{"id":2081056,"date":"2023-10-27T07:41:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T11:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/1000-u-s-soldiers-in-niger-need-to-come-home-right-now\/"},"modified":"2023-10-27T07:46:47","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T11:46:47","slug":"1000-u-s-soldiers-in-niger-need-to-come-home-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/1000-u-s-soldiers-in-niger-need-to-come-home-right-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Bring back 1,000 U.S. soldiers from Niger immediately."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F1000-u-s-soldiers-in-niger-need-to-come-home-right-now%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2081056&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Senate Rejects Bid to Bring Troops\u200b Home from Niger<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>By a vote of\u200c 86-11, the Senate\u2063 overwhelmingly rejected legislation Thursday night to bring home\u200c U.S. troops \u2063currently engaged in hostilities in Niger. It should not go unnoticed\u2063 that Congress never voted to send troops to Niger in the first place.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>So\u200b much senseless violence. So\u200c much\u200d death and destruction. Shouldn\u2019t we at \u2064least avoid wars of choice? Shouldn\u2019t we \u200cat least not go looking for trouble in every corner of the planet?<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-869381079\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-79da4c5184ef408fd05cad20d0d555c5 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-79da4c5184ef408fd05cad20d0d555c5\"><\/div>\n<p>With the Middle East on fire, what sense does it make to \u2064have more than 1,000 U.S. troops in\u2063 Niger? Does it make sense to station more than 1,000 troops in a \u2064country ruled by a military\u200d junta? Does it make sense to scour the dirt backroads of Africa\u200d droning potential \u2064villains?<\/p>\n<p>Presidents \u200dof both parties have used the Sept. 11, 2001, authorization to\u200d justify wars in dozens of countries, from Afghanistan to\u200b Libya to Syria to Somalia to Yemen.<\/p>\n<p>Niger is but one of the \u2062more than 20 \u2063countries the \u200bUnited States\u2064 conducts military operations in, supposedly justified by the 9\/11 authorization of \u2062military force.<\/p>\n<p>The impetus for this war powers \u200bresolution is the July 26 coup in which members of Niger\u2019s presidential guard, including \u200bsome officers who were\u200d trained by the United States, removed democratically elected\u2062 President Mohamed Bazoum from power.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6fd401927620b2542123dcd5edc6f4c1 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6fd401927620b2542123dcd5edc6f4c1\"><\/div>\n<p>The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) \u200dis an organization\u2064 of 15 countries that declared its intention to intervene militarily if President Bazoum is not restored to power.<\/p>\n<p>In September, Mali and Burkina Faso, two countries that \u200bexperienced their own armed \u2064coups in recent years, signed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/prager-on-ukraine-comedians-nato-america-and-environmentalists\/\" title=\"PRAGER: On Ukraine, Comedians, NATO, America And Environmentalists\">mutual defense pact<\/a> with Niger\u200c and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/7272726.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stated they will fight on behalf<\/a> of the new military junta\u2064 if the ECOWAS invades.<\/p>\n<p>Niger\u2019s\u200b new leaders have put its military on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/8\/26\/niger-puts-military-on-maximum-alert-over-attack-fears-by-ecowas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">maximum\u200c alert<\/a>, \u200dciting an increased threat \u2064of attack. For its part, the ECOWAS \u2062imposed sanctions, instituted\u200d a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africanews.com\/2023\/09\/04\/niger-reopens-its-airspace-after-almost-a-months-closure\/\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">no-fly \u2062zone<\/a>, and\u2064 closed \u200bborder crossings. Recent reports indicate\u2063 that Nigerien troops have been deployed along the border with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africanews.com\/2023\/09\/18\/niger-strengthens-positions-on-border-with-benin\/\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Benin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Sahel is \u200ca powder keg, and we have more than 1,000 U.S.\u200c military personnel sitting in the\u200d middle\u2063 of it.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Unending \u2063Abuse of\u2062 9\/11 Authorization<\/h2>\n<p>What are we\u200c doing in Niger?\u2063 Congress never voted to send troops there. Congress certainly never authorized the use of military force there. Yet, on multiple occasions, U.S. forces in Niger have \u2062engaged in firefights with hostile groups. And sadly, American lives have \u2062been lost.<\/p>\n<p>My colleagues may recall \u2062that on Oct.\u200c 4, 2017, four U.S. soldiers \u2014 Sgt.\u200d 1st\u2063 Class Jeremiah Johnson, Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, and Sgt. LaDavid Johnson \u2014 were ambushed and killed while on a mission near the village\u2062 of Tongo Tongo,\u2062 Niger.<\/p>\n<p>This tragic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/10\/29\/world\/africa\/niger-ambush-isis.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">incident<\/a> was the largest\u2064 loss\u2062 of life for U.S. forces in Africa since the 1993 Black Hawk Down\u2064 incident in Somalia. At \u200dthe time, The New\u200c York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2018\/02\/17\/world\/africa\/niger-ambush-american-soldiers.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, in a piece called \u201cAn Endless War,\u201d that two senior senators, \u200ca Republican and a Democrat, both\u200d of whom still serve in this body, were surprised to learn that the United \u2064States had troops \u2063deployed in Niger.<\/p>\n<p>They were surprised because \u2062Congress had abdicated its constitutional \u200dwar powers to the \u2064executive\u2062 branch.<\/p>\n<p>They were surprised because this \u200dinstitution\u200b is content to \u200callow the president to sidestep the Constitution\u2063 and \u2063unilaterally \u2062deploy U.S. \u2064forces anywhere\u200b in\u2063 the\u2063 world, \u200dat any time, for any reason, by citing a \u2062limitless interpretation of the 9\/11 \u200bAUMF.<\/p>\n<p>Passed in the days following the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, the 9\/11 AUMF was narrowly tailored to \u200cbring to justice\u2064 those responsible for the attacks.<\/p>\n<p>But an ever-aggrandizing executive\u2062 deliberately misinterprets\u200b the AUMF as limitless, to\u2063 empower\u2063 the president to go to \u200cwar everywhere, all the \u2064time, forever. Administrations from both parties \u200ccite the 9\/11 AUMF to \u2064justify U.S. military operations against\u200d various groups in more \u2062than 20 countries.<\/p>\n<p>The majority of these countries had absolutely \u200bnothing to do with 9\/11. Many of the groups\u200c we\u2019re \u2063targeting had nothing to do\u2063 with 9\/11. Many of them didn\u2019t exist in 2001, and many of their \u2063members\u2063 weren\u2019t even born at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Using an AUMF written 22 years ago to justify war today\u200c is a perverse abuse of power, yet Congress just stands\u200c idly by.<\/p>\n<p>Deferring the decision as to when, where, and why our country goes to war to\u200c the president is a dereliction\u2062 of duty.\u200d These military \u200dinterventions we have carried out across the Middle East and Africa \u2064have cost thousands of American lives,\u200b trillions of dollars, and have made us less safe and less prosperous.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Remember Libya?<\/h2>\n<p>In many\u2063 cases, \u2064our \u200cinterventions have been counterproductive, destabilizing, and helped create the conditions for Islamic extremism \u2063to prosper.<\/p>\n<p>Does anyone remember our intervention in Libya? I \u2063know many policymakers in this\u200d city think this is ancient history, but in 2011, the\u2062 Obama-led offensive \u2064helped destroy that country. \u200dThe U.S.-led\u2064 coalition toppled the government of\u2063 Muammar Gaddafi, <a href=\"https:\/\/responsiblestatecraft.org\/2021\/03\/18\/10-year-civilian-bloodbath-follows-nato-airstrikes-in-libya\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">killed \u200dhundreds of civilians<\/a>, fomented anarchy\u2063 throughout the country, \u200dand opened\u2064 the floodgates for widespread extremist terror to\u200d spread throughout\u2063 the region.<\/p>\n<p>Libyans today are unambiguously worse off\u200b than before we intervened. In 2010, the UN Human Development \u200bIndex ranked Libya 53rd in the world \u2063and first\u200c in Africa. This \u200cyear \u2064Libya\u200c is <a href=\"https:\/\/hdr.undp.org\/data-center\/country-insights#\/ranks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ranked<\/a> 104th. In 2010, the <a href=\"https:\/\/datacommons.org\/tools\/timeline#place=country%2FLBY&#038;statsVar=Amount_EconomicActivity_GrossDomesticProduction_Nominal_PerCapita&#038;chart=%7B%22amount-PerCapita%22%3A%7B%22pc%22%3Afalse%7D%7D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">World Bank<\/a> assessed Libya\u2019s \u2063per capita GDP to be\u200d $11,600. In 2021, it was $5,910. That\u2019s a decline of over\u2062 50 percent \u2062in per capita GDP. Does that\u200c look like progress to you?<\/p>\n<p>The UN Human Rights Office reports that the\u200b execution and torture of civilians in Libya \u200cis a regular occurrence. The UN has also identified the existence of \u201copen slave markets\u201d where migrants\u2063 and refugees transiting Libya\u2062 are bought and sold as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-libya-security-rights\/executions-torture-and-slave-markets-persist-in-libya-u-n-idUSKBN1GX1JY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">slaves<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The disaster the Obama administration helped unleash in Libya has had lasting consequences for \u2063the region. Libyan \u2064arms, including\u200b heavy\u200c weaponry such as anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles, have been <a href=\"https:\/\/cco.ndu.edu\/News\/Article\/1171858\/brothers-came-back-with-weapons-the-effects-of-arms-proliferation-from-libya\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">traced to criminals<\/a> and terrorists across the region, including \u200bin Niger, Mali, \u200bTunisia, \u200dSyria, Algeria, and \u2014 tragically pertinent \u2014 Gaza.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Are We Fighting Terrorists or Creating\u200c Them?<\/h2>\n<p>Now, the U.S. uses Niger as a drone base to \u2063kill and try to clean up the mess the U.S. and others \u2064created \u2062in Libya. Unfortunately, it is rarely asked if our interminable military interventions create the terrorists we seek to destroy.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a question Congress needs to answer. When four of our\u2064 soldiers were killed in Niger, \u2062many\u200b believe they were on a\u200b mission to track \u200bdown\u2064 a person named Doundo \u2064Chefou.<\/p>\n<p>According to the previous Nigerien government, Doundo Chefou\u200c is a terrorist. But before he took up arms, Chefou was merely a cattle herder of the Fulani tribe, who had\u2063 no hatred for the Nigerien government or the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Members of a rival tribe, the Tuareg, became mercenaries for Ghaddafi in the \u200cLibyan war. After the tyrant was deposed, these mercenaries returned home to\u2064 Niger, but \u2063they were \u200cnow\u200c armed \u200bwith weapons of war. They turned those arms on \u200cthe Fulani\u200b tribe to pillage their\u2062 cattle.<\/p>\n<p>Though it may not be justified, should \u200dwe be surprised that Chefou turned to the Islamists for guns \u200band training to defend himself against a \u200bheavily armed rival? Do\u200d the proponents\u200c of Western military \u200cintervention not understand that we may be creating the terrorists we\u200d seek to\u200b destroy? Do we not see the folly of our adventurism that transforms cattle\u200b herders\u200c into jihadists?<\/p>\n<p>U.S. troops have\u200b been \u200bstationed in\u200c Niger since\u200c at\u200c least \u20632013. Ten years later, our presence in Niger\u200d has multiplied, and not once has this body debated the merits of our mission \u200bthere, let alone authorized the use of military force.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pentagon\u2063 Funding for Secret Wars<\/h2>\n<p>In fact, we learned that \u200bour\u200d soldiers who perished in the tragic 2017 Tongo Tongo incident\u200b were on a mission authorized \u200bby section\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawfaremedia.org\/article\/what-can-secretive-funding-authority-tell-us-about-pentagons-use-force-interpretations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">127e of Title 10<\/a> of the U.S. code. Section 127e\u2064 provides the Secretary of\u200c Defense the authority to \u200dexpend\u200b up to $100 million during any fiscal year to:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Provide support to \u200dforeign forces, irregular forces,\u2063 groups, or individuals engaged in supporting or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/1000-u-s-soldiers-in-niger-need-to-come-home-right-now\/\" title=\"Bring back 1,000 U.S. soldiers from Niger immediately.\">facilitating authorized ongoing\u200d military operations<\/a> \u200cby United \u200cStates special operations forces to combat terrorism.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In short, it provides the Pentagon the unilateral authority to wage \u200dsecret wars anywhere in\u2062 the \u2064world without any oversight by\u200d Congress, and even\u2063 less \u200bpublic scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the loss of\u200c four of our soldiers \u2063illuminates the fact\u2063 that our\u200b troops operating under\u200d 127e authority\u2063 are \u200balso in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this \u2064month, the Biden administration \u200bfinally formally declared that a military \u200bcoup took place\u2062 in Niger. Once that declaration \u200bwas made, the United States was \u200cstatutorily required to suspend all foreign and military \u2063assistance, with the \u2064exception \u200bof certain life-saving\u2063 humanitarian aid. \u2062A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/american-citizen-held-hostage-for-six-years-in-west-africa-freed\/\" title=\"American citizen held hostage for six years in West Africa freed\">senior administration official stated<\/a> \u2062to CNN that counterterrorism operations will remain paused, as will \u2062all U.S. \u200dtraining activities to build\u2063 the capacity of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2023\/10\/10\/politics\/us-niger-coup-determination\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nigerien forces<\/a>. It seems our troops no longer have a pertinent mission.<\/p>\n<p>French President Emmanuel Macron recently <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/france-niger-coup-military-withdrawal-bfa3afe3fdfa034dabe3dce265540411\">announced<\/a> \u200dthat France will end its military presence in Niger and bring some 1,500 French soldiers home. We should bring our 1,000 soldiers home too.<\/p>\n<p>To commit America\u2019s military to\u2063 fight wars on behalf\u2062 of the nation is the most consequential and humbling responsibility that Congress is entrusted\u200c with.<\/p>\n<p>Can \u2063we not, at the very\u200c least, muster the\u2062 courage to\u2062 debate? If America\u2019s interest in Niger is \u200cof such vital importance that \u200dwe ask our\u200b young men and\u2063 women to fight and potentially pay the ultimate sacrifice to defend it, we at\u200c least owe\u200b our servicemembers a\u200c debate in Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Eighty-six\u200b of my colleagues chose to stand idly by as \u200cthe president sends their \u2062constituents\u2019 sons and daughters into harm\u2019s\u2062 way, to fight wars with no clear objective, with no definition\u2063 of victory, \u200dwith no exit strategy, and\u200b with no constitutional authorization.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-7805ce2b90586591e30eea049bc1c0a1 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-7805ce2b90586591e30eea049bc1c0a1\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What are the implications of American forces engaging in firefights with hostile groups in Niger without Congress voting to send troops there?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  \u200c Ns across \u2063the globe, far\u2063 beyond its \u2064original intent.<\/p>\n<p>The situation in Niger is a prime example of the unending abuse of\u200d the \u200d9\/11 Authorization for Use of Military \u200cForce (AUMF). With more than 1,000 U.S. troops stationed\u200b in Niger, it is clear that Congress never voted to send troops there in\u200c the first place. Yet, American forces have engaged in firefights with hostile \u200dgroups, resulting in\u2064 the tragic loss of American lives.<\/p>\n<p>One <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-hugs-actress-eva-longoria-jokes-he-met-her-when-she-was-17\/\" title=\"Biden embraces Eva Longoria, playfully recalls meeting her at 17.\">notable incident occurred<\/a> on October 4, 2017, when\u2062 four U.S. soldiers \u200dwere ambushed and killed near the village of Tongo Tongo in Niger. This incident marked the largest loss of life for U.S. forces in Africa since\u2063 the 1993 Black Hawk \u200cDown incident in Somalia. At the\u2063 time, it was\u200d revealed that\u2063 two senior senators, one Republican and one Democrat, were surprised to \u200blearn about the presence of U.S. troops in Niger.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that Congress was unaware of the deployment of American forces in Niger highlights the abdication of its constitutional war powers to the executive branch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Senate voted 86-11 against bringing back U.S. troops from Niger, highlighting that Congress never authorized their deployment. The ongoing violence and devastating consequences demand our attention. Can&#8217;t we strive to prevent further loss and destruction?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":795,"featured_media":2081057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2081056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2081056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2081057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2081056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2081056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2081056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}