http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-22/obama-dispatches-100-us-troops-niger-support-predator-drone-base

As we speculated from the very beginning, and as was reaffirmed in "Is Nigeria, And Its Light Sweet Crude, About To Be Drawn Into The Mali "Liberation" Campaign?", the "French" (with complete and fully-comped US support) Mali campaign is slowly but surely migrating to its intended target: Nigeria, and rather its holdings of light sweet crude. And while the US presence in this latest resource land grab, this time in Africa, was so far rather stealthy, it appears the time for pre-intimacy is over and moments ago Obama told congress has has dispatched 40 more American troops to Niger this week, bringing the total U.S. military presence in the west African country to 100. Let's hear it for the full retroactive transparency demanded by the War Powers Resolution.


The Hill reports: "The troops have been deployed to support the intervention in neighboring Mali, where French troops have been helping local forces rout Islamist militants from the country's north since last month. The Obama administration is also planning to build a base in Niger for unarmed Predator drones to conduct surveillance on militants in the region, The New York Times reported last month. On Wednesday, “the last elements of a deployment of approximately 40 additional U.S. military personnel entered Niger with the consent of the Government of Niger,” Obama wrote to the House and Senate leaders." Next: extensive weapons of mass destruction are discovered in Abuja while Al Qaeda terrorists are seen making threatening gestuers and using harsh language at Nigerian oil rigs which is the international acknowledged symbol that the US has to do its sworn globocop duty and liberate all that oppressed Nigerian crude.

More importantly, China is surely delighted over what as everyone can now understand, is an imminent confrontation over who owns what in Africa.

TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE

February 22, 2013

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President

On February 20, 2013, the last elements of a deployment of approximately 40 additional U.S. military personnel entered Niger with the consent of the Government of Niger. This deployment will provide support for intelligence collection and will also facilitate intelligence sharing with French forces conducting operations in Mali, and with other partners in the region. The total number of U.S. military personnel deployed to Niger is approximately 100. The recently deployed forces have deployed with weapons for the purpose of providing their own force protection and security.

I directed this deployment of U.S. forces in furtherance of U.S. national security interests, and pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive.

I am providing this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148). I appreciate the support of the Congress in this action.

Sincerely,

BARACK OBAMA

It is a welcomed development. Let them come with enough drones. Enough is Enough for islamist in northern Nigeria.

"U.S. Africa Command protects and defends the national security interests of the United States by strengthening the defense capabilities of African states and regional organizations and, when directed, conducts military operations, in order to deter and defeat transnational threats and to provide a security environment conducive to good governance and development."

http://www.africom.mil/about-the-command/mission

Activated in 2008, US Africom is a direct response to China's growing influence in Africa. If you peruse the Africom website, you will not find one mention of securing resources. However, despite the atypical platitudes of ensuring national security and helping the Africans fight terrorism in the region, it is quite obvious that it is an incursion with the ultimate prize being Africa's treasures. It is a pillaging, just as egregious as Pizzaro's Spanish conquest of the Incan Empire.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/22/us-usa-niger-forces-idUSBRE91L0NN20130222


(Reuters) - About 40 U.S. military personnel have arrived in Niger, President Barack Obama told Congress on Friday, the last of a deployment of about 100 to help coordinate intelligence sharing with French forces operating in Mali.

The U.S. forces are equipped with "weapons for the purpose of providing their own force protection and security," Obama said, and are there with Niger's consent.

France intervened in Niger's neighbor Mali last month as Islamist forces, who seized control of the north in the confusion following a military coup in March 2012, pushed towards the capital Bamako.

That had pushed Mali to the forefront of U.S. and European security concerns, with fears the Islamists would turn the country into a base for international attacks.

Niger gave permission for U.S. surveillance drones to be stationed on its territory to improve intelligence on al Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters in northern Mali and the wider Sahara, a senior Niger government source said in January.

The U.S. ambassador to Niger, Bisa Williams, made the request at a meeting with President Mahamadou Issoufou, who immediately accepted it, the source said.

Earlier this week, France sent its special forces to Cameroon in search of seven French tourists who were kidnapped in the north of the country on Tuesday. Paris accused the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram of being behind the abduction. On Thursday, the kidnapped tourists were reportedly found alive in an abandoned house in Nigeria.

France – whose presence in Africa used to be rather strong – still has several military bases and hundreds of troops on the continent. In the past several years, Paris’ has intensified its activity in former colonies.

First, there was its mission in the Ivory Coast. And in January this year, France launched a military operation in Mali to help the local government fight Islamist rebels. Finally, this week its troops entered northern Cameroon.

If the main product of Mali, for example, were mushrooms, there would be no French troops there or in Niger. But the main export is uranium. And that’s very important to the French. And that’s why the French are there, that’s why NATO is there, that’s why – unfortunately - Canada is there as well.

I think the main point is this is unfortunately a trend. Like the 19th century race for colonies, we have we have the 21st century race for colonies beginning. That’s a tragic fact.

RT: With militants being active in Algeria, Mali, Nigeria, and Cameroon - what is really happening in West Africa?

KS: It’s a complicated situation. Many of the national boundaries that were drawn by the colonial powers have no parrying at all on the location of the indigenous nations of Africa. So, people are divided on different sides of boundaries. Most people don’t even recognize many of the boundaries in the Saharan region and the sub-Saharan region.

There’s a further problem. The West has introduced Al-Qaeda-type terrorists into Africa where they want them, where they didn’t exist in any significance before. So that has created a can of worms.

The main point though is that the Western powers – the European neo-colonial powers, the US and NATO – have no right to act as the police of the world.

In the 19th century race for colonies, they said that they had the white man’s burden to carry on their shoulders to civilize the people of Africa. In the 21st century they call it the “humanitarian intervention to protect the human’s rights.” Those are both frauds and the Western countries really have absolutely no say in what goes on in West Africa. They should have no say.

RT: What are the chances the special-forces deployment in Cameroon could escalate into a full-scale operation, like in Mali?

KS: It could. But it’s not likely. Ever since their colonial rule ended, the French’s had a policy of ‘force de frappe’ – which is striking force, an expeditionary force, a special force – where they go in and they deal with a certain immediate problem and they leave. They do not have the stomach to maintain an occupation for a long period of time.

The problem for neo-colonial powers like France is that the so-called ‘rebels’ or Jihadists or whoever it may be, merely have to melt into the bush wait and out the expeditionary force. And when the expeditionary force leaves they come right back in. And the problem is that there is no permanent fix to this.

the cost of 1,000 drones equals the price of an F15 Eagle jet. If we talk

about the latest models, like the Predator, it costs $10 million while the cost of an F16 is $350 million and the fuel for 200 flights of a drone equals the fuel consumed by one flight of F4 Phantom jet. The training of a pilot of a Tornedo costs 1 million Pound Sterling while training a drone operator costs nothing and it takes only three months.

Therefore, the Americans have chosen a comfortable war

I

musiwa16: I told you to relocate all army and police officers of western nigeria back to western niger and all officer of north back to the north and officer of the east back to the east.. Listen to my Godly advice.


http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/22/letter-president-concerning-niger

I can't agree less

While the story is that these US troops are there to keep an eye on Mali I'm betting that at least a few of those drones in Niger are going to be heading south to keep an eye on Northern Nigeria. As well they should.


Boko Haram can kiss their asses goodbye. Goodbye, terrorists

o

all i want is their drones

i

confusion247: It is a welcomed development. Let them come with enough drones. Enough is Enough for islamist in northern Nigeria.

Hehehehe the oil is not in Northern Nigeria.

Calm down, relax, and watch which section of Nigeria will bear the brunt of ignorance like yours.

m

c

f

This is disaster for Africa.... We do not need the west anymore in oir affairs in africa this is their tactics to continue stealng our wealth

The sun is setting, its only a matter of time now before mayhem takes place..

Naija my dear beloved country!

There is no cause for alarm. The drones are being sent to assist those who have expressed desires to meet 72 virgins in heaven, by expediting that process with a few judiciously aimed Hellfire missiles.

Just think of the drones and their ordnance as a dating service for Jihadists who are too stingy to pay for red-snapper in the here-and-now, and are therefore being directed to Paradise, where all snapper is free and available to all who show up with a scraggly long beard, and evidence of explosive dismemberment.

Jakumo: There is no cause for alarm. The drones are being sent to assist those who have expressed desires to meet 72 virgins in heaven, by expediting that process with a few judiciously aimed Hellfire missiles.

Just think of the drones and their ordnance as a dating service for Jihadists who are too stingy to pay for red-snapper in the here-and-now, and are therefore being directed to Paradise, where all snapper is free and available to all who show up with a scraggly long beard, and evidence of explosive dismemberment.

Good God, Jakumo! You are incorrigible!!

Lmao!!

Jakumo!!!

Hmmm... I don't trust America one bit.

Again,the only help Nigeria needs from the west is western countries stop funding jihadists in Nigeria.

panafrican: Again,the only help Nigeria needs from the west is western countries stop funding jihadists in Nigeria.

Nah, that's Iran doing that, Ace.

LEADERSHIP WEEKEND further gathered that the bombers might be on their way to prepare ground for the eventual rescue of the foreigners.

The jet bombers were said to have arrived in the early hours of yesterday while their colours comprised three ash and two army green. The army green jets were marked “Royal Army”.

LEADERSHIP WEEKEND further observed some foreign soldiers putting on brown camouflage uniforms were entering one of the army green jets in preparation for departure.

It was further gathered that some of the jets had started leaving the airport for certain locations to assist in the rescue of the kidnapped foreigners.

The four grey-coloured jets departed the Abuja airport at about 5.55pm, leaving only the army-green jet at the airport as at press time.

The entry of the jets, the military source said, was to prevent the recent failed rescue operation in Sokoto where the terrorists killed the foreigners before they could be rescued by the security agencies, including foreign officers.

When contacted over the unusual sighting of the jets, the British high commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. Rob Fitzpatrick, told LEADERSHIP WEEKEND, “This is routine military-to-military engagement.”

Two hostages, Chris McManus (Britain) and Franco Lamolinara (Italy), were found dead in Sokoto on March 9, 2012, during a failed joint rescue mission by the British special forces and the Nigerian military. A group that claimed ties to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, which happened in May 2011.

The rescue attempt began in the morning in Sokoto’s Mabera neighbourhood, a sprawling maze of sandy roads and single-storey cement homes on what used to be fertile farmland surrounding the city of 500,000 people. Residents said a seemingly unending barrage of gunfire followed, as did an attack led by a military armoured personnel carrier.

Once inside in the compound, soldiers found the two men had been killed. But details of how and when they died remained unclear

Information from the raid came from individuals arrested by Nigeria’s security agencies before the operation, a senior official in Nigeria said. However, British officials worried the kidnappers would realise “the net was closing” on their location.

The rescue effort ended months of uncertainty about what happened to McManus and Lamolinara. McManus was working for construction company B.Stabilini when he was kidnapped on May 12, 2011, by gunmen who stormed his apartment in the city of Birnin-Kebbi, about 110 miles (180 kilometers) away from Sokoto. Lamolinara was also abducted.

A German colleague managed to escape by scaling a wall, but a Nigerian engineer was shot and wounded.

A video later released showed the kidnappers claiming they belonged to al-Qaida and threatening to kill McManus and Lamolinara if their demands were not met.

[b]one more time ......


Nigeria: Fertile Ground for Balkanization
April 10, 2012


By Nile Bowie


While the Sahel security crisis continues to deteriorate following Tuareg rebels’ declaration of an independent state in Mali’s troubled northern territory [1], recent events in Nigeria indicate a potential for increased regional instability. Boko Haram, a Salafist organization seeking to overthrow the secular administration of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, has recently killed 38 civilians in a suicide car bomb targeting nearby churches holding Easter services in the northern city of Kaduna [2]. As part of an ongoing campaign of sectarian violence, the group has strives to implement sharia law through the establishment of an Islamic State in northern Nigeria [3]. The group’s belligerent acts of violence claimed more than 500 lives during 2011 [4], prompting President Jonathan to call the current security crisis more dire than that experienced during 1967’s Biafran civil war, adding that jihadi sympathizers have successfully infiltrated his government and security agencies [5].

The group has claimed responsibility for the August 2011 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja [6], and its adoption of sophisticated tactics indicate that Boko Haram is receiving arms and training from abroad. Mainstream outlets can now be seen readying public opinion for an increased presence in Africa under the Right to Protect Doctrine (R2P) by warning of increased terrorist attacks in Europe, following shifts in Islamist activity away from Iraq and Afghanistan, to the "ungoverned spaces" of the Sahel [7]. While the ongoing War on Terror provides the needed justification for the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) to expand its base of operations throughout the Sahel and the troubled regions of east and central Africa, the modus operandi of Boko Haram indicates foreign nurturing in numerous mediums.

The Nigerian Tribune has reported that Boko Haram receives funding from different groups from Saudi Arabia and the UK, specifically from the Al-Muntada Trust Fund, headquartered in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia’s Islamic World Society [8]. During an interview conducted by Al-Jazeera with Abu Mousab Abdel Wadoud, the AQIM leader states that Algeria-based organizations have provided arms to Nigeria's Boko Haram movement "to defend Muslims in Nigeria and stop the advance of a minority of Crusaders" [9]. It remains highly documented that members of Al-Qaeda (AQIM) and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) who fought among the Libyan rebels directly received arms [10] and logistical support [11] from NATO bloc countries during the Libyan conflict in 2011. While top AFRICOM General Carter Ham claims terrorist networks pose a "real challenge" to the United States [13], warning of the threat posed by Al-Qaeda and the stock of chemical weapons they obtained after raiding Gaddafi’s weapons bunker [12], the confirmed reports accusing the US of arming and training Islamist terrorist groups remain safely neglected in official Pentagon press statements.

While NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Admiral James Stavridis openly acknowledged the presence of Al-Qaeda fighters among Libya’s rebels [14], the New Yorker has recently confirmed that the US has trained members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahideen-e-Khalq in Nevada [15], a US State Department listed terrorist organization (#29) [16] responsible for the recent assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists [17]. As the UN warns that weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades and explosives from Libya may reach Boko Haram [18], armed Tuareg fighters in northern Mali have been seen operating in army issue Toyota Hi-Lux technical trucks [19], armed with mortars, machine guns, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons originally belonging to the LIFG, al-Qaeda affiliated Libyan rebels [20]. UN reports also disclose that Boko Haram members from Nigeria and Chad had received training at Al-Qaeda camps in Mali in 2011 [21].

Nigerian recruits were reportedly trained in an earlier incarnation of AQIM, referred to as the Algerian Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat (GSPC) [22], and superficial aspects of Boko Haram’s operations reflect Nigeria’s 1982 Maitatsine uprisings, a fundamentalism movement countering perceived government oppression [23]. As sectarian violence continues unimpeded, the prospects for a civil war between Nigeria’s economically dominant Christians in the South and marginalized Muslims in the North remains ever present. Although most Nigerians find themselves less divided by religious differences and more victimized by the nations notoriously corrupt political institutions, outside forces funding Boko Haram’s deplorable campaign of violence are bent on exploiting tension between Nigeria’s two largest religious groups.

A divided and warring Nigeria ultimately serves the interests of the United States as cited by Zbigniew Brzezinski, top adviser to Barack Obama and leading US foreign policy theoretician. Brzezinski, who co-founded the Trilateral Commission and openly credits himself with the creation of the Afghan Mujahideen [24], has influenced policy that encourages the division of existing nation-states by the succession and emergence of microstates, based on all cultural, ethnic and religious peculiarities. Author and historian Dr. Webster G. Tarpley writes, “For Africa, Brzezinski recommends the so-called ‘micro-nationalities’ concept, which means that national boundaries established in the 19th century should be swept aside in favor of a crazy quilt of petty tribal entities, each one so small that it could not hope to resist even a medium-sized oil multinational” [25].

Following the mass exodus of Chinese business interests during the Libyan conflict, a shattered Nigeria would ultimately create conditions where China’s growing cooperation with Abuja can be challenged and ultimately, disrupted. China has provided extensive economic, military and political support to Nigeria, an important source of oil and petroleum for Beijing. In addition to sponsoring Nigeria for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council [26], China has invested in Africa’s booming telecommunications market by building and launching a geostationary commercial satellite, owned by Nigeria and operated in Abuja, [27] as a gesture of increased partnership between the two nations. In 2010, China and Nigeria signed a $23 billion deal to construct three fuel refineries in Nigeria, adding an extra 750,000 barrels per day of domestic refining capacity [28].

While Algerian intelligence confirms a direct link between Boko Haram and western-financed AQIM [29], Boko Haram spokesman Abu Qaqa claims to have visited Mecca with Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, where the group received financial and technical support from Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia (AQAP) [30]. While US officials acknowledge the presence of Al-Qaeda within the militant Syrian opposition [31], the Saudi Arabian Monarchy and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have created a multimillion-dollar fund to pay salaries to members of the rebel Free Syrian Army, to encourage soldiers to defect from the Syrian military and join opposition ranks [32], as part of an ongoing regime change program. A recently released subcommittee report issued by the United States Department of Homeland Security entitled “Boko Haram: Emerging Threat to the US Homeland” [33] further indicates the long-term objectives of counter terrorism operations in the region. The document reiterates the importance of sensitive resources within the Niger Delta region, and calls for using extrajudicial assassinations and unmanned aerial drone bombardments to combat the growing threat of Boko Haram in northern Nigeria.

The United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania conducted a series of African war game scenarios in preparation for the Pentagon’s expansion of AFRICOM under the Obama Administration. One scenario tested the US Africa Command’s capacity to respond to a disintegrating Nigeria on the verge of collapse amidst civil war, by sending 20,000 US troops to battle vying rebel factions seeking to control the Niger Delta oil fields [34]. At a press conference at the House Armed Services Committee on March 13, 2008, former AFRICOM Commander, General William Ward stated that AFRICOM would operate under the theatre-goal of “combating terrorism” to prioritize the issue of America’s growing dependence on African oil [35]. At an AFRICOM Conference held at Fort McNair on February 18, 2008, Vice Admiral Robert T. Moeller openly declared the guiding principle of AFRICOM is to protect “the free flow of natural resources from Africa to the global market”, before citing China’s increasing presence in the region as challenging to American interests [36].

In 2007, US State Department adviser Dr. J. Peter Pham commented on AFRICOM’s strategic objectives of "protecting access to hydrocarbons and other strategic resources which Africa has in abundance, a task which includes ensuring against the vulnerability of those natural riches and ensuring that no other interested third parties, such as China, India, Japan, or Russia, obtain monopolies or preferential treatment." [37] As covertly supporting terrorist organizations to achieve foreign policy aims appears to be the commanding prerequisite of foreign policy operations under the Obama Administration, Boko Haram exists as a separate arm of the US destabilization apparatus, aimed at shattering Africa’s most populous nation and biggest potential market. As Russia and China continue to assert themselves in the UNSC against calls to intervene on behalf of Syria’s militant opposition, the international community must adequately investigate the sources responsible for orchestrating insurgent activity in the Sahel and reprimand those parties accordingly.

Notes

[1] Triumphant Tuareg rebels fall out over al-Qaeda's jihad in Mali, The Telegraph, April 07, 2012

[2] Suicide Bomb Attack in Divided Nigeria Damages 2 Churches, The New York Times, April 8, 2012

[3] Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists? BBC, January 11, 2012

[4] Nigeria stunned by Kano attacks that killed more than 150, Los Angeles Times, January 21, 2012

[5] Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan: Officials back Boko Haram, BBC, January 8, 2012

[6] Abuja attack: Car bomb hits Nigeria UN building, BBC, August 26, 2011

[7] Mali's coup matters in London, too, The Guardian, April 3, 2012

[8] Boko Haram’s funding traced to UK, S/Arabia, The Nigerian Tribune, February 13, 2012

[9] Al-Qaida makes a move on troubled Nigeria, UPI, June 17, 2010

[10] France defends arms airlift to Libyan rebels, Reuters, June 30, 2011

[11] Surveillance and Coordination With NATO Aided Rebels, The New York Times, August 21, 2011

[12] Top US General warns of coordination between al-Qaeda-linked African terror groups, The Telegraph, March 01, 2012

[13] Statement of General Carter Ham U.S. Army Commander, United States Africa Command, AFRICOM, February 29, 2012

[14] Libya: al-Qaeda among Libya rebels, Nato chief fears, The Telegraph, March 29, 2011

[15] Our Men in Iran? The New Yorker, April 6, 2012

[16] Foreign Terrorist Organizations, Bureau of Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State, Janurary 27, 2012

[17] 'US operated deep in Iran, trained assassins', YNET News, April 8, 2012

[18] Spiking Arms Proliferation, Organized Crime, Terrorism, Part of Fallout from Libyan Crisis Afflicting Sahel, Security Council Told, United Nations, January 26, 2012

[19] Arab Spring Bleeds Deeper into Africa, Asia Times March 24, 2012

[20] Qaddafi’s Weapons, Taken by Old Allies, Reinvigorate an Insurgent Army in Mali, The New York Times, February 5, 2012

[21] Arms from Libya could reach Boko Haram, al Qaeda: U.N. Reuters, Jan 26, 2012

[22] An Interview With Abdelmalek Droukdal, The New York Times, July 1, 2008

[23] Is Nigeria al-Qaeda’s new frontier? Geneva Centre for Security Policy, March 20, 2012

[24] How Jimmy Carter and I Started the Mujahideen, Counterpunch, January 15, 1998

[25] Obama: The Postmodern Coup: Making of a Manchurian Candidate, Dr. Webster Griffin Tarpley, Progressive Press, 2008

[26] UN Security Council: China Backs Nigeria, AllAfrica, October 29, 2004

[27] China Builds And Launches A Satellite For Nigeria, The Washington Post, May 14, 2007

[28] Nigeria and china sign $23bn deal for three refineries, BBC, May 14, 2010

[29] Algeria says Nigeria's Boko Haram tied to al Qaeda, Reuters, November 13, 2011

[30] Boko Haram vows to fight until Nigeria establishes sharia law, The Guardian, January 27, 2012

[31] Al-Qaeda infiltrating Syrian opposition, U.S. officials say, The Washington Post, February 17, 2012

[32] Saudi Arabia, Gulf countries to fund Free Syrian Army, The China Post, April 2, 2012

[33] Boko Haram: Emerging Threat to the US Homeland, United States Department of Homeland Security, 2011

[34] Africa: U.S. Military Holds War Games on Nigeria, Somalia, AllAfrica, August 14, 2009

[35] Ibid

[36] Ibid

[25] China and the Congo Wars: AFRICOM. America's New Military Command, Centre for Research on Globalization, November 26, 2008
[/b]

Get ready to invade nigeria...neocolonialsm will happen very soon. Everyone asking for drones will have a big mistake.

.

o0oo

well if those drones are used to stop boko haram nutts and at the same time mind their business on other nigerian affairs then I am all for it