TARGET:

NIGER

The change of Status Quo in Niger goes beyond any interest in democratic institutions or similar tales.

 

By Sidney Hey

What is the worst thing a slaveholder can tolerate, if not the rebellion of his slaves? After the overthrow of the corrupt government of Niger, obedient to the Western metropolis, its elites, and especially those ruling in Paris and Washington, have been shaken into a tantrum by the audacity of this action against “democracy”.

As has happened in other scenarios, and as seen in Ukraine, Washington has its political monkeys to manage the crisis and carry out the dirty work that they are unwilling to do, but very keen to see done.

The visible face of this African representation has a name and a rank: Bola Tinubu, Nigeria's president, a corrupt politician, who for decades was a patron of the ranch, closely linked to the laundering of heroin trafficking money from US mafias. He worked for major US companies and in 1993 was involved in a drug smuggling case in the Midwest. How did he get off the hook? As they say in America, Tinubu is “a good boy” who graciously served US administrations and therefore enjoyed impunity. He would be the lucky African version of a Manuel Noriega with the big difference that he was more cunning and managed to avoid being taken out of the game.

As such, he was an active collaborator in the implementation of economic and financial reforms promoted by the IMF, a body politically controlled by the US.

The Anglo-American media (unsurprisingly) portrays him as a "democrat", concerned about regional institutionality who is willing to unify the armies of the ECOWAS countries to invade Niger and re-establish the former government.

As we can intuit, Tinubu seems to have read from Bush-Cheney's democratic constitutionalism, that which “democratized” with invasions and torture.

Tinubu's proposal closely resembles another of the thugs who have sadly gone down in history, who in 1990, with the complicity of the United Nations, formed an international Coalition that culminated in an endless war.

Unsurprisingly, Tinubu's threats stem not from his own indignation or genuine concern for the continent's “institutionality” but from the concerns of his colleagues in Washington, London and Paris.

There was no need for a character like Tinubu to surprise with such threats. Within hours of the coup d'état in Paris, troops were already being prepared to be sent to regain control of the country and restore its friendly official. But things were not so simple and straightforward. As the first reports from Niamey began to come in, DGSE analysts and their British MI6 colleagues who are always present in the region warned of demonstrations and a Russian component in the form of flags among the demonstrators.

But the caution goes beyond people's sympathies for Russia, but rather, because of the decisive and substantial political and military support provided by the Kremlin. Rumours of the arrival of PMC Wagner Group advisory teams in Niger are the real reasons why the French and Americans have put the brakes on their plans.

Added to this, the support of neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso and Mali has made things more complicated than Biden himself expected, and that is why (as was also to be expected), they are betting on using their favourite weapon: economic sanctions, although it must be said that they will not have the same effect as they did in the past against Arab countries. Because there are two powers like Russia and China that are counterbalancing this mafia and financial power that serves as an extension of the interests of the White House and the US State Department.

This is a matter of interest for the French Defence Ministry and, of course, for partners in Washington and London. Resources will have to be deployed on the ground and they will have to do so with great care. They will have to consider the options and possible consequences of engaging in a new adventure to back up their straw man Tinubu.

The main target for the cutting of these tentacles is Paris and it is not unreasonable that the paratroopers of the 11th Regiment of the SDECE and the 2nd Foreign Legion are preparing for a lightning raid on Niger's capital. The stakes are too high for French politicians and especially their businessmen to sit idly by. Billions of dollars in minerals such as gold, coal and especially the exploitation of a strategic mineral such as uranium (exploited by the French corporation AREVA) are the reasons for mobilising all available resources.

In the case of uranium, this change in the country's political situation could lead the new government to adopt limitations for this exploitation, or a change in the guidelines foreseen for the corporations that benefit from it.

Nor would it be surprising if S.A.S. teams and some US participation are already coordinating actions and establishing operational bases in one of the African countries in tune with Washington.

Nigeria is at the top of the list of candidates to host such an operation.

The situation in Niger is a serious concern for Washington and it is not about institutionality or democracy, not at all! Joe Biden and his circle of neoconservatives, committed to the globalist and hegemonist project, do not want to see this African country become the gateway to Russia and China and with it, that detestable -for the entire neocon elite- geopolitical conception called multilateralism.