cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/3212109

🌍🇬🇳🌍🇳🇪🌍🇫🇷🌍🇺🇸🌍🇳🇬🌍🇧🇯 🇲🇱🌍🇧🇫🌍🇩🇿 ✓ https://twitter.com/african_stream/status/1686462718327287810 Summary of what’s happened in Niger so far ✓ https://twitter.com/african_stream/status/1686421451975372800 ✓ https://www.africanews.com/2023/08/01/mali-and-burkina-faso-warn-against-any-foreign-military-intervention-in-niger/ ◦ Burkina Faso & Mali considering an attack on Niger to be an attack on Mali ✓ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66358951Mr Niger coup: Ousted President Mohamed Bazoum meets Chad’s leader - BBC News ◦ Déby said his mediation effort was aimed at finding a “peaceful solution to the crisis which is shaking” Niger, which borders Chad. ◦ He did not give details, but his office released a photo of him sitting next to a smiling Mr Bazoum. ✓ https://twitter.com/african_stream/status/1686581706029965312 ECOWAS threatening to invade Niger within a week, plus commentaries from Nigerien citizens ✓ https://twitter.com/african_stream/status/1686600596881641473 Guinea telling ECOWAS to fuck off ✓ https://twitter.com/african_stream/status/1686671706771910656 Niger’s response to threat of invasion ✓ https://twitter.com/african_stream/status/1686789348421722112 Politician from Gambia shitting on ECOWAS. ✓ https://korybko.substack.com/p/al-jazeera-and-politico-shed-light Al Jazeera and Politico likely didn’t intend to, but 2 of their articles shed light on the real reasons Nigeria might invade Niger ✓ https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/614494-niger-coup-nigerian-senators-reject-tinubus-request-for-troops-deployment.html ◦ According to a senator who attended the meeting, senators agreed to pass a resolution condemning the coup and to commend ECOWAS leaders on their efforts to restore constitutional order in Niger, but they ruled out military options. ◦ Senators believe that the Federal Government should focus on solving the Boko Haram, banditry and ESN/IPOB menaces ravaging the country instead of contemplating going to war in a foreign country. ✓ https://archive.is/pbDYt Algerian President Tebboune rejects any possible military intervention in Niger ✓ https://archive.ph/2023.08.04-183050/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/niger-coup-us-russia-africa-86cf1454 Niger Coup: How the U.S. Fumbled and Gave Russia an Opening - WSJ ◦ Washington is desperately looking for someone to blame for failing to influence the coup in Niger. The State Department has been accused of a slow reaction - they say that American diplomats ignored the events in Niger for a long time and only realized at the last moment that they were losing control over a country with a population of 25 million people and the world’s sixth-largest uranium exporter. ◦ The US has invested half a billion dollars in training Niger’s army and building the largest drone bases in all of Africa. 🤪 Now those bases could be taken over by a new power, which would mean a military disaster for the US. One of the rebel generals was even trained in America but is now pursuing anti-Western policies. ◦ The White House has criticized Trump for neglecting Africa and allowing Russia and China to grow stronger. Republicans in the Senate blocked all of Biden’s appointments out of principle, which is why the US didn’t even have an ambassador to Niger for two years. 🤪 ◦ The change of power in Niger also caught the French by surprise, as they will now be deprived of uranium for their nuclear power plants. Secretary of State Blinken initially agreed to support the idea of Nigeria invading Niger, but the State Department recognizes that this is unlikely. For now, Nigeria has cut off electricity exports to Niger. The ousted president has promised the US to charge his phones, but if communications with him are cut off, it will be the end of Western rule in the country. ✓ https://archive.ph/2023.08.11-160831/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/african-force-to-reverse-niger-coup-could-take-months-95962335 African Force to Reverse Niger Coup Could Take Months - WSJ ◦ Pro-coup counterthreats from Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea-run by military juntas who themselves came to power by force -may be deterring the Ecowas bloc from taking action, the U.S. official said. The extensive combat experience of Niger’s armed forces that now hold power, some of which are among the most effective in the region, might also be giving Ecowas pause, the U.S. official said. A top army commander from one Ecowas member state predicted it would take six months to ready any intervention to reverse Niger’s coup. The Ecowas standby force is one of five such regional forces across Africa, but they exist more on paper than in reality until called upon to intervene. The army commander described the West African standby force as “an empty shell” that member countries would have to fill with troops and equipment. “There is no assembled, mustered military force standing-by somewhere ready to immediately deploy,” Paul Williams, professor of international affairs at the George Washington University, wrote on the social-media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.