2y ago

The US military can't use a 110 million dollar drone base in Niger

taskandpurpose.com

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

Why was it there in the first place I wonder?

World News @lemmy.world

OurToothbrush @lemmy.ml

2y ago

The US can't use a 110 million dollar drone base in Niger

taskandpurpose.com /news/us-military-drone-missions-niger-halted/

doomer @hexbear.net

goatmeal [none/use name] @hexbear.net

2y ago

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

taskandpurpose.com /news/us-military-drone-missions-niger-halted/

25 comments

Why was it there in the first place I wonder?
To surveil (and maybe to bomb) Islamic extremists that have a foothold in the region? The entire article is about why they’re there…
- If you believe anything the U.S. has to say about fighting Islamic extremists after Iraq and Afghanistan...
- Well that certainly seems like shitty counter insurgency. It doesn't effect the material reasons that led to insurgents and creates more martyrs which increases recruitment and helps align the civilian population with the insurgency. The vietnamese knew this 50 years ago which is one of the reasons the US got its ass handed to it, has the US not learned it still?
  Outside of the tactic not being effective though, why is the US interested in doing counterinsurgency in the region?
  
  I would imagine western intelligence is very useful in fighting Isis. It certainly has been a huge boon for Ukraine in their war. As for why the west is interested in stopping the spread of Islamic extremism in Africa, foreign safe harbors for extremists often end up being training grounds for terrorists that attack the west.
Probably to spread peace, love, and brotherhood to Islamic Extremists, or something like that.
Oh. My. This is quite an interesting precedent. Let's hope we start to see more of this. A new angle on dismantling the machine.
- Pan-Africanism ftw
- So when all the extremists that now can't be monitored and controlled start commiting attacks in other parts of Africa, or sneak over the med to Europe to attack there, that's a good thing because.........?
  
  Because the US is the worst extremist in the world, killing and torturing more people, more systematically, more continuously, and with munitions that poison the land enough to kill the children and the grandchildren who will be born there for decades later.
  The US needs to be stopped.
Good point, wondering that too..
- If you read the article it will tell you all about why the US military is there
  
  The article doesn’t mention that Niger is also the prime supplier of Uranium for the French nuclear powerplants (and probably for more EU countries). Like it or not, that’s an important aspect of Western presence as well.

25 comments