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U.S. Military Presence in Nigeria
00:03:56
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| Hello everybody and thank you for tuning in to the weekly report. | |
| Why are we in Nigeria? | |
| The July military coup in West African country of Nigeria has once again brought attention to the fact that the U.S. government runs a global military empire that serves Washington's special interests and not the national interests. | |
| Before the coup made news headslines, most Americans, including many serving in Congress, had no idea the U.S. government maintains more than 1,000 troops stationed on several U.S. bases in Nigeria. | |
| But it's even worse than that. | |
| A recent report in the Intercept suggests the Pentagon repeatedly misled Congress about the extent and the cost of the U.S. presence in Nigeria. | |
| According to the Intercept, the testimony before the House and Senate Armed Service Committee, in March, the Chief of U.S. Africa Command describes Air Base 201 in Nigeria as minimal and low-cost. | |
| In fact, the U.S. government has spent a quarter of a billion dollars on the base since construction began in 2016. | |
| So when did Congress declare war so as to legalize U.S. military operations in Nigeria? | |
| They didn't. | |
| But as Kelly Vlahos writes in the Responsible Statescraft, the U.S. troops have been training the military in Nigeria since 2013, and the U.S. government has constructed a number of military bases to fight terrorism in the country and region. | |
| Does that mean that the Pentagon is operating in Nigeria under the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force meant to track down those who attacked the U.S. on 9-11? | |
| It's a good question, and thankfully, one being asked by Senator Rand Paul in a recent letter sent to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. | |
| Senator Paul first pointed out in the letter, The administration's limitless interpretation of the 9-11 AUMF and frequent use of the Title 10 authorities results in military operations abroad conducted with little congressional oversight and even less public scrutiny. | |
| Such actions undermine our Constitution, he writes, as he asks, in how many countries are U.S. forces conducting operations authorized by the 2001 AUMF? | |
| Ironically, or maybe not, one of the coup leaders in Nigeria has been trained by the Pentagon at Fort Benning, Georgia, and at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. What is the U.S. government training foreign military officers to do exactly? | |
| Overthrow their own government? | |
| Whatever the case, it appears the coup government in Nigeria may be seeking a withdrawal of foreign military on its soil. | |
| Mass protests against the French military presence has led the French government to begin talks with the coup government on withdrawal. | |
| There are rumors that the coup government may next request U.S. troops to leave the country. | |
| We should preempt their possible request by withdrawing all U.S. troops immediately from Nigeria and the rest of Africa and closing all military bases. | |
| The claim that the U.S. government is fighting terrorism in the area is doubtful. | |
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U.S. Backed Terrorists in Syria
00:00:39
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| After all, in both Libya and in Syria, the U.S. government backed terrorist groups against governments it sought to overthrow. | |
| President Biden's National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, famously wrote to his then-boss Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in 2012, that in Syria, al-Qaeda is on our side. | |
| Congress must step up and exercise its oversight authority to end the counterproductive U.S. military presence in Africa. | |
| Our military empire is bankrupting us and turning the rest of the world against us. | |