description.

[–]risistill me 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I wonder how many of them are investing in the war industry. Perhaps with insider info to boot.

[–]penelopepnortneyBecome ungovernable 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yep, that's the other and much more important part. They get to be in with the in-crowd while they're getting well-paid and are making a killing on their financial investments.

[–]risistill me 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Most likely, the conflict of interest and insider trading don't keep them up at night.