This could be a much, much longer post. But we are just going raise the subject to spark thought, and pursue it more in-depth at a later time.

In a previous post we looked at one of the features of the latest spending bill (just passed) by our government: the extravagant amount of U.S. taxpayer dollars being sent to Africa.

Having recently been a subject of interest, naturally it caught me eye when I saw the following:

My first thought was: Niger? Really? We have troops in Niger? What the hell for?

As it happens, over the last ten years, we have spent BILLIONS in Niger. For example, last year alone we spent:

• $68 Million on emergency food assistance
• $18 Million on Food Assistance Program development
• $12 Million on Title II Food Aid
• $10 Million on USAID Kulawa for Health Services Delivery
• $7 Million on “Resilient Governance in Niger Activity” (ironically, given the recent coup)

source: ForeignAssistance.gov

In return for our largess, we were permitted to deploy about 1,100 troops, maintain two drone bases, and helped train their military (in 2022 we spent $18 million on Niger Armored Personnel Carriers/Training/Equipment.)

The drones were primarily tasked with monitoring neighboring countries – keep in mind this is a landlocked nation stuck in the Sahara desert – and “terrorist organizations.”

But last year the government of Niger was overthrown by a coup. They have decided that they would rather deal with Russia and China.

I say, “Let them”.

Let our adversaries pour money into a black-hole like we have (pun intended). Let them waste time and resources in a country which offers exactly two things: sand and Negroes.

Besides…

The counter argument is that we need bases in the region to monitor extremist groups in the area. But that only matters if we care about the region. I would be willing to bet that a majority of Americans don’t, and would rather see those resources spent on our own border, in our own country, protecting our own citizens. In addition, if these groups are being monitored by a drone, I’m fairly certain we can accomplish the same mission with a satellite given that our spy-birds can tell you how many dimples are on a golf ball if you ask nicely.

The other argument is that old neo-con canard “We must fight them over there, so we do not have to fight them here.”

Hogwash.

They’re already here:

But that’s a topic for another post…

Amerika Erwache!

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